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Burma, Irrawaddy and the unintended consequences of digital free speech

by adrienne debigare

Last month, Burmese media company Irrawaddy suffered a transmedia attack in response to their coverage of controversial and ultra-nationalist Burmese Buddhist monk, Wirathu. The Blink Hacker Collective, who took responsibility for the attack, brought the site down on October 2, through what Irrawaddy believes was an attack on their servers.

#IMWeekly: October 17, 2014

by jiou park

The latest from the Intercept on Core Secrets and NSA saboteurs in China and Germany; tiny Tor router Anonabox meets dazzling success followed by major backlash; China blocks BBC website as tension in Hong Kong escalates; and Wikileaks publishes a new draft of Trans-Pacific Partnership’s intellectual property chapter, all in this week's IMWeekly.

Hong Kong’s Occupy Central – From Admiralty to FireChat

by jiou park

In late September 2014, the people of Hong Kong embarked on a civil disobedience movement demanding genuine democracy and universal suffrage for the 2017 Chief Executive election. Recently dubbed the “Umbrella Revolution” for its use of umbrellas to counteract pepper spray and tear gas from the police, the Occupy Central movement has captured worldwide attention. Since the Occupy Central movement started, much information has been circulating regarding the various aspects of the protest. This post is an attempt to provide and overview of the major trends relating to Internet and media freedom.

Internet.org in Zambia: Altruism or Corporate Lip Service?

by mayukh sen

Internet.org, a partnership between Facebook and six mobile phone companies around the world, recently launched its first initiatives in Zambia. The project aims to give Internet access to those living in remote, underserved areas of the globe. That said, its launch has attracted heavy criticism – is this seemingly selfless move towards facilitating wider Internet access as idyllic as it sounds?