In The News

The Age of Pain

William Davies November 15, 2016
Populism arises out of grievances. “At what point do we attribute denunciations to the state of the world, and at what point to the state of the individual making them?” writes William Davies for New Statesman, adding that “the line separating ‘public politics’ from ‘private distress’ is culturally constructed, and not always very clear, even as we seek to police it.” Populist movements offer...

Undocumented, Unafraid: Immigrants Find Power Revealing Themselves Online

Issie Lapowsk June 13, 2016
Children have little choice in a parent’s decision to leave home and work in another country. Once grown, the undocumented immigrants in the United States struggle to attend colleges or find work, yet cannot easily return to their native countries. Caught in the middle, many turn to social media to explain the plight with the help of programs like Define America and Coming Out of the Shadows: “...

Inside Facebook’s Ambitious Plan to Connect the Whole World

Jessi Hempel March 2, 2016
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, views the internet as an essential service. He “believes peer-to-peer communications will be responsible for redistributing global power, making it possible for any individual to access and share information,” writes Jessi Hempel for Wired. “People could tap into government services, determine crop prices, get health care. A kid in India … could...

India’s Regulator Effectively Bans Facebook’s Free Basics Service

Sean McLain, Joanna Sugden and Deepa Seetharaman February 10, 2016
Net neutrality as principle argues that internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, without favoring or blocking particular websites. “Facebook Inc.’s efforts to expand Internet access in the developing world suffered a blow Monday when India’s telecommunications regulator ruled that the social-media company’s plan to offer free access...

Not Just Paris: Why Is Beirut's Brutal Terrorist Attack Ignored?

Anna Lekas Miller November 16, 2015
Every act of terrorism is an act against humanity. Anna Lekas Miller questions decisions by news and social media and the global audience to rally in support of France, after attacks killed more than 120 and injured more than 300, yet regard a Beirut attack, killing more than 40 and injuring 200, as routine. She expresses concern for “borders that are rapidly closing for Syrians and Iraqis...

You've Got Fail: High School Students Claim Hack on CIA Director's AOL Account

Sam Thielman October 20, 2015
Internet users can be swift and harsh with online judgments. US authorities are investigating claims that the CIA director’s email account was hacked with details on 20 employees released. One hacker claims to be a US high school student – “not Muslim” and “motivated by opposition to US foreign policy and support for Palestine.” Violence has spiked in Israel this month: Random, sudden knife and...

Hacker Killed by Drone Was Islamic State’s “Secret Weapon”

Margaret Coker, Danny Yadron and Damian Paletta August 28, 2015
US and British military officials targeted a British citizen working as a hacker for the Islamic State, killing him with a drone: “That he was targeted directly shows the extent to which digital warfare has upset the balance of power on the modern battlefield,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Islamic State didn’t build a large cyber force like the U.S.’s National Security Agency or China’s...