Filtering by category 'Technology' containing 150 posts menuFind topics by keyword Abortion (5)Academia (10)Access (118)Accountability (1)Activism (1)Africa (44)Animal Rights (2)Anonymity (48)Antisemitism (8)Arab Spring (70)Art (72)Article 19 (12)Atheism (11)Australia (13)Blackwell's Panel (7)Blasphemy (105)Blogger (29)Books (6)Brazil (4)Buddhism (10)Burma (19)Canada (8)Catalonia (2)Catholicism (1)Celebrity (5)Censorship (215)Charlie Hebdo (16)Child abuse (4)China (52)Christianity (65)Citizen journalism (1)Civil liberties (1)Civility (181)Colonialism (16)Copyright (55)Corruption (11)Counter-speech (1)Debate (4)Defamation (122)Democracy (124)Denialism (15)Denmark (13)Discrimination (32)Diversity (2)Education (98)Egypt (26)Europe (24)Exclusion (6)Facebook (50)Film (5)Finland (4)France (17)Freedom (200)Gaza conflict (5)Gender (5)Genocide (28)Germany (35)Google (31)Governance (20)Hate speech (153)Hinduism (3)History (118)Homosexuality (10)Hong Kong (2)Human rights (1)Humour (14)Hungary (9)Hunger strike (7)India (79)Institutions (1)Intellectual Property (1)International law (1)Internet (307)Internet access (1)Internet companies (1)Iran (7)Islam (125)Israel (9)Italy (2)Japan (4)Journal (1)Journalism (144)Kenya (10)Knowledge (162)Language (56)Latin America (16)Law (291)Lese majesty (1)LGBT (1)Liberalism (27)Libya (11)Literature (39)Lord Ken MacDonald (4)Malaysia (1)Media (323)Memory (1)Memory laws (12)Middle East (75)Mijatović (1)Minorities (31)Money (53)Morality (45)Multiculturalism (52)National security (192)Nationalism (3)Net neutrality (101)Netherlands (3)New Zealand (4)Nigeria (1)No-platforming (11)Norway (4)Nudity (7)Occupy movement (1)Open source (9)Pakistan (25)Palestine (6)Philippines (4)Philosophy (4)Piracy (4)Poland (7)Politics (269)Pornography (45)Power (293)Privacy (135)Propaganda (1)Protest (115)Public Morality (96)Race (3)Radio (16)Regulation (30)Religion (193)Reputation (64)Right to information (277)Robust Civility (7)Russia (14)Russian interviews (5)Rwanda (5)Safe spaces (1)Satire (41)Saudi Arabia (12)Science (31)Scientology (1)Secrecy (4)Secularism (1)Self-Censorship (1)Singapore (7)Snowden (6)Social media (122)South Africa (12)Southeast Asia (8)Sport (7)Surveillance (31)Syria (8)Tanzania (1)Technology (150)Terrorism (16)Thailand (2)Tolerance (2)Tunisia (5)Turkey (49)Twitter (47)Ukraine (2)United Kingdom (94)United States (75)University (7)Violence (194)Whistleblowing (18)Wikileaks (13)Wikipedia (12)Yemen (2)YouTube (9) Solving the political ad problem with transparency Customised news undermines democratic debate, argues Seth Copen Goldstein Don’t blame news polarisation on the internet…it’s not the technology, stupid! The internet does not guarantee polarised news, argues Richard Fletcher. The internet alone will not set Africa free Iginio Gagliardone explores the surprising technopolitics of two competing visions of the internet, US and Chinese, in Ethiopia. Noam Chomsky: Does America have uncensored, diverse, and trustworthy media? Noam Chomsky talks about Edward Snowden, laws regulating historical memory, no-platforming, internet echo chambers and the lack of diversity in the American media. Fortress besieged: Russia’s nationalisation of the internet Maksim Orlov analyses the Russian government’s attempts to substitute Russian for western internet services. John Naughton: Are private superpowers a threat to free speech? John Naughton discusses the state of the internet, net neutrality and private companies. Has Demotix democratised journalism? Demotix founder Turi Munthe discusses the role of citizen journalism and Demotix in today’s media environment. How a Weibo post gets censored Jason Q Ng traces the path of a censored Weibo post and tracks keywords that trigger automatic review. How can you tell what’s banned on the internet? Joss Wright describes the technical and ethical challenges in investigating online censorship. Vote for Hong Kong – on the streets and online In 2014, the citizens of Hong Kong staged an unofficial civil referendum in protest against the Beijing authorities’ attempts to undermine its independence. As Rebecca Wong reports, the majority of the votes were cast via a voting app on mobile phones. Imported repression in the Middle East A leaked document in June 2014 from Egypt’s ministry of the interior invited tenders for cyber-surveillance technology to combat blasphemy, sarcasm and ‘lack of morality’ – the technology would likely come from the west. Max Gallien reports. Should ISPs be told to block “adult” content? Internet Service Providers do not merely route data packets from end-to-end, but are heavily involved in monitoring their customers’ online activities. Ian Brown discusses the implications of Britain’s suggested “voluntary” opting out of “adult content”, with little parliamentary and court involvement. National security and privacy: striking the balance Anthony Lester and Zoe McCallum discuss the need to balance national security and privacy in the age of internet surveillance. Ann Wright: Is secrecy necessary for peace and diplomacy? Former US Diplomat Ann Wright speaks to Kim Wilkinson on the need for whistleblowers and institutions like WikiLeaks, but stresses that in some instances secrecy is necessary, such as in peace-making negotiations. The way Xi moves: free speech under assault in China Shi Yige examines different approaches to censorship in China, and argues that while internet controls might avail the leadership in the short term, they are unsustainable. ‘They used the oven to get tanned, you know…’ Marc-Antoine Dilhac recounts how he confronted anti-semitic prejudice in a French classroom, and argues that more good comes from an open debate about hate speech than from banning it. Germans are not especially concerned about privacy and sovereignty Nazi past? Stasi past? Sebastian Huempfer challenges the conventional explanations for Germany’s strong reaction to Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA snooping. Britain’s proposed online porn filters How do we strike the right balance between freedom of expression and child protection? Sarah Glatte explores a proposal by the British government. Internet access in the age of the surveillance state Oxford University’s Ian Brown asks what Europe can do to protect our digital rights and privacy. Is Facebook just the new chamber of commerce and Twitter the new telegraph? Political theorist Rob Reich discusses what adaptations we need as freedom of speech and association move increasingly from the offline to the online world. Can the old principles still apply in new circumstances? Why ramp up internet surveillance in Nigeria? The Nigerian government is rumoured to have sealed a $40m dollar contract for internet surveillance technology. There is no clear justification for this “secret” deal, and no assurance that the technology would be used fairly, given Nigeria’s lack of established rights for citizen privacy. By Nwachukwu Egbunike and Dominic Burbidge. In defence of whistleblowing Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern has been an outspoken defender of whistleblowers and alternative media sources. A whistleblower’s argument Edward Snowden was not the first NSA official to sound the alarm. Thomas Drake, winner of the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence, makes his case to Free Speech Debate. Free Speech Bites Nigel Warburton spoke with Timothy Garton Ash for Index on Censorship’s Free Speech Bites about the Free Speech Debate Project and global free speech standards. The Copyright Alert System: coming to a home near you? The question of how best to respond to the unauthorised dissemination of copyright-protected expression over the internet has long troubled copyright owners. But the proposed solution of a Copyright Alert could potentially erode free speech, writes Graham Reynolds. Scholarly publication in (slow) transition to open access Academic ‘open access’ journals make articles freely available and the dissemination of knowledge and citation easier. However, the pace of change is slow, writes Cristobal Cobo. Is the ‘hands-off’ internet different to internet freedom? At the invitation of Index of Censorship and the Editors Guild of India, Timothy Garton Ash joins Kirsty Hughes at a panel discussion in Delhi with Shri Ajit Balakrishnan, Shri Sunil Abraham and Ramajit Singh Chima. Cyber-bullying that led to suicide On 10 October 2012 the Canadian teenager Amanda Todd committed suicide after years of cyber-bullying and harassment. Judith Bruhn describes a shocking case. In the Philippines, be careful of what you retweet A new cybercrime law in the Philippines would give unfettered powers to the state to monitor internet users, take down websites and imprison citizens writes Purple S. Romero The Nira Radia tapes controversy and the right to privacy Should government-initiated phone hacking be made public if the recordings are in the public interest? Shubhangi Bhadada exposes the thin line in India between the right to privacy and freedom of expression. Is self-regulation of the media in India sufficient? In a panel John Lloyd, T.R. Andhyarujina, Harish Salve and Daya Thussu discussed whether self-regulation can continue to remain a viable way forward for the Indian media. The future of free speech Human Rights activist Aryeh Neier speaks about the future of free speech. Ayreh Neier: Why free speech is important in averting atrocities Aryeh Neier, human rights lawyer and president emeritus of the Open Society Foundations speaks about the future of free speech. Why Rwanda and Libya need free speech – and media regulation Jerry Timmins describes a new report on media in two post-conflict societies, and argues that countries like Britain should do more to support them. A sticky WCIT and the battle for control of the internet At the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), authoritarian governments staked worrying claims. But the US-dominated model of non-governmental internet governance brings its own problems, writes Alison Powell. Beware of the Clinton Paradox. Brazil’s online crossroads between authoritarianism and democracy Despite Brazil’s democratic accomplishments, laws used to regulate websites date from the 1960s, giving arbitrary power to the state. A proposed ‘Marco Civil da Internet’ has the capacity to change this, writes Marcos Todeschini. Cookies Our web developer, Simon Dickson, explains the cookies in FSD’s kitchen. Does a murderer have the right to be forgotten? In 2008 two convicted murderers asked for their names to be removed from Wikipedia and other online media outlets, in accordance with German law. Does the individual’s right to be forgotten take priority over the public’s right to know? Facebook’s over-zealous face tagging Should Facebook automatically suggest who is in a photo? Sebastian Huempfer asks whether Facebook’s photo tagging software infringes the privacy of its users. How Ushahidi maps the voices of those in need Dominic Burbidge discusses how Ushahidi’s transformative crowdsourcing techniques have alleviated crises in Kenya and beyond. What are the best ways to facilitate internet usage in Mexico? Aleph Molinari, founder of Fundación Proacceso ECO, speaks to Brian Pellot about why his Mexico-based non-profit organisation promotes information and communication technologies for development and why the internet should be considered a basic right. Brazil confronts Google – and it’s personal A top Google executive was arrested in Brazil when the company refused to remove YouTube videos that made accusations against a local mayoral candidate. Felipe Correa discusses the case. Can Google’s algorithm slander a politician’s wife? Type ‘Bettina Wulff’, the name of a former German president’s wife, into Google and the autocomplete function will add ‘escort’. Is this algorithmic addition a form of defamation? Sebastian Huempfer explores the case. How WCIT could fix – not kill – the internet as we know it FSD user and regular commenter Luke Landau, a telecommunications engineer, argues the International Telecommunications Regulations are long overdue for an update. Yahoo, free speech and anonymity in China In 2002 Wang Xiaoning was sent to prison for 10 years after Yahoo passed on personal information Chinese authorities used to identify him. Judith Bruhn explores a case of conflicting laws and moral expectations. How far can you get with machine translation? Lost in translation? Online editor Brian Pellot looks at the joys and follies of machine translation and explains how Google Translate has expanded Free Speech Debate’s multilingual reach. Amelia Andersdotter: Why the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is dangerous The Swedish Pirate Party’s outspoken MEP explains why the European Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in July and discusses WCIT, the internet’s next four-letter foe. Katalin Barsony on empowering Roma with technology Romedia Foundation aims to disseminate an insider’s view of Romani issues, empower Romani activists and challenge stereotypes through new media. Evgeny Morozov: What is the dark side of internet freedom? Author Evgeny Morozov highlights the dangers that sometimes emerge when governments and corporations harness the internet to serve their own objectives. How open access to scientific journals can help the developing world Open access publishing models are having a significant impact on the dissemination on scientific information but their impact on the developing world is uncertain, writes Jorge L Contreras. China’s human flesh search engines While China’s human flesh search engines can help reveal government corruption they can also be used to humiliate ordinary citizens, writes Judith Bruhn. Tim Berners-Lee: Are stretch-friends the future of the internet? Tim Berners-Lee argues that stretch friends, individuals who are outside of your social circle online, will help break down cultural barriers Storyful: verifying citizen journalism Malachy Browne, news editor at Storyful, explains how the social media news agency validates news content sourced from the real-time web. The knowledge commons: research and innovation in an unequal world To mark the launch of the St Antony’s International Review, a panel of experts discuss Ushahidi technology, academic journals in Latin America and the geographies of the world’s knowledge. Moving towards the zettabyte era According to a new report, annual global internet traffic will increase nearly fourfold between 2011 and 2016, moving us into the zettabyte era, writes Maryam Omidi. Al-Jazeera and the rise of citizen journalism Since the beginning of the Arab uprising, more than 70,000 videos have been uploaded to Al-Jazeera’s portal Sharek. On Free Speech: The power of the web This latest episode looks at the ethics of hacktivism, crowdsourcing in war zones and the right of Christians in the UK to wear the cross at work. Judge grills mogul: the uses of transparency The public nature of the Leveson Inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal has been exemplary, writes Timothy Garton Ash. Is China actually helping free media in Africa? China may provide censorship tools to autocratic regimes in Africa, but western companies still dominate this market, writes Iginio Gagliardone, a post-doctoral fellow at Oxford University. ACTA & the internet: freedom of expression & privacy Join Free Speech Debate and ARTICLE 19 in London on Thursday 3 May for a panel discussion on the impact of ACTA on global free expression Mapping edits to Wikipedia from Africa Egypt made more edits to Wikipedia than any other African country between 2010 and 2011, according to new research. Moez Chakchouk: Can the Tunisian Internet Agency defend net neutrality? Online censorship is futile as it can almost always be circumvented, says Moez Chakchouk, the head of the Tunisian Internet Agency. Nokia-Siemens: What can communications companies do to prevent state surveillance? The head of media relations at Nokia Siemens Networks talks to FSD about the misuse of technology by autocratic regimes and its new human rights due diligence process. Paolo Mancini: Will the internet transform Italian politics? Professor Paolo Mancini argues that while new technologies offer opportunities, they also lead to political and social polarisation. YouTube in Turkey YouTube was banned for three years in Turkey on the grounds that certain videos were insulting to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the modern republic’s founder, or to “Turkishness”, write Funda Ustek and Irem Kok. Facebook, privacy and you Is the age of privacy over? Lord (Richard) Allan from Facebook and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, author of Delete, go head to head on privacy and the right to be forgotten in the internet era. Google Street View in Germany In March 2011, a Berlin court ruled that Google Street View was not illegal after a private citizen filed a lawsuit, claiming the technology was an infringement of her property and privacy rights. Sebastian Huempfer looks at the case. Wenzhou train collision On July 23, 2011, two high-speed trains traveling on the Yongtaiwen railway line collided near the eastern coastal city of Wenzhou killing 40 people and injuring 191. A week later, all traces of the train accident had disappeared from newspaper and television programmes, writes Amy Qin. Ezra Levant: Why public powers are the real threat to internet freedom Private powers are not a “large threat” to free speech, the Canadian lawyer and publisher tells Katie Engelhart. Real names vs pseudonyms Are Google+ and Facebook right to ban pseudonyms? Voice your opinion here. We are all journalists now Citizen journalism has transformed the media landscape. Suggest examples of good citizen journalism here. Han Han, the Chinese blogger With a readership of over 300 million, Han Han is one of China’s most influential online personalities. Judith Bruhn looks at his blog as an example of an individual citizen creating more open and diverse media in difficult circumstances.
Solving the political ad problem with transparency Customised news undermines democratic debate, argues Seth Copen Goldstein
Don’t blame news polarisation on the internet…it’s not the technology, stupid! The internet does not guarantee polarised news, argues Richard Fletcher.
The internet alone will not set Africa free Iginio Gagliardone explores the surprising technopolitics of two competing visions of the internet, US and Chinese, in Ethiopia.
Noam Chomsky: Does America have uncensored, diverse, and trustworthy media? Noam Chomsky talks about Edward Snowden, laws regulating historical memory, no-platforming, internet echo chambers and the lack of diversity in the American media.
Fortress besieged: Russia’s nationalisation of the internet Maksim Orlov analyses the Russian government’s attempts to substitute Russian for western internet services.
John Naughton: Are private superpowers a threat to free speech? John Naughton discusses the state of the internet, net neutrality and private companies.
Has Demotix democratised journalism? Demotix founder Turi Munthe discusses the role of citizen journalism and Demotix in today’s media environment.
How a Weibo post gets censored Jason Q Ng traces the path of a censored Weibo post and tracks keywords that trigger automatic review.
How can you tell what’s banned on the internet? Joss Wright describes the technical and ethical challenges in investigating online censorship.
Vote for Hong Kong – on the streets and online In 2014, the citizens of Hong Kong staged an unofficial civil referendum in protest against the Beijing authorities’ attempts to undermine its independence. As Rebecca Wong reports, the majority of the votes were cast via a voting app on mobile phones.
Imported repression in the Middle East A leaked document in June 2014 from Egypt’s ministry of the interior invited tenders for cyber-surveillance technology to combat blasphemy, sarcasm and ‘lack of morality’ – the technology would likely come from the west. Max Gallien reports.
Should ISPs be told to block “adult” content? Internet Service Providers do not merely route data packets from end-to-end, but are heavily involved in monitoring their customers’ online activities. Ian Brown discusses the implications of Britain’s suggested “voluntary” opting out of “adult content”, with little parliamentary and court involvement.
National security and privacy: striking the balance Anthony Lester and Zoe McCallum discuss the need to balance national security and privacy in the age of internet surveillance.
Ann Wright: Is secrecy necessary for peace and diplomacy? Former US Diplomat Ann Wright speaks to Kim Wilkinson on the need for whistleblowers and institutions like WikiLeaks, but stresses that in some instances secrecy is necessary, such as in peace-making negotiations.
The way Xi moves: free speech under assault in China Shi Yige examines different approaches to censorship in China, and argues that while internet controls might avail the leadership in the short term, they are unsustainable.
‘They used the oven to get tanned, you know…’ Marc-Antoine Dilhac recounts how he confronted anti-semitic prejudice in a French classroom, and argues that more good comes from an open debate about hate speech than from banning it.
Germans are not especially concerned about privacy and sovereignty Nazi past? Stasi past? Sebastian Huempfer challenges the conventional explanations for Germany’s strong reaction to Edward Snowden’s revelations about NSA snooping.
Britain’s proposed online porn filters How do we strike the right balance between freedom of expression and child protection? Sarah Glatte explores a proposal by the British government.
Internet access in the age of the surveillance state Oxford University’s Ian Brown asks what Europe can do to protect our digital rights and privacy.
Is Facebook just the new chamber of commerce and Twitter the new telegraph? Political theorist Rob Reich discusses what adaptations we need as freedom of speech and association move increasingly from the offline to the online world. Can the old principles still apply in new circumstances?
Why ramp up internet surveillance in Nigeria? The Nigerian government is rumoured to have sealed a $40m dollar contract for internet surveillance technology. There is no clear justification for this “secret” deal, and no assurance that the technology would be used fairly, given Nigeria’s lack of established rights for citizen privacy. By Nwachukwu Egbunike and Dominic Burbidge.
In defence of whistleblowing Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern has been an outspoken defender of whistleblowers and alternative media sources.
A whistleblower’s argument Edward Snowden was not the first NSA official to sound the alarm. Thomas Drake, winner of the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence, makes his case to Free Speech Debate.
Free Speech Bites Nigel Warburton spoke with Timothy Garton Ash for Index on Censorship’s Free Speech Bites about the Free Speech Debate Project and global free speech standards.
The Copyright Alert System: coming to a home near you? The question of how best to respond to the unauthorised dissemination of copyright-protected expression over the internet has long troubled copyright owners. But the proposed solution of a Copyright Alert could potentially erode free speech, writes Graham Reynolds.
Scholarly publication in (slow) transition to open access Academic ‘open access’ journals make articles freely available and the dissemination of knowledge and citation easier. However, the pace of change is slow, writes Cristobal Cobo.
Is the ‘hands-off’ internet different to internet freedom? At the invitation of Index of Censorship and the Editors Guild of India, Timothy Garton Ash joins Kirsty Hughes at a panel discussion in Delhi with Shri Ajit Balakrishnan, Shri Sunil Abraham and Ramajit Singh Chima.
Cyber-bullying that led to suicide On 10 October 2012 the Canadian teenager Amanda Todd committed suicide after years of cyber-bullying and harassment. Judith Bruhn describes a shocking case.
In the Philippines, be careful of what you retweet A new cybercrime law in the Philippines would give unfettered powers to the state to monitor internet users, take down websites and imprison citizens writes Purple S. Romero
The Nira Radia tapes controversy and the right to privacy Should government-initiated phone hacking be made public if the recordings are in the public interest? Shubhangi Bhadada exposes the thin line in India between the right to privacy and freedom of expression.
Is self-regulation of the media in India sufficient? In a panel John Lloyd, T.R. Andhyarujina, Harish Salve and Daya Thussu discussed whether self-regulation can continue to remain a viable way forward for the Indian media.
Ayreh Neier: Why free speech is important in averting atrocities Aryeh Neier, human rights lawyer and president emeritus of the Open Society Foundations speaks about the future of free speech.
Why Rwanda and Libya need free speech – and media regulation Jerry Timmins describes a new report on media in two post-conflict societies, and argues that countries like Britain should do more to support them.
A sticky WCIT and the battle for control of the internet At the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), authoritarian governments staked worrying claims. But the US-dominated model of non-governmental internet governance brings its own problems, writes Alison Powell. Beware of the Clinton Paradox.
Brazil’s online crossroads between authoritarianism and democracy Despite Brazil’s democratic accomplishments, laws used to regulate websites date from the 1960s, giving arbitrary power to the state. A proposed ‘Marco Civil da Internet’ has the capacity to change this, writes Marcos Todeschini.
Does a murderer have the right to be forgotten? In 2008 two convicted murderers asked for their names to be removed from Wikipedia and other online media outlets, in accordance with German law. Does the individual’s right to be forgotten take priority over the public’s right to know?
Facebook’s over-zealous face tagging Should Facebook automatically suggest who is in a photo? Sebastian Huempfer asks whether Facebook’s photo tagging software infringes the privacy of its users.
How Ushahidi maps the voices of those in need Dominic Burbidge discusses how Ushahidi’s transformative crowdsourcing techniques have alleviated crises in Kenya and beyond.
What are the best ways to facilitate internet usage in Mexico? Aleph Molinari, founder of Fundación Proacceso ECO, speaks to Brian Pellot about why his Mexico-based non-profit organisation promotes information and communication technologies for development and why the internet should be considered a basic right.
Brazil confronts Google – and it’s personal A top Google executive was arrested in Brazil when the company refused to remove YouTube videos that made accusations against a local mayoral candidate. Felipe Correa discusses the case.
Can Google’s algorithm slander a politician’s wife? Type ‘Bettina Wulff’, the name of a former German president’s wife, into Google and the autocomplete function will add ‘escort’. Is this algorithmic addition a form of defamation? Sebastian Huempfer explores the case.
How WCIT could fix – not kill – the internet as we know it FSD user and regular commenter Luke Landau, a telecommunications engineer, argues the International Telecommunications Regulations are long overdue for an update.
Yahoo, free speech and anonymity in China In 2002 Wang Xiaoning was sent to prison for 10 years after Yahoo passed on personal information Chinese authorities used to identify him. Judith Bruhn explores a case of conflicting laws and moral expectations.
How far can you get with machine translation? Lost in translation? Online editor Brian Pellot looks at the joys and follies of machine translation and explains how Google Translate has expanded Free Speech Debate’s multilingual reach.
Amelia Andersdotter: Why the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is dangerous The Swedish Pirate Party’s outspoken MEP explains why the European Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in July and discusses WCIT, the internet’s next four-letter foe.
Katalin Barsony on empowering Roma with technology Romedia Foundation aims to disseminate an insider’s view of Romani issues, empower Romani activists and challenge stereotypes through new media.
Evgeny Morozov: What is the dark side of internet freedom? Author Evgeny Morozov highlights the dangers that sometimes emerge when governments and corporations harness the internet to serve their own objectives.
How open access to scientific journals can help the developing world Open access publishing models are having a significant impact on the dissemination on scientific information but their impact on the developing world is uncertain, writes Jorge L Contreras.
China’s human flesh search engines While China’s human flesh search engines can help reveal government corruption they can also be used to humiliate ordinary citizens, writes Judith Bruhn.
Tim Berners-Lee: Are stretch-friends the future of the internet? Tim Berners-Lee argues that stretch friends, individuals who are outside of your social circle online, will help break down cultural barriers
Storyful: verifying citizen journalism Malachy Browne, news editor at Storyful, explains how the social media news agency validates news content sourced from the real-time web.
The knowledge commons: research and innovation in an unequal world To mark the launch of the St Antony’s International Review, a panel of experts discuss Ushahidi technology, academic journals in Latin America and the geographies of the world’s knowledge.
Moving towards the zettabyte era According to a new report, annual global internet traffic will increase nearly fourfold between 2011 and 2016, moving us into the zettabyte era, writes Maryam Omidi.
Al-Jazeera and the rise of citizen journalism Since the beginning of the Arab uprising, more than 70,000 videos have been uploaded to Al-Jazeera’s portal Sharek.
On Free Speech: The power of the web This latest episode looks at the ethics of hacktivism, crowdsourcing in war zones and the right of Christians in the UK to wear the cross at work.
Judge grills mogul: the uses of transparency The public nature of the Leveson Inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal has been exemplary, writes Timothy Garton Ash.
Is China actually helping free media in Africa? China may provide censorship tools to autocratic regimes in Africa, but western companies still dominate this market, writes Iginio Gagliardone, a post-doctoral fellow at Oxford University.
ACTA & the internet: freedom of expression & privacy Join Free Speech Debate and ARTICLE 19 in London on Thursday 3 May for a panel discussion on the impact of ACTA on global free expression
Mapping edits to Wikipedia from Africa Egypt made more edits to Wikipedia than any other African country between 2010 and 2011, according to new research.
Moez Chakchouk: Can the Tunisian Internet Agency defend net neutrality? Online censorship is futile as it can almost always be circumvented, says Moez Chakchouk, the head of the Tunisian Internet Agency.
Nokia-Siemens: What can communications companies do to prevent state surveillance? The head of media relations at Nokia Siemens Networks talks to FSD about the misuse of technology by autocratic regimes and its new human rights due diligence process.
Paolo Mancini: Will the internet transform Italian politics? Professor Paolo Mancini argues that while new technologies offer opportunities, they also lead to political and social polarisation.
YouTube in Turkey YouTube was banned for three years in Turkey on the grounds that certain videos were insulting to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the modern republic’s founder, or to “Turkishness”, write Funda Ustek and Irem Kok.
Facebook, privacy and you Is the age of privacy over? Lord (Richard) Allan from Facebook and Viktor Mayer-Schönberger, author of Delete, go head to head on privacy and the right to be forgotten in the internet era.
Google Street View in Germany In March 2011, a Berlin court ruled that Google Street View was not illegal after a private citizen filed a lawsuit, claiming the technology was an infringement of her property and privacy rights. Sebastian Huempfer looks at the case.
Wenzhou train collision On July 23, 2011, two high-speed trains traveling on the Yongtaiwen railway line collided near the eastern coastal city of Wenzhou killing 40 people and injuring 191. A week later, all traces of the train accident had disappeared from newspaper and television programmes, writes Amy Qin.
Ezra Levant: Why public powers are the real threat to internet freedom Private powers are not a “large threat” to free speech, the Canadian lawyer and publisher tells Katie Engelhart.
We are all journalists now Citizen journalism has transformed the media landscape. Suggest examples of good citizen journalism here.
Han Han, the Chinese blogger With a readership of over 300 million, Han Han is one of China’s most influential online personalities. Judith Bruhn looks at his blog as an example of an individual citizen creating more open and diverse media in difficult circumstances.