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Blood, Sweat, and Tear Gas

An article I wrote for The European, published only in German on their site.  Below is the original text, in English.  Title is theirs. All too often, Western pundits talk about digital activism in developing countries as if it were some phenomenon bestowed upon poor young foreigners by the moguls of Silicon Valley or worse, [...]

31.01.2011

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Boston for Egypt

I went into Harvard Square this afternoon around 1:00 to join the protestors and take photos; seeing the hundred or so people gathered and ready to move, I asked what was happening and was told that an earlier delegation had already marched across Cambridge, through Central Square and into Boston, and were going to head [...]

29.01.2011

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How are protestors in Egypt using social media?

Shortly after writing this, reports came in that the Internet in Egypt had become a black hole, entirely–or almost entirely–inaccessible.  Updates soon. This question has been posed to me constantly over the past two days from journalists doing their best to understand the relationship between online and offline forms of protest.  I feel their pain [...]

27.01.2011

6 Comments

Facebook Enables HTTPS

I’ve done a lot of thinking, writing, and well, complaining about Facebook during the past year, mostly on behalf of the many activists I’ve met who’ve had troubles with the site. I’ve also seen, for the past year, small steps in the right direction from the social media giant.  And yesterday, Facebook made an announcement that [...]

27.01.2011

2 Comments

Flickr and Account Deactivation

For the past year, I’ve written, incessantly perhaps, on the topic of account deactivation, particularly as it pertains to Facebook, the platform which could be considered the worst offender in this space, thanks to their “real name” policy. Thanks to Doc Searls, I recently came across an example of account deactivation on Flickr; now, there [...]

22.01.2011

7 Comments

In Defense of Al Jazeera: A Response to Marc Ginsberg

Former Ambassador to Morocco Marc Ginsberg (during the Years of Lead, it should be noted) has penned a piece for the Huffington Post asking if Qatar-based Al Jazeera has fueled “Tunisteria” (that is, stoked the already-burning fires spreading across the Middle East toward the direction of intifada). It’s a valid question–that is, if we lived [...]

21.01.2011

6 Comments

Iranians Get More Google…

…but Syrians and Sudanese don’t. Seems like the State Department is once again deciding who is most worthy of their net freedom agenda. The latest announcement (via VOA) states that Google, after negotiating with the State Department, can now offer Google Chrome, Picasa, and Google Earth to Iranian net users.  Says Google’s Scott Rubin: The [...]

19.01.2011

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Qaddafi’s View of the Internet in Tunisia

In a speech today (full transcript in Arabic here), Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi addressed the Tunisian people. Amira al Hussaini noticed–and translated–a bit of the speech dealing with the Internet: حتى أنتم إخواني التوانسة ، ربما أنكم تقرؤون في الكلينكس هذا ، والكلام الفارغ في الإنترنت . وهذا الإنترنت ، الذي أي واحد أهبل ؛ [...]

16.01.2011

5 Comments

Not Twitter, Not WikiLeaks: A Human Revolution

Beginning this afternoon, shortly after (former) president Ben Ali fled Tunisia, I started getting calls about the effect of social media on the Tunisian uprising. I answered a few questions, mostly deferring reporters to friends in Tunisia for their side of the story, and then settled in for the night…only to find rantings and ravings [...]

14.01.2011

35 Comments

Slim is Free

The best news of my day.  Slim Amamou tweeted “I am free” at approximately 11:45pm Tunis time.

13.01.2011

1 Comment

Ben Ali to Step Down in 2014

Not the news everyone had hoped for, but news nonetheless. An email from Youssef Gaigi: Today’s speech shows definitely a major shift in Tunisia’s history. Ben Ali talked for the third time in the past month to the people. Something unprecedented, we barely knew this guy. Ben Ali talked in the Tunisian dialect instead of [...]

13.01.2011

3 Comments

Letters from Tunisia

Since the protests began in Tunisia two weeks ago, I’ve been following the events closely – mostly via Twitter, because the mainstream media was so late to catch on, and also via my Tunisian friends on Facebook (some of whom I know personally, others of whom I’ve never met).  In an event like this, with [...]

12.01.2011

6 Comments

Tunisian Blogger Slim Amamou Arrested

I am incredibly saddened and deeply enraged to report that my good friend Slim Amamou, Tunisian blogger and activist, was arrested yesterday (see @Malekk’s announcement here).  After no one had heard from him for several hours, Slim posted his location to FourSquare to let his friends know where he was.  The location?  The Ministry of [...]

06.01.2011

13 Comments

Iran but not Tunisia: Where’s the outrage?

I fear this post will raise more questions than it will provide answers.  I know that I will likely come across as naive, not able to grasp realpolitik.  I’m angry, on behalf of my friends in and exiled from Tunisia, as to why so little attention is being paid to the current situation (in case [...]

06.01.2011

5 Comments

Why I Don’t Believe in “Net Freedom”

For the past two weeks, Tunisia has been racked with unrest following the December 17 self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a young, educated vendor whose produce stand was confiscated because Bouazizi failed to show a permit.  The protests sweeping the country have resulted in further censorship from authorities, whose stronghold on the Internet has increased as [...]

02.01.2011

12 Comments

Facebook’s New Increased Security Measures: Not Very Secure

Logging into Facebook today, I was greeted with a little box in the upper right-hand corner of my screen, telling me that my security level was “low.”  Intrigued (last week it was marked “medium), I decided to click. Facebook has been trying to increase their security measures for awhile, a commendable effort.  Unfortunately, once again, [...]

02.01.2011

4 Comments