Category: Liberation Technology

‘Countering violent extremism’ – challenges and responses

     

Violent extremism is caused primarily by religious ideology more than racism, poverty, military interventions by foreign governments and human rights abuses, according to a new global poll published this week… Read more »

Ethiopia crackdown highlights ‘downside of authoritarian development’

     

  Ethiopia‘s government has declared a six-month state of emergency in the face of an unprecedented wave of violent protests, the BBC reports: Activists in the country’s Oromia region has… Read more »

How social media undermines democratic transitions

     

Egypt’s 2011 uprising has become synonymous with the successful use of social media to overthrow an entrenched authoritarian regime, note analysts Sean Aday, Deen Freelon and Marc Lynch. Popular and… Read more »

Zimbabwe pastor shows ‘Power in our Pockets’

     

When he posted a protest video on Facebook, wrapping himself in the national flag, the Rev. Evan Mawarire (below, right) became one of Zimbabwe’s first social media stars, the embodiment… Read more »

Inside Google’s AI-powered war on trolls

     

Mass harassment online has proved so effective that it’s emerging as a weapon of repressive governments, notes analyst Andy Greenberg. In late 2014, Finnish journalist Jessikka Aro reported on Russia’s… Read more »

How the internet can impede democratization

     

The internet is an intuitive boon for democracy, according to Elizabeth Stoycheff, Assistant professor at Wayne State University, and Erik C. Nisbet, Associate professor at Ohio State University. It provides… Read more »

The benefits of disruptive technology – world’s best digital projects

     

“What are the benefits of disruptive technology?,” Peter A. Bruck, Chairman of the World Summit Awards, asked an audience of young social entrepreneurs and innovators, international thought-leaders, ICT experts and regional stakeholders. “How… Read more »

Democracies join authoritarians in rejecting civil society space

     

The United Nations Human Rights Council has passed a resolution for the “promotion, protection, and enjoyment of human rights on the internet” which condemns any country that intentionally disrupts the internet access of its… Read more »

Russia’s election countdown: opposition pressured by Kremlin

     

Russia’s liberal opposition has been subjected to all kinds of pressure in the last few months, from leaked clandestine sex tapes to dubious court cases and physical violence. As parliamentary… Read more »

Vice News, Jigsaw partner to empower free expression

     

The global struggle for free expression is the focus of a new partnership between Vice News and Jigsaw (formerly Google Ideas, the firm’s think tank and technology incubator). A new… Read more »