Stories about Digital Activism
23 February 2019
Singaporean activist sentenced to 16 days in jail after hosting video chat with HK youth leader Joshua Wong
"There’s no sentence that I’d consider fair, because he should never have been charged."
22 February 2019
Facebook, robot vacuum cleaner and pro-surveillance politician voted worst privacy intruders in Czech Republic
The Big Brother “anti-awards” ceremony is designed to shame those who violate people's rights to privacy and data protection.
As Putin preaches ‘sovereignty’ and tech modernization, experts lament loss of online freedoms
As Vladimir Putin promises Russians a faster, more reliable internet, two reports by independent expert groups paint an unrelentingly bleak picture of more crackdowns on online freedom of speech.
Netizen Report: Both Bangladesh and South Korea are waging a ‘war on porn’ — and paving the way for political censorship
South Korea and Bangladesh are blocking porn and "obscene" content, Venezuela is blocking YouTube, and Uzbekistan has finally stopped blocking Facebook and VK.
21 February 2019
Female Brazilian legislator attacked on social media for revealing outfit
"The participation of women in society is so tiny that a neckline can become a huge issue."
18 February 2019
DigiGlot Newsletter: App links refugees with volunteer translators
The DigiGlot Newsletter is a bi-weekly collaborative newsletter that reports on how indigenous, minority, and endangered language communities are adopting and adapting technology to change the internet landscape.
EU proposal pushes tech companies to tackle ‘terrorist content’ with AI, despite implications for war crimes evidence
AI tools can assess whether a video is violent or graphic. But can they determine the video’s intended purpose?
17 February 2019
Russian public sector workers ordered to ‘like’ social media posts promoting the 2019 Winter Universiade
This is not the first instance of Russian public officials acting as "human bots" to promote the government's agenda online.
15 February 2019
Venezuelans see the politics of humanitarian aid play out in online attacks
A unique and technically sophisticated attack this week targeted VoluntariosxVenezuela, an opposition-aligned humanitarian aid website.
14 February 2019
Netizen Report: Will India’s regional internet shutdowns ever end?
Internet shutdowns continue apace in India, Venezuela's opposition websites are under pressure and Uganda's social media tax is driving down internet use.
13 February 2019
#MetooUyghur campaign asks Chinese government to prove that Xinjiang detainees are still alive
Uyghur communities from all over the world are using the #MetooUyghur hashtag to demand answers about the welfare of their loved ones.
Users flood Reddit with China censorship memes, balk at $150 million investment from Tencent
While Chinese companies regularly invest in US media companies, this makes for an unusual match.
11 February 2019
Every vote counts? Tackling voter apathy and low voter turnout in Nigeria's national elections
Will every vote count in Nigeria's 2019 national elections? Voters are the missing link to a strong democracy. Understanding voter apathy is key to successful elections.
Bulgaria's parliament and an educational institute named top privacy violators in ‘Big Brother Awards’
The Bulgarian edition of the Big Brother Awards is back as a means of shaming the worst violators of citizens’ privacy.
Censored on WeChat: A year of content removals on China's most powerful social media platform
Our team tracked censored posts from more than 4,000 public accounts covering daily news on WeChat. Here is what we found.
8 February 2019
Uganda's social media tax is leaving people disconnected — and failing to meet revenue targets
Prior to the tax's implementation, 47.4 percent of people in Uganda were using the internet. Three months later, that number had fallen to 35 percent.
7 February 2019
Netizen Report: Philippine news outlet faces ‘cyber libel’ charges
Philippines DOJ takes another swing at Rappler news site, Facebook tackles disinformation in Indonesia and Russia moves to outlaw fake news.
31 January 2019
Netizen Report: How Venezuela’s political crisis is playing out online
As Venezuelans continue to face internet censorship, Turkmenistan is blocking Google Play, Lebanon is blocking Grindr and Brazil is chipping away at is FOI law.
29 January 2019
Once-beloved youth magazine is accused of whitewashing legacy of Serbian Nazis
How did a magazine that enjoyed a cult status all over Yugoslavia seems to have betrayed its progressive values.
24 January 2019
‘Nobody knows what will come next': Venezuelans rally in strongest challenge to Maduro yet
"In 2014, having the security services pull the plug on the Maduro regime was a fantasy. In 2017, it was a hope. In 2019, it’s the plan"
