Cast / Audiovisual Media

In his guest lecture, Geert Lovink, Dutch media theorist, internet critic and author, will present the current projects of the Amsterdam-based Institute of Network Cultures and present his new book «Platform Brutality»:

Where is platform theory today? What happens after the never-ending phase of internet regression? Are you also stuck on the platform? He describes a next accelerationist, techno-authoritarian and violent phase (beyond data exactraction) that internet culture has entered. The aim of the authoritarian Big Tech forces is to establish a techno-feudalist economy in which «cloud rent» and enslaved users have little or no freedom of speech. All they can do is swipe and prompt. How to resist this logic and overcome doom/groonscrolling? In this situation it seems not enough to present open source and free software as a solution. Will we be able to speed up with our «stacktivist» proposals to build a digital public infrastructure? Our device: stop dreaming of sovereignty and join the Internet Core.

The lecture will be held in English.

16.04.2026
Keynote, Q&A
15:00 - 16:30 Uhr
Kino Toni

Geert Lovink has published multiple works on Network and Social Media between 2002 and 2025. He studied politcal and social sciences at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and received his PhD from the University of Melbourne. In 2004 he founded the Institute of Network Cultures (www.networkcultures.org) at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA), which will become independent mid 2026 after his retirement.