The Jerusalem Post explains why the growing public protests over Sheikh Jarrah have been helped greatly by the web (and ironically, the failure of the Western press to adequately report an issue a few kilometres from their offices): Social media sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, along with a slew of blogs, are playing an…
Showing all posts tagged YouTube
What is Google now doing in China?
My following article appears today on ABC Unleashed/The Drum: Google has threatened to withdraw entirely from China in protest at the authoritarian regime’s oppressive online censorship and continuing attempts by Chinese hackers to gain sensitive information of local human rights workers. Perhaps most significantly, Google’s Chinse search engine, Google.cn, now allows once banned material to…
How men can dress up as women in Iran and show solidarity
Resistance in Iran continues to take many forms. Global Voices shows us one way: Hundreds of Iranian men have dressed as women in Hijab to support Majid Tavakoli, a student activist who was arrested on December 7. Iranian authorities claim Mr. Tavakoli was dressed as a woman to escape after delivering a speech in Tehran…
Washington’s Big Brother is watching us
Talking about internet censorship in a nation like Iran is necessary and chilling. But, correctly writes the New York Times in an editorial today, how much do we know about the American government’s meddling in the online world? The government is increasingly monitoring Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites for tax delinquents, copyright infringers…
Iranians won’t stop shouting against oppression
While Iran erupts again with protesters against dictatorial rule, Reporters Without Borders finds massive attempts by authorities to shut down modern communications (a futile act, and only temporarily successful, that shows its desperation): The Iranian censors targeted the new-generation media with renewed energy. The authorities have responded, blow by blow, to demonstrations in recent months…
Israel, the world really loves you, you better believe it
Zionist propagandists, don’t feel alone. Israel has a job for you. One truly wonders whether Israel is stupid or just overly optimistic. Better PR and more use of YouTube, Twitter and Facebook isn’t going to change the woeful international image of the Jewish state. Ending the occupation will help but there ain’t no chance of…
Twitter is so not Beijing’s bag
China, we are listening, can you hear us? When Barack Obama told students in Shanghai last week that he had never used Twitter, there were two responses. In the west, surprise from some of his 2.6 million followers. And in China, reportedly, a surge in queries on Google China: “What’s Twitter?” On the mainland, it…
Iran, Michael Jackson, and Generation X
My following article appears in the Asia-Pacific Magazine The Diplomat: Our writer argues that his young tech-savvy peers, celebrity fixations aside, are increasingly engaged in global issues like this summer’s riots in Tehran. The violent June uprisings in Iran ricocheted around the world. While young, old, conservative and liberal Iranians protested the stolen election win…
Iran’s brutality spreads like a cancer
There have been countless allegations of torture and abuse at the hands of the Iranian regime since the disputed election in June. Now testimonies of rape and torture are being spread online. Here’s one: They took us with tens of others to Kahrizak camp. At least in that room that I were held there were…
When the power of the crowd can work
How has the Huffington Post been reporting the rapidly shifting changes in Iran? Blogs, YouTube, Twitter, sources, tips and a lot of caffeine: Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy