The Blog — Platforms and Human Rights

Sourla Wa Bas is an iPhone and iPad app that gives users accurate information about activities of the Syrian opposition.

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Please enjoy Patrick Meier's dissertation: Do "liberation technologies" change the balance of power between repressive regimes & civil society?

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WITNESS has created a toolkit for human rights defenders and social change activists interested in using video to strengthen their advocacy campaigns.

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Over the past few months we've been covering the Saudi #women2drive movement and this week we've shared some horrible news about human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. People are asking us- "How can we help?" We believe getting the word out and making people aware that these human rights abuses are real and serious, is the first step to achieving change. Here's what you can do:

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This morning we are following the livestream of Sifting Fact from Fiction: The Role of Social Media in Conflict featuring speakers such as Jillian C. York, Andy Carvin, Clay Shirky, Marc Lynch, and Alec Ross. Follow the conversation via the livestream or on Twitter: #USIPblogs. This event accompanies the release of a paper, "Blogs and Bullets: Social Media in Contentious Politics" which examines the role of social media in political movements.

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OneVoice Palestine’s youth activists have launched a campaign which uses online video and leverages sports communities in support of the fast-approaching Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations.

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This story was originally publisehd on Tangled Web, a blog of Radio Free Europe, by Luke Allnutt on Friday August 26.

Ever since social networks have come under greater scrutiny for their role in the Arab Spring -- and indeed in the U.K. riots -- repressive governments have been scrambling to find ways to rein in the unruly kids and their social networks.

Shutdowns aren’t always good things (except in times of crisis) as they generate bad headlines, so instead there has been a push from some governments to create their own sanitized networks. A new social network called Muloqot is being launched in Uzbekistan in conjunction with the state telecom monopoly. Muloqot can be translated as “dialogue” or “conversation”.

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This is part of a series profiling lesser known youth activists who have played roles in the Arab spring.

At age 26, Ahmad Hegab is a veteran online activist, having first created a blog in 2003 when he guesses that there were only 20-30 bloggers in the whole country. The network of online activists within Egypt and  around the world that he cultivated over the years became all the more important during the revolution.

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This weekend news broke that Apple has applied for a patent on infrared technology, which would be included in the iPhone camera, that automatically disables camera functions when trying to photograph or film a movie or concert. Are there consequences for human rights defenders?

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After the unexpected events of 2011 (think: Arab Spring), it's unsurprising that the Personal Democracy Forum conference in New York City, an event the explores the intersection between politics and technology, is focusing a little more on global politics than in years past. Indeed, there's a whole track devoted to "global digital activism."

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