In The News

Don’t Look for Jasmine Revolution or Tea in China

Frank Ching March 7, 2011
From the start, the plan sounded like public performance art or a prank to emulate the Jasmine Revolution sweeping the Middle East: Anonymous online messages called for rallies at 2 pm Sunday in China’s busiest shopping districts: No angry signs or shouts needed, protesters could participate by “strolling, watching or pretending to pass by.” Organizers thus hoped to turn every shopper into a...

Significance of Wisconsin Union Battle

Ellen Ratner March 3, 2011
Nonviolent protests in Egypt toppled a harsh regime, attracting interest and inspiring activism around the globe. Legislation proposing spending cuts and eliminating most collective-bargaining rights for workers in the US state of Wisconsin – even though the workers accepted wage and other cuts – ignited protests in mid-February. Protesters gathered at the capitol building in Madison, refusing to...

Obama Administration Joins Critics of US Nonprofit Group That Oversees Internet

Ian Shapira March 2, 2011
The internet contributed to Arab uprisings in North Africa, and worried leaders question what they consider control of the internet by the US. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organization based in California under contract to the US government, maintains the database of web addresses. Representatives of Russia, China and other nations want the...

Anonymous and the Global Correction

February 28, 2011
New communication technologies arm young activists with the tools to disrupt powerful, traditional institutions that simultaneously depend on the internet and apply excessive controls. Since 2005, a loose band of activists known as Anonymous have opposed censorship or a restricted internet, their plans and goals emerging amid fast, furious chatter of message boards. What began as sport in Japan...

A Simmering Cyberwar With Cuba

Nick Miroff February 25, 2011
Alan Gross, a US contractor, awaits trial in Cuba on the charge of “Actions Against the Independence and Territorial Integrity of the State,” reports Nick Miroff for the Global Post. He’s charged with traveling to Cuba as a tourist with the intent of installing unrestricted internet access. Such unlicensed communications are forbidden by the Cuban government. His trial holds some broad foreign-...

Why There's No Turning Back in the Middle East

Fareed Zakaria February 22, 2011
Revolutionary thought emerged in desperate populations throughout history, often fading away after brutal crackdowns. But youthful populations and access to instant communication technologies – will keep revolutionary ideas thriving in the modern Middle East, argues Fareed Zakaria for Time magazine. About 60 percent of the region's population is under the age 30, facing limited opportunities...

Revolution 2.0: Democracy Promotion in the Age of Social Media

Mark Sedra February 18, 2011
New communication technologies from the printing press to Facebook and Twitter don’t cause revolutions alone, argues Mark Sedra in an essay for the Globe and Mail. But fast means for distributing criticism and making plans can spur activism, particularly in promoting democracy. Social networking has emerged as the Web communication “medium of choice in the developing world, with those who are...