I’ve written before about the hyped media campaign last year that falsely claimed the civil unrest in Iran was a Twitter Revolution. In fact, many of the Iranian Twitter accounts were being run from inside the US. So how many hacks will read this? But it is time to get Twitter’s role in the events…
Showing all posts tagged internet
How much independence should Facebook be given?
The following article by Curt Hopkins appears on popular American technology blog ReadWriteWeb: The Australian Federal Police insist that Facebook hire a compliance officer and install a “rat button” on its site that will allow Australians to report anyone to the police with click. The social media company and the AFP have been going back…
Battle of Big Thinking presentation on the Middle East
Back in March I spoke at Sydney’s Battle of Big Thinking about “Israel/Palestine reframed through the blogosphere”. My talk is now online: Antony Loewenstein – Israel/Palestine reframed through the blogosphere from APG Australia on Vimeo.
America, land of the cyber warrior
Who trusts Washington to keep the internet free? The US military has appointed its first senior general to direct cyber warfare – despite fears that the move marks another stage in the militarisation of cyberspace. The newly promoted four-star general, Keith Alexander, takes charge of the Pentagon’s ambitious and controversial new Cyber Command, designed to…
ABC TV broadcast on internet freedom and anti-censorship
I recently debated in Sydney on the motion that governments shouldn’t censor the internet. ABC TV broadcast the discussion and our team included a robust explanation on the principles of free speech. An edited version of the debate was broadcast tonight on ABC Radio National Big Ideas:
Israel and Iraq questions provide double whammy in Auckland
I’m currently at the Auckland Writer’s Festival. Wonderful event. Speaking to hundreds of people every day – mainly about the Middle East but also on the importance of alternative voices online – and the one message that keeps on coming up is how rarely dissenting Jewish perspectives or those critical of Israel appear in the…
How to make web freedom a key legal concern
France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has a patchy record on human rights protection, being described in the London Review of Books in 2009 as having eroded “the distinction between philanthropy and combat.” But his latest piece in the International Herald Tribune is a strong case for internet freedom and democracy and should be saluted: In…
Why internet censorship is a fool’s paradise
My following article is published today by the Sydney Morning Herald/Age online: We live under the illusion that governments can protect us from the evils of the world. Paedophilia, extreme violence, lessons in self-harm and suicide, race hatred and terrorism. We have every right to expect governments to monitor hate and terror sites and arrest…
How many Australians want their government to filter online content? Hint: not very many
Last night in Sydney I successfully debated with some other colleagues that governments should not censor the internet. One of my co-speakers, Google’s Ross LaJeunesse, has an article in today’s Sydney Morning Herald arguing against Australia’s proposed mandatory internet filter. I agree and it looks like many Australians do, too (via ABC Radio’s PM tonight):…
Debating why the internet should not be censored
The following article by Erik Jensen appears in today’s Sydney Morning Herald: Governments should not censor the internet. The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, disagrees and the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, broadly supports his position. But two journalists and the head of government affairs for Google in Asia strongly agree with the proposition. “We have to…