We are all bandwidth hogs now
photo: Telegeography.com
Last year demand for bandwidth rose by 40 percent, and much of that demand is now coming from all over the world, not just in developed countries. Read more »
Egyptian Navy arrests divers over major broadband cable cut
It looks like Wednesday’s internet slowdown in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia may have been the result of sabotage, rather than the sort of accident that usually knocks out submarine cables. Read more »
Reports: Syria is cut off from the internet and how it may have happened
Syria, which is engaged in a citizen revolt, has been cut off from the Internet according to several reports. This tactic isn’t all that difficult implement and is becoming more common, making the need for new open source technologies for wireless communications necessary. Read more »
Should Google be censoring videos just because they are linked to violence?
photo: Flickr user Hoggarazzi
Google says it blocked viewers in Egypt and Libya from seeing a controversial video clip on YouTube, after the video was allegedly linked to violence in both of those countries. But should Google be censoring content without even a request from a government or court? Read more »
Andy Carvin on Twitter as a newsroom and being human
photo: Flickr user Luc Legay
In a discussion about his use of Twitter as a reporting tool, NPR strategist Andy Carvin made some interesting points about the value of crowdsourced journalism — including the importance of being transparent about the process, and the virtues of being human. Read more »
Syria, citizen journalism and the capital “T,” truth
photo: Flickr user Petteri Sulonen
Citizen journalism and social-media tools have made it easier to get information out of countries like Egypt and Syria, but in some cases these reports may not be true. Does that mean citizen journalism is unreliable? No. It just means we need to approach it differently. Read more »
How much should we trust our new information overlords?
photo: Flickr user Jennifer Moo
The news that Twitter will be censoring tweets has reinforced for many the fact that our freedoms exist at the mercy of the companies whose networks we are using — and being used by. How much trust should we have in these new information gatekeepers? Read more »
Looks like there’s no Pulitzer for Twitter reporting
A spokesman for the board that oversees the Pulitzer Prize awards for journalism says live reporting of a news event using Twitter would not qualify for a Pulitzer unless it also appeared on a traditional news website. But does that definition fit how journalism works now? Read more »
Is Internet access a fundamental human right?
Vint Cerf is one of the fathers of the Internet, but he argues that Internet access shouldn’t be seen as a fundamental human right — simply as a tool that enables other rights. But is this true? And what are the implications if he’s wrong? Read more »
How Twitter helped rescue Mona El Tahawy
photo: Flickr user Petteri Sulonen
Egyptian-born journalist Mona El Tahawy’s use of Twitter to criticize her country’s government may have made her a target for kidnapping and torture, but it also helped her friends assemble a network of supporters and a Twitter campaign that eventually freed her from her captors. Read more »
What happens when journalism is everywhere?
The authorities in New York are discovering what Egypt also learned — that it’s not as easy to regulate or arrest journalists when everyone is a journalist. But while that may make our lives a little more complicated, it is fundamentally a good thing for society. Read more »
Social media, tipping points and revolutions
photo: Flickr user Petteri Sulonen
As experts have studied the “Arab Spring” revolutions that took place in Tunisia and Egypt, it has become increasingly clear that while social-media tools such as Facebook and Twitter may not have caused these events, they played a crucial role in how they occurred. Read more »
Memo to Gladwell: Social media helps activism, and here’s how
Author and social-media critic Malcolm Gladwell has argued that Twitter and Facebook haven’t played any kind of important role in “real world” revolutions like those seen recently in Egypt and Tunisia. But sociologist Zeynep Tufekci makes a strong case for why Gladwell is wrong. Read more »
Libya, BART and tethering: Understanding the web’s weak points
From this weekend’s news over Libya’s intermittent access to the web to last week’s drama over San Francisco’s public transportation agency shutting down wireless access during a protest, knowing where the web is at its weakest can help citizens agitate for change or protect their rights. Read more »
Do we have a right to use Twitter and Facebook?
A Wall Street Journal columnist says that blocking access to social media during emergencies isn’t a big deal, and that “techno-utopians” are over-reacting. But are they? Or are these kinds of moves a step on a slippery slope that leads to Chinese-style control over information networks? Read more »
SF BART cut cell service to disrupt protests
The SF BART subway system admitted Friday it shut down cell phone service on several subway platforms during a planned protest Thursday. The subway operator said it was to guarantee passengers’ safety, but others are calling it “a chilling strike against free speech.” Read more »
Blaming the tools: Britain proposes a social-media ban
photo: Flickr user Jennifer Moo
It seems totalitarian states like Egypt aren’t the only ones struggling with the impact of social media and the desire to muzzle services like Twitter and Facebook. Britain says it’s considering a ban on social media in the wake of the riots in London. Read more »
Network effects: Social media’s role in the London riots
photo: Flickr user Petteri Sulonen
Everyone seems to be looking to blame Twitter, Facebook or BlackBerry for the recent London riots, but these tools are just aspects of our increasingly real-time, mobile and connected digital lives — and that can be an incredibly powerful force for both good and bad. Read more »
Social media brings out the snitch in all of us
Twitter and Facebook are great tools for reporting on world events — but what happens when we turn those tools on one another? We got a glimpse of that in Vancouver, and it was a glimpse of a future that some would rather not see. Read more »
Governments Still Trying to Kill, Replace or Undo the Web
photo: Flickr user Jennifer Moo
As countries like Iran and Syria step up their attempts to filter and even shut down access to the Internet, a new UNESCO report looks at the attempts by repressive governments around the world to censor and corral free speech on the Internet. Read more »
Violence in Syria Gets Documented on YouTube
As violence against pro-democracy demonstrators and other civilians is intensifying in Syria, YouTube is increasingly becoming the primary media outlet to learn about the situation in the country. Censorship against YouTube was lifted only two months ago, but now reports about phone network outages emerge. Read more »
Malcolm Gladwell: Social Media Still Not a Big Deal
After the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, many wondered whether author Malcolm Gladwell would alter his skeptical stance on social media — but he made it clear in a CNN interview that he still doesn’t think tools like Twitter or Facebook make much of a difference. Read more »
Who’s Filtering the Web in the Middle East?
In the wake of Egyptian protesters’ success, citizens of Bahrain, Iran, Libya and Yemen have made attempts to change their governments through protests and marches. Last night Arbor Networks posted a chart showing which countries appear to be manipulating their citizen’s web traffic and which aren’t. Read more »
Which Is Better — Real Names on Facebook or Helping Dissidents?
One of Facebook’s strengths is that you always know who you are connecting with, because the social network requires real names — but that same policy allows governments in countries like Egypt to track down dissidents. Facebook says it has no plans to change its policy. Read more »
Gladwell Still Missing the Point About Social Media and Activism
photo: Flickr user Rosaura Ochoa
Author Malcolm Gladwell, who wrote a critical piece in the New Yorker about the role of social media in activism, has weighed in with his thoughts on the current situation in Egypt. But he continues to miss the real point about the use of these tools. Read more »
How Phone-Powered Mesh Networks Could Help in Egypt
With a complete shut-down of Internet access in Egypt, the next drastic step would be the closure of voice communication networks. But researchers in Australia have demonstrated the use of mesh networks on smartphones, which enable voice calls in areas without a working cellular infrastructure. Read more »
Al-Jazeera Traffic Skyrockets Due to Egyptian Unrest
Did you watch the unrest in Egypt unfold via Al-Jazeera’s English-language live feed? You’re not alone: The Qatar-based news network has seen its traffic syrocket – and it now intends to use some of this momentum to finally gain a foothold in the U.S. cable market. Read more »
It’s Not Twitter or Facebook, It’s the Power of the Network
As it was during the recent uprisings in Tunisia, the role of social media in Egypt has been the subject of some debate. In the end, it’s not about whether to give credit to Twitter or Facebook: it’s about the power of real-time networked communication. Read more »
Why Al-Jazeera Owns Internet TV’s Egypt Coverage
Al-Jazeera has been reporting live from the unrest in Egypt, attracting countless viewers from all around the world to it’s English-language 24/7 TV feed. The network’s strong online presence is a direct result of being ignored by all of the big U.S. cable networks. Read more »
Follow the Civil Unrest in Egypt on Your iOS Device
If you’re away from a computer or just having trouble connecting to a live stream source on your desktop browser, you may still be able to find news on the civil unrest in Egypt on your iOS device, using a couple of different app-based options. Read more »
How Egypt Switched Off the Internet
Egypt’s astonishing decision to shut down communications with the outside world — blocking the Internet for millions of people — might look like a wild reaction by an under-pressure government. But evidence suggests it’s a well-planned and meticulously worked attempt to suppress communication. Read more »
