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2012 Forum

The 2012 OFF, now in its fourth year, took place from May 7th through May 9th, 2012 in Oslo. Supporters included the City of Oslo, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amnesty International, the Thiel Foundation, Fritt Ord, the Nobel Peace Center, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.

Some of the speakers at the 2012 conference included Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, women's rights activist Manal al-Sharif, Tunisian activist Lina Ben Mhenni, Moroccan journalist Ahmed Benchemsi, Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan, British journalist and author Nick Cohen, former South African politician Andrew Feinstein, Zimbabwean human rights activist Jestina Mukoko, Cambodian author and human rights activist Somaly Mam, leading Pakistani lawyer Asma Jahangir, and former Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney General Irwin Cotler.

According to Wired Magazine, "If the global human-rights movement were to create its own unified representative body, it would look something like this." They also later wrote, "The power of the event -- whose sponsors include Sergey Brin's and Peter Thiel's charitable foundations -- lies in the seamless mix of grassroots activists, many of whom have risked their lives to speak out, and the top-level policymakers and influencers who can act on what they learn."

The 2012 conference was streamed live and in its entirety online. Despite some mixed feelings from Norwegians about the forum, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry donated $80,000 to the conference this year. Norway's foreign minister Jonas Gahr Støre claimed, "As I see it, this conference lifts the cases of individuals.”