A new paper from the Brookings Institute examines the reach and effectiveness of eDiplomacy. Read More

There are really two stars of the new documentary "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry"--the artist himself, and the Internet. The two are inseparable in the film, which both documents the life story of the man who has become one of China's most creative and courageous dissidents, and shows how he has maneuvered through the cracks in China's vast system of social control by using social media to reach a global and local audience. Read More

They call themselves “Les Pigeons” — in French, “pigeon” is slang for “suckers,” easily fooled and easily abused. The name was adopted by a group of young Internet entrepreneurs who at the beginning of October launched an online campaign in protest of the government's planned tax hike, which they said would hurt small companies like startups. Read More

Digital diplomacy is a bit of a buzzword these days. It is practiced widely, both formally and informally, by governments across the globe — the United Kingdom has a particularly extensive site. Brian Fung of the Atlantic explores the impact of direct engagement via social media in an article for the Atlantic: Digital Diplomacy: Why It's So Tough for Embassies to Get Social Media Right. Read More

Malala Yousafzai, a 14 year-old Pakistani girl, was shot in the head last week by Taliban. Her crime was spreading western values — i.e., insisting on the right of girls to attend school. Malala had been the target of online threats for several years; and now, even as she lies unconscious in a U.K. hospital, the Taliban continues to threaten her life if she recovers, while prominent nationalists tweet conspiracy theories accusing the CIA of being involved in the shooting. For Malala, the Internet has been a mixed blessing. Read More