When will quasi-democratic governments learn that blocking websites isn’t a way to please the people (or increase their rule?) Thailand’s Information and Communications Technology Ministry sought court orders yesterday to shut down about 400 websites and advised internet service providers to block 1,200 sites it considers a danger to national security or disturbing social order.
Showing all posts tagged internet
How to break free in Iran
Although Iran’s Judiciary Chief claims that websites can’t be banned without a verdict from the court of justice – stating the Islamic Republic cherishes freedom of speech is a ludicrous statement considering the ever-increasing restrictions in the country – this week sees a small victory for the more reformist-minded: Female activists in Iran scored a…
Battling Medvedev’s Russia
What is the internet and satellite television doing to the increasingly authoritarian Russian state?
Blogging, in my own words
My new book,… The Blogging Revolution, is released this week. Here I am talking about its themes and challenges:
Just a reliable Western ally
As I discuss in my book The Blogging Revolution, Egypt, one of the highest recipients of US aid annually, represses bloggers like few other nations on Earth. Now this: Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, an imprisoned blogger better known by the pen-name of Kareem Amer, is forbidden to leave his cell, his books have been confiscated…
More voices, not less
A great Melbourne-based blog by a young writer, Literary Minded, has now become an important read about literary happenings in Australia and beyond. I met the writer in Melbourne over the weekend and she’s a highly engaged woman with a love of unconventional thoughts on books and new media (and it was obvious who she…
It’s clear who we should trust
I’ve spent the last days at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival, listening to speakers from around the world and talking about my new book, The Blogging Revolution. One of Australia’s finest bloggers, John Quiggin, with whom I spoke last week, explained to his readers the ways in which blogging and new technology is finally challenging the…
Time for re-education camps
Beijing, you have a nation of addicts: Around four million Chinese youngsters are addicted to the Internet, mainly attracted by “unhealthy” online games, state media reported Friday, citing a top legislator. “Internet-addicted teenagers” account for around 10 percent of China’s Web users under the age of 18, the Beijing Times said, quoting Li Jianguo, a…
The other side of the gender divide
Human rights for women in Saudi Arabia – and no, that’s not a contradiction – through blogger’s eyes.
Ditch the web
Is the internet ignoring the important details in life? Internet mapping is wiping the rich geography and history of Britain off the map, Britain’s most senior cartographer warned yesterday. Churches, cathedrals, stately homes, battlefields, ancient woodlands, rivers, eccentric landmarks and many more features which make up the tapestry of the British landscape are not being…