Birgitta Jónsdóttir

A relentless devotee to freedom of information, expression, and privacy, Birgitta Jónsdóttir is a poetican, activist, member of the Icelandic Parliament, and chairperson of the International Modern Media Institute. Birgitta has broken ground in the international battle against government secrecy and surveillance laws as the spokesperson for IMMI and a former WikiLeaks volunteer. She is a supporter of whistle-blowers Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, and other cyber-activists, and played a crucial role in WikiLeaks’ release of Collateral Murder, footage of a U.S. military helicopter as it killed 12 people and wounded two children in 2007. She went to trial against the U.S. in 2011 to protect the privacy of social-media accounts from government investigation and later participated in the NDAA class action suit Hedges v. Obama. Jónsdóttir is a regular contributor to the Guardian newspaper and specializes in 21st century lawmaking.