Examining the intersection of culture, politics, technology, and society, Disruption Network Lab exposes the misconduct and wrongdoing of the powerful.

Disruption Network Lab is an ongoing programme of events and research focused on the intersection of culture, politics, technology and society. We are a Berlin-based nonprofit organisation in Germany (Disruption Network Lab e. V.) that has since 2014 organised participatory, interdisciplinary, international events at the intersection of human rights and technology with the objective of strengthening freedom of speech, and exposing the misconduct and wrongdoing of the powerful.

Disruption Network Lab organises inter-disciplinary conferences at the interface of scholarship and politics and local meetups throughout the year.

The aim of the Disruption Network Lab is to present and generate new tactics for social and political action within the framework of digital culture and information technology, and to highlight interventions that provoke political and social change. We provide a discussion platform for whistleblowers, human rights defenders, artists, hackers, journalists, lawyers and activists to present their experiences, research and actions - with the aim of strengthening human rights values and freedom of expression.

The Disruption Network Lab is taking shape through a series of international conferences at Studio 1, Kunstquartier Bethanien in Berlin and other locations around the world. The programme is developed through keynote events, presentations and debates. Our past programme has covered topics such as drone warfare, whistleblowing, counter-surveillance, and artistic and activist strategies in times of increased geopolitical control. By connecting and engaging with experts who reveal the inner mechanisms of political, economic and technological systems, we promote a deeper understanding of digital culture in everyday life and society.

The Disruption Network Lab programme is run and curated by Tatiana Bazzichelli (Founder & Director), who works together with her team. The curatorial methodology brings together a montage of practices and fieldwork to create a network based on the analysis of multiple points of view.

Our community programme consists of regular local meetups throughout the year, extending and connecting our regular programme and network with social and cultural communities active in both Berlin and abroad, highlighting different ways of possible direct participation and engagement with our topics.

Board members of the Disruption Network Lab e. V.: Tatiana Bazzichelli (Board Chair), Jonas Frankki (forthcoming Deputy Board Memeber).

2024: Decoding Agency - 10 Years Disruption Network Lab

Decoding Agency focuses on how digital culture enables social justice. The series of three conferences and community programme presents new methods for public awareness and agency, to open up new fields of exploration and strengthen civil rights. The programme connects whistleblowers, human right advocates, artists, hackers, journalists, and activists to expose systems of power and injustice. Conferences: BEYOND CONTROL (April 2024
), MIGRATORY CURRENTS (Sept 2024), INVESTIGATING THE KILL CLOUD (Nov-Dec 2024). The programme is supported by Hauptstadtkulturfonds (HKF).

In the coming years, we will consolidate our programme within the digital rights, investigative journalism, whistleblowing, tech-based arts and culture scenes, opening up new contexts of sharing and exchange to fight social and digital injustice.

2020-2023: Tactics of Empowerment

In July 2019 Disruption Network Lab was selected by the Berlin State Secretary for Cultural Affairs and a five-member jury of experts for the first-time awarding of open funding for festivals and series over a four-year period (2020-2023). The Senate Department for Culture and Europe awarded 26 projects in Berlin that have been set up with artistic quality, a special profile and a thematic focus on the cultural landscape of the city. This was intended to close a serious structural gap in the funding landscape and create new space for the sustainable development of artistic potential and its institutional anchoring.

Disruption Network Lab has developed a four-year programme: Tactics of Empowerment.

The framework in which Disruption Network Lab operated in 2020-2023 was related to the analysis of the concept of civic engagement and the empowerment of the people. With Tactics of Empowerment we consolidated a platform of discussion for whistleblowers, human right advocates, artists, hackers, journalists, lawyers and activists. Our 2020-2023 programme focused on the capacity of all people to exercise their rights, either as individuals or as members of a common network. We covered a range of topics from grassroots data analysis, leaking and whistleblowing, to legal and human rights mobilisation, anti-corruption investigations, health care interventions, and the effects of information technology on civil society, politics, culture and the arts.

2023 Conferences: SMART PRISONS (March 2023), ARTIVISM (June 2023), ORGANISED CRIME (November 2023).

2022 Conferences; THE KILL CLOUD (March 2022), TRANSITIONING (June 2022), MADNESS (November 2022).

2021 Conferences: BEHIND THE MASK (March 2021), POWERS OF TRUTH (October 2021), WHISTLEBLOWING FOR CHANGE (November 2021).

2020 Conferences: EVICTED BY GREED (May 2020), DATA CITIES (September 2020), BORDERS OF FEAR (November 2020).

2020: Hate News vs. Free Speech

Within the 2020 collaborative project Hate News vs. Free Speech: Polarization and Pluralism in Georgian Media, the Disruption Network Lab and the Georgian nonprofit organization Regional Democratic Hub – Caucasus collaborate on a programme exchange between Germany and Georgia.

The project focuses on the topic of media misinformation and polarisation, with the aim of strengthening media pluralism in the context of the Georgian media landscape. The project builds capacity of journalists (TV-radio, press, and social media) and bloggers and provide literacy to students of media schools in Georgia. The project covers both theoretical and practical education. To raise the level of information and awareness on political, economic and cultural affairs, it takes shape through two trainings in the Kakheti and Samtskhe Javakheti regions of Georgia in September and October, and an international conference and workshop in Berlin and Tbilisi (December 12-13, 2020). More about the project HATE NEWS VS. FREE SPEECH.

The project is undertaken with the financial support of the German Federal Foreign Office as part of the Expanding Cooperation with Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership Countries and Russia (Eastern Partnership Programme) https://civilsocietycooperation.net

2019: The Art of Exposing Injustice + Activation Programme

In 2019, Disruption Network Lab presents a new programme series: The Art of Exposing Injustice, and introduces the first meetups throughout the year. The Art of Exposing Injustice refers to the intersections between art, digital rights, social justice and social accountability. We are interested in analysing the wider matter of self-organised and technologically-based tactics of producing justice and promoting accountability, from grassroots data analysis, to leaking and citizen journalism, and their effects on civil society, politics, and the arts.

The framework in which the Disruption Network Lab operates in 2019 is related to the analysis of the concept of anti-corruption and the empowerment of the people. For reaching this scope, we decided to partner with Transparency International, the organisation that leads the fight against corruption working together with governments, businesses and citizens to stop the abuse of power.

The conceptual framework of the series presents three thematic conference events in April, June, and September 2019 at Kunstquartier Bethanien (Studio 1). Furthermore we are planning a community gathering in November 2019, where the scene of digital rights, investigative journalism, hacktivism, tech-based art and culture will connect with our general conference programme and present some community-based projects. In addition, we will host our regular community meetups throughout the year at STATE Studio.
Conferences: DARK HAVENS (April 2019), AI TRAPS (June 2019), CITIZENS OF EVIDENCE (September 2019) and ACTIVATION (November 2019).

2018: Misinformation Ecosystems

“Misinformation Ecosystems” is the conceptual framework for two thematic conference events, in May and September 2018. Focus is the analysis of hate speech, strategic opinion manipulation, and the emergence of far-right ideologies that reject mainstream conservatism in favor of white nationalism and supremacism. The conference series aims to investigate the strategic usage of media and contemporary visual culture to provoke unpredictable effects on politics and society, based on the creation of misinformation, hate news, and right-wing propaganda.
Conferences: HATE NEWS (May 2018), INFILTRATION (September 2018).

2017: Outer Spaces

The thematic framework in which the Disruption Network Lab operated in 2017 is “Outer Spaces”. Outer Space is the void that exists between celestial bodies, a concept that refers to the principle of horror vacui, from the Greek philosopher Aristotle, questioning the possible existence of a void in space. Applying this concept to a geopolitical and social dimension, and making it plural (outer spaces), horror vacui becomes the fear of the unknown, which needs to be disclosed, investigated, and yet better understood. The first event of the series focuses on prisons as hidden "outer spaces" of repression and detention in the framework of whistleblowing and truth-telling - reconnecting with the 2016 thematic framework. The second event focuses on the media strategy of ISIS, the meaning of cyber jihad and why people enroll as foreign fighters in Middle East and Europe.
Conferences: PRISONERS OF DISSENT (May 2017); TERROR FEEDS (November 2017).

2016: Art & Evidence

“Art & Evidence” is the framework of the second series of conference events (June-November 2016). Inspired by a conceptual exchange of curator Tatiana Bazzichelli with Academy Award-winning filmmaker and journalist Laura Poitras, Art & Evidence refers to the act of revealing facts, exposing misconducts and wrongdoings, and producing awareness about social, political and technological matters. Alongside, the thematic framework introduces artistic explorations, through which the issues of whistleblowing, leaking, disclosing, and knowledge production are investigated in their imaginative potential, by questioning the concept of “evidence” itself. The goal is to encourage the exploration of critical models of thinking and understanding, as well as to generate art as a mean to investigate issues and translate information.
Conferences: DEEP CABLES (June 2016); IGNORANCE (September-October 2016); TRUTH-TELLERS (November 2016).

2015: Disruption Network Lab

The first series of conference events (April-December 2015), under the name "Disruption Network Lab", focuses on media practices at the borders of hacking, art and activism covering a wide spectrum of political, cultural and economical issues: from the use of drones in political conflicts, to the emergence of social media practices shaping our everyday life, causing critical consequences on our privacy; from the critical reflection on identity, pornography, and sexuality in post-digital contexts, to the upcoming frontiers of bio-hacking; from whistleblowing as a way of exposing sensitive facts and information, to political stunts and tactics of disruption to reveal bugs in economical and business systems from within.
Conferences: DRONES (April 2015); CYBORG (May 2015); A GAME OF YOU (August 2015); SAMIZDATA (September 2015); PORNTUBES (October 2015); STUNTS (December 2015).

2014: Year of Foundation

The Disruption Network Lab was founded by Tatiana Bazzichelli in April 2014. It became a registered nonprofit organisation in Germany, Disruption Network Lab e. V. (gemeinnütziger eingetragener Verein), in September 2016.

Disruption Network Lab in the World

The Disruption Network Lab establishes local and international cooperations with other projects and institutions in Berlin and in the world. The first conference of this international programme was held in London at the Somerset House in April 2016, focusing on the political and artistic consequences of the usage of military and technological bots.
Conferences: BOTS (April 2016, London, UK).
Panels: WHISTLEBLOWING FOR CHANGE (September 2022, San Francisco, California, US), CAPTURING NETWORK TRAFFIC (May 2016, Linz, Austria).
Presentations: DNL at the Human Rights Center, Berkeley School of Law (October 2022, Berkeley, United States)