Walid Al-Saqaf is a senior lecturer in journalism and media technology at Södertörn University in Stockholm where he specialises in data journalism, Internet and blockchain research.  Within the blockchain domain, he has written about its social impact and is the vice president of the Internet Society Blockchain Special Internet Group. Walid worked in journalism for over 8 years during which he wrote for The Yemen Times, The Wall Street Journal, Gulf News and others. Walid holds a B.Sc. degree in computer engineering and a master and PhD in media and communication. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Internet Society and is the Chair of the Middle East Strategic Working Group of ICANN. Walid is also a software developer and created Alkasir for website censorship circumvention and Mecodify for data analysis and visualisation. He actively advocates the use technology to advance journalism, democracy and free speech.