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Would Anonymity Help Activists on Facebook? A Response to Luke Allnutt

Luke Allnutt has a thoughtful piece on RFE/RL asking the above question: Would anonymity help activists on Facebook? His response, “maybe not,” relies on the idea that anonymity would be extended only to those with special “activist status,” something I haven’t heard concretely argued as a potential model but which is nonetheless troubling. Allnutt writes: [...]

24.02.2011

10 Comments

Objections to AJE Aren’t Really About Lara Logan

As Jonathan Capehart noted in PostPartisan last Thursday, the Lara Logan assualt story has “a pernicious staying power.” Indeed, what happened to Logan during her time in Egypt is both horrifying and inexcusable. Logan was, according to reports, brutally beaten and sexually assaulted by a crowd while reporting from Cairo. She was rescued by a [...]

20.02.2011

19 Comments

Protecting Yourself on Facebook: Tips for Morocco

This morning, I got an alarming note from a friend: Moroccans are experiencing phishing and other account defacements on Facebook, similar to what happened last year (and in January) in Tunisia (en Francais). I asked my friend if Moroccans had HTTPS available, and he explained, “yes, but the problem is Internet illiteracy.” Thus, we decided [...]

18.02.2011

9 Comments

Wired for Change Liveblog: Ira Glass & Damian Kulash

Ira Glass of NPR’s ‘This American Life’ interviews Damian Kulash of OK, Go! [Blogger note: Kulash is wearing a suit with pink socks and old, dirty Chuck Taylors.] Glass notes their initial slow success, and Kulash explains that the band created a fun video in their backyard. They got an email from Chad Hurley, one [...]

16.02.2011

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Liveblogging: Wired for Change

This is the liveblog for the Ford Foundation’s Wired for Change conference. If you have questions during the event that you would like to pose to a panelist, you may submit them and I will do my best to publish and/or ask the questions. Please identify yourself when you ask. Additionally, the hashtag #wired4C will [...]

15.02.2011

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The Media and the Algerian Internet Rumors

Well, here we go again…the mainstream media tonight jumped on rumors that Algeria had shut down the Internet, without bothering to check their facts with people on the ground. They didn’t check Twitter either; Algerians were tweeting throughout. So far, neither the Telegraph nor Mashable–the two outlets primarily responsible for the rumor–have bothered to issue [...]

12.02.2011

6 Comments

Social Media and Human Rights in the Media

I’m extremely pleased–yes, without snark–to see the media picking up on the very auspicious topic of incorporating human rights into social media platforms, a topic I’ve been tracking since March of 2010, and which I covered in my paper, Policing Content in the Quasi-Public Sphere. Others, like Rebecca MacKinnon and Danny O’Brien of CPJ, have [...]

11.02.2011

2 Comments

Wired For Change: Liveblogging the Ford Foundation’s upcoming conference

This coming Wednesday, February 16, I will be liveblogging an exciting event, the Ford Foundation’s Wired for Change conference. Though the conference, held at Ford’s New York headquarters, is invitation-only, you’ll be able to follow throughout the day on my blog, as I utilize my rapid typing skills and share with you the exciting events [...]

10.02.2011

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#ReasonsMubarakIsLate

Today, following an announcement that President Mubarak would hand over power to the army, Egyptians and global observers eagerly awaited Mubarak’s evening speech, only to find that he was late to enter. While waiting, a few Twitter users started up a hashtag, #ReasonsMubarakIsLate, to speculate on his delay and showcase that famous Egyptian sense of [...]

10.02.2011

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Demand Al Jazeera!

In case you haven’t seen it yet, Al Jazeera has instituted a campaign for Americans to demand the channel from their cable providers. I’ve been writing about Al Jazeera in the United States for three years now (see my 2008 Global Voices piece), and have continuously lobbied Comcast, my cable provider, for the channel, to [...]

05.02.2011

1 Comment

Critique of media coverage of Egypt is a strong case for Twitter

In the summer of 2009, I watched, like the rest of the world, as Iranians rose up against their government, protesting rigged elections. Not speaking Persian or knowing anyone on the ground, I was limited in context and understanding of the core issues, and reliant on Western media–skewed hostile toward Ahmadinejad–for news. Though mainstream media [...]

04.02.2011

7 Comments

Facebook for Activists

Two articles today focus on the promise and the troubles of Facebook for activists. I’ve written extensively on the subject, and though I recognize that Facebook is a private company with the right to make its own decisions, I continue to be troubled by what I view as negligence toward the international activist community. First, [...]

03.02.2011

14 Comments

Words from Tahrir Square

I was just listening to Al Jazeera and heard a familiar voice: @monasosh aka Mona Seif, sister of my friend Alaa Abd El Fattah; though I’ve never met her, I know her voice from a @Speak2Tweet message sent just two days ago, in which she sounded optimistic.  Now, on Al Jazeera, you can hear the [...]

02.02.2011

6 Comments