Stories about Governance from December, 2016
Belarus Moves to Block Tor in Fight Against Online Anonymity
Belarus is ramping up efforts to crack down on Tor. But does Minsk actually have the ability to block the anonymity network?
Two Young Activists Get 10 Years in Jail Each After Graffiti on Azerbaijan Patriarch's Statue
"I don’t want to be remembered by apologising in my final statement. I refuse to see myself as a prisoner. I am a lover of freedom."
Activist Arrested on Royal Insult Charges for Sharing BBC Article About Thailand's New King
Almost 2,500 Facebook users shared the post, but the police singled out an activist calling for the restoration of democracy in Thailand.
Report Shows Ghana's Opposition Presidential Candidate Leads in Facebook Likes, Incumbent President Leads in Twitter Followers
"[T]he report has shown that social media has become a normal and central form of communication for all segments of the population, particularly, political parties and their leaders..."
Russian Blogger Launches Campaign to Annul Anti-Extremism Law He Was Convicted of Violating
Blogger Anton Nossik wants to annul Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code, a catch-all statute that prohibits "ctions aimed at the incitement of hatred or enmity."
Russian Media Regulator Backpedals on Google Pressure
Hours after Russian news outlets began reporting that state media regulatory agency Roskomnadzor had issued instructions forcing Google to re-register in Russia or face sanctions, an agency representative backpedaled, telling roem.ru that Izvestiya, the newspaper that broke the news, had misreported the story. Izvestiya quoted Vadim Ampelonsky in their initial report as saying that...
Russia Ratchets Up Pressure on Google
Roskomnadzor, the agency that regulates Russian media, has issued instructions that will force Google to change its registration by the end of March.
Gambia Shocks the World With Peaceful Presidential Polls, Opposition Wins
The presidential election results and consequent concession of Yahya Jammeh came as a pleasant surprise to many Gambians -- and the rest of the world.
Russia, China, and the Push for ‘Digital Sovereignty’
Russia and China's cyber cooperation is a marriage of convenience that reflects a shared priority: regime stability.