Speak Up, Speak Out, and Think Bigger: Honoring Aaron Swartz
BY Jessica McKenzie | Friday, January 10 2014
Tomorrow, January 11, 2014, marks the one year anniversary of Internet activist Aaron Swartz's tragic death. Since then, activists and programmers around the world have met and worked together at hackathons in his name and an award has been created in his memory. Tomorrow, activists led by Lawrence Lessig will march across New Hampshire to protest the campaign finance system, a cause Swartz encouraged Lessig to take up. But, Swartz's father is still waiting for an apology from MIT for their hypocritical approach to the prosecution of Swartz and a prominent senator is pushing to expand the cybercrime law prosecutors used to come down hard on Swartz. One year later, where are we?
Read MoreChechen Leader Issues Statement on Suspected Boston Bombers Via Instagram
BY Lisa Goldman | Friday, April 19 2013
Ramzan Kadyrov, the authoritarian and eccentric 36 year-old leader of Chechnya, has issued a statement regarding the Tsarnaev brothers, ethnic Chechens who are suspected of committing the Boston Marathon bombings. Kadyrov published his statement on Instagram. Read More
Examining eDiplomacy: Like it or Not, It is Essential and Here to Stay
BY Lisa Goldman | Tuesday, October 30 2012
A new paper from the Brookings Institute examines the reach and effectiveness of eDiplomacy. Read More
Open Data, Open Standards, and Community Activism
BY David Eaves | Tuesday, May 29 2012
Of a project in Western New York to help local residents track pollution in their area, David Eaves writes, " activists and non-profits have not even begun to tap the power of open data." Read More
Book Review: Consent of the Networked
BY Micah L. Sifry | Friday, February 3 2012
Last night, a crowd of more than one hundred gathered on the sixth floor of MIT's Media Lab to help Rebecca MacKinnon launch her new book, The Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom. The audience included net luminaries like Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, and Andrew Newman, the director of the Tor Project, and the discussion was at the same level. Herewith, my thoughts on her book salted by some observations from the event. Read More
Searches for "Revolution": Up in Egypt, Greece, Spain and the USA
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, October 18 2011
If Google search trends can predict where flu will break out in advance of actual reports of flu, can search trends also predict where revolutions are brewing? Judging from search trends in Egypt, Greece, Spain and the ... Read More
New Pew Report on "Govt Online" Shows Big Citizen Participation But Little Govt Engagement
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, April 27 2010
"The more we can enlist the American people to pay attention and be involved, that's the only way we are going move an agenda forward. That's how we are going to counteract the special interests." --Barack Obama, ... Read More