Stories about Politics from September, 2020
Thai activists share hopes and wishes during a night camp protest
“Meeting the kids in this generation again, I don’t want them to be 74 and still having to come and sit like this again. I want it to end already.”
Azerbaijani authorities disrupt internet nationwide amid Nagorno-Karabakh clashes
Access has been on and off since clashes broke out on September 27.
Citizenship by investment in the Caribbean: Economic boon or diplomatic minefield?
Citizenship by Investment, dubbed the “golden passport”, offers the wealthy a second citizenship at a time when visa and COVID-19 restrictions are becoming more onerous.
BJP-led Assam state in India criticized for failed promises ahead of elections
The BJP was elected in the rural state in 2016 on promises to create jobs and clean up corruption. Four years on, the government faces shortcomings on both fronts.
Toward a cyberfeminist future: A new study centers African women as protagonists online
Over 3,000 women from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, and South Africa, were interviewed about their "perceptions of digital safety" and online gender-based violence in a new, large-scale study by Pollicy.
North Macedonia scraps ministerial post responsible for the diaspora
What will happen to the National Strategy for Cooperation with the Diaspora and who will follow up on the work—however minor—done by Minister Ademi?
It’s time to remove Sudan from the US’ state-sponsored terrorism list
Sudan landed on the US state sponsor of terrorism list in 1993, but none of the original reasons still hold now. It’s time to remove Sudan from the SST list.
#FreeMuay: Groups call for release of Laotian net idol and environment advocate
"Muay bravely stood up to protect the environment. Muay does not deserve to be let alone imprisoned from taking this stand."
Fearing the national security law, Hongkongers change their social media habits
Of the 2,587 people who responded to an online survey conducted by The Stand News, 96 percent said they fear "loss of free speech."
Thai protesters submit petition for monarchy reforms, install ‘people’s plaque’
The plaque has this inscription: "People shall know, that this country belongs to the people, not the king as they lied."
In Pakistan, women stage nationwide protest in response to shocking rape incident
The protests' organizers also expressed opposition to public hangings, a call that often resurfaces in Pakistan whenever a rape incident gains media attention.
What Weibo and Chinese media are saying about TikTok's pending sale to US companies
"ByteDance's CEO needs to be tough and get prepared to withdraw from the U.S. market," one Chinese user said on Weibo.
Journalists face sedition charges under cybercrime law in Pakistan
"The alarming increase in such actions against journalists confirms that the government is bent on muzzling freedom of expression."
As US West Coast burns, false rumors spread like wildfire on Chinese social media
This is another example of a disinformation trend underpinned by a wider narrative of "unrestricted warfare" between the US and China.
Will a new US TV series on the ‘Macedonian teens who helped elect Trump’ perpetuate a tired cliché?
A new series by streaming platform Quibi will supposedly tell "the true story of the Macedonian teenagers who made a fortune creating fake news in the run-up to the 2016 election."
Australian government on collision course with Facebook and Google over news revenue
"The code is justified by a News Corp lie, that Google steals news content and makes billions of dollars from it."
Lebanon protests: Authorities prey on digital spaces to silence criticism
While social media and WhatsApp have been extensively leveraged by demonstrators to organize, document, and sprawl the protest, Lebanese authorities have resorted to identifying and persecuting dissidents.
Border row, trade turmoil and rising Chinese influence send Indo-Nepal ties to lowest ebbs
Nepal finds itself in the line of fire of the China-US trade war and the Indo-China border conflict.
Social media in Latin America: Caught between a rock and a hard place
As researchers, it is very difficult to know how, or even if, high profile global announcements are actually impacting users in Latin America.
How the world's six largest economies are faring amidst the global political economy of COVID-19
"The political economy of any one nation, however, is interlinked with the global economy, and because of this the scale of activities in the largest economies really does matter."
Brutal murders in Guyana seen as ‘continuation of earlier ethnic upheavals’
After a months-long election stalemate, and the opposition party's framing of the murders as the failure of a "fraudulent government" to protect Afro-Guyanese, racial tensions are again on the rise.
