A Prominent Mexican Anti-Corruption Blogger Has Gone Missing
BY Lisa Goldman | Monday, September 17 2012
A prominent Mexican anti-corruption blogger named Ruy Salgado, a.k.a. "el5anto," has been missing since September 8. His colleagues at El5antuario.org, the blog he founded, have started a campaign to have him found. Mexico is particularly hostil to journalists and to freedom of the press, with 85 journalists killed and another 15 missing over the past decade alone. Read More
NGO Project Will Allow Local Gov't to Use Voice Recognition Instead of Transcribers
BY Lisa Goldman | Thursday, September 13 2012
mySociety, the U.K. transparency NGO, is developing software that would allow cash-strapped local governments to keep and transcribe minutes of their meetings using voice-activated technology. Read More
Websites as Political Organizers
BY Lisa Goldman | Tuesday, September 11 2012
A prominent Egyptian activist and labor organizer explains in detail how websites can be used for effective political organization. Includes fascinating data about the rise in Internet access amongst the very poor, whose primary portal is increasingly their mobile phones. Read More
Firefox Targets Developing States with Open Source Affordable Smartphones
BY Lisa Goldman | Friday, September 7 2012
Firefox has announced the 2013 launch of an open source operating system for smart phones. Since open source will bring down the price of a smart phone significantly, the initial launch will be in Latin America, with other developing regions to follow. Read More
Journalists Who Neglect Digital Security Put their Sources at Risk
BY Lisa Goldman | Wednesday, September 5 2012
Opening up the World's Legislative Bodies: The Global Game
BY David Eaves | Wednesday, September 5 2012
The National Democratic Institute (NDI) and several partners have launched a Declaration on Parliamentary Openness that seeks, among other things, to make parliamentary information more transparent, accessible and available in bulk online. According to NDI, over 70 organizations in 50 countries, mostly transparency groups, have signed the declaration. Sadly, there are no parliaments or legislative bodies on the list. How effective will such a declaration be?
Read MoreJordanian Websites Go Dark in Protest of Proposed Legislation to Censor Internet
BY Lisa Goldman | Friday, August 31 2012
More than two hundred Jordanian websites went dark on Wednesday to protest proposed government legislation that would give the government sweeping powers to censor the Internet. In contrast to other Middle Eastern countries, Jordan's government, because of its unique economic and geographical circumstances, cares very much about public opinion. Read More
The Egyptian Twittersphere, 18 Months Into the Revolution
BY Lisa Goldman | Saturday, August 25 2012
In January 25 they were the face of the Egyptian revolution. Young, tech savvy, fluent in English, Cairo-based activists tweeted constant updates from the streets of the Egyptian capital. Their photos, videos and live reporting catapulted many of them to celebrity, especially after Hosni Mubarak resigned. Where are they today? Read More
What to Do When Open Data Is Either Wrong, Scandalous, or Both?
BY David Eaves | Thursday, August 23 2012
David Eaves asks: How do governments and advocates handle open government data if it misreports the facts? Read More
Vietnamese Authorities Charge Political Bloggers With "Conducting Propaganda Against the State"
BY Lisa Goldman | Thursday, August 23 2012
Vietnamese authorities have charged three prominent bloggers with "creating propaganda against the state" for having published videos and photos showing violent clashes between farmers and the police who had come to enforce the appropriation of their land for the construction of a luxury hotel. Read More