Public Square Squared: The Front Lines of the Info War
Guestpost by David Sasaki
Depending on who you ask, social media and greater access to information are leading us either to liberation or chaos. In a matter of weeks, Egyptians and Tunisians organized massive revolutionary movements to remove longstanding dictatorial regimes — and to open the door to meaningful democratic reforms. However, social media also facilitated the coordination of violent rioting in London, while right-wing, extremist bloggers are said to have influenced Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik.
When San Francisco’s public transit system (BART) shut down cell phone access in response to planned protests against the fatal shooting of a commuter, local bloggers were quick to make comparisons with Mubarak’s decision to shut down Internet access during the Egyptian protests. The same week British Prime Minister David Cameron called for greater government control of social media, much to the delight of China and Iran.
Reuters’ political risk correspondent warns of a wider, forthcoming “info war,” blurring the lines between censorship and social harmony, open and closed societies.
The Public Square2 symposium will examine the front lines of this so-called info war with the activists and analysts who have been at the center of the pandemonium and revolution. Tunisian free speech activist Lina Ben Mhenni and Turkish sociologist Zeynep Tufekci will explain the significance and outcomes of the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, respectively. Spanish-Syrian blogger and activist Leila Nachawati offers a comparison of the massive protest movements in both countries and how they have been portrayed by international, mainstream media.
Other nations have proven resistant to cyber-activism, despite the best efforts of the activist digerati to bring about meaningful social and political reforms. New media scholar and author Hu Yong will explain the constraints that bind citizen journalism and information activism in China. Singaporean filmmaker and blogger Tan Siok Siok will share her observations after filming “Twittamentary,” a documentary about the impact of Twitter on our lives. Markus Beckedahl will present Digitale Gesellschaft, or “Digital Society,” a new, networked organization to advance civil rights for German Internet users.
We will also be joined by the winners of the Digital Communities category of the Prix Forum, each advancing a vision of social change through networked collaboration. Please join us on Sunday, September 4 at the Brucknerhaus.
