…And Taking Armenia Off Two items recently caught our eye. There’s not much on our part to add, but in retrospect they both seem to speak to a similar theme – that of how fragile our online worlds can be. First, the nonprofit Access Now – a loose group campaigning for expanded online freedom and […]
Hitting the Panic Button
Posted April 7th, 2011 at 3:30 pm (UTC-4)
…And Whom It Might Benefit Most There’s been a certain amount of buzz following a series of stories on the development of what’s being termed a “cell phone panic button.” At first view, it may seem like a sensible, even helpful idea for democracy advocates. But there are growing worries that it may not just […]
Filtering the Mideast Web
Posted March 28th, 2011 at 3:44 pm (UTC-4)
And Shuttering One Channel of American Public Diplomacy Paul Sonne and Steve Stecklow at the Wall Street Journal have an eye-opening feature today, and the headline says it all: “U.S. Products Help Block Mideast Web.” Sonne and Stecklow document how the governments of Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, among others, have been acquiring […]
Alive In Benghazi
Posted March 23rd, 2011 at 2:48 pm (UTC-4)
Libyans Sharing Stories From The Front Lines The video is as direct as its story is powerful. A young Libyan, Ali Salem Ali Milad Shaoud, looks directly into the camera – and, by extension, into the eyes of everyone watching him online. He’s wearing a kafiya, a black t-shirt, a green flak vest…and a bandage […]
Virtually Ousting a Dictator
Posted March 10th, 2011 at 1:35 pm (UTC-4)
Video Games Being Used to Teach Non-Violent Civil Disobedience Deborah Block Washington Popular social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, played a significant role in organizing the non-violent protests that led to the resignation last month of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Some in Egypt and other parts of the world have also been using other […]
Right, or Wrong, On Internet Freedoms?
Posted February 16th, 2011 at 12:00 am (UTC-4)
“Internet freedom isn’t about any one particular activity online. It’s about ensuring that the internet remains a space where activities of all kinds can take place, from grand, ground-breaking, historic campaigns to the small, ordinary acts that people engage in every day.”
“Internet Rights and Wrongs”
Posted February 15th, 2011 at 5:53 pm (UTC-4)
UPDATE, 18:30 UTC: There will be a live webchat produced by the US State Department on Sec. Clinton’s “Internet Rights and Wrongs” speech starting at 19 hours UTC. Guests will include State Department Special Advisor on technology Alec Ross. You can access it by clicking here. 17:00 UTC: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is speaking […]
