Iran and the Real Net Effect: A First-Hand Response to the Pessimists (Siavashi)

While Evgeny Morozov uses the medium of Twitter to get out his essential  information --- "During our interview today David Frost discovered that in Russian 'Morozov' means 'son of frost'. He denies the rumor!" --- others are using the technology from different motives.

They are doing so, often in defiance of the control and repression that occupies Morozov, to change the world.

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Tunisia and the Real Net Effect: A First-Hand Account of Why Social Media Matters (Kosina and "S")

"Without the Internet there would be no flow of information, neither within the country nor to the outside world. Without the Internet it would have been possible for the massacre to happen in silence for us and for the outside world. President Ben Ali had censored all the media and especially the Internet (everything except for Al-Jazeera TV)."

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Tunisia and the Real Net Effect: Getting It Right on Protest and Social Media

As with the uprising in Iran in 2009, this month's protests in Tunisia, culminating in the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Bin Ali, have sparked a debate about the role of social media in public resistance. While many seem to have been inspired and given hope by the roles of social media in helping to mobilise action or to spread news of developments, eternal net skeptic Evgeny Morozov continue to dissent.

But he and his allies aren’t just dissenting.

Morozov, in his "First Thoughts on Tunisia and the Role of the Internet", re-invents the course of  events to fit his pre-set narrative minimising the place of social media in activism. While I may not be a net-positive, I’m not as net-negative as Morozov and Co.

To be up-front and accurate, I’m replying to Morozov's entire article, paragraph by paragraph.

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WikiLeaks Latest: US Department of Justice Subpoenas Twitter Records of Volunteers (Greenwald)

Last night, Birgitta Jónsdóttir --- a former WikiLeaks volunteer and current member of the Icelandic Parliament --- announced on Twitter) that she had been notified by Twitter that the DOJ had served a Subpoena demanding information "about all my tweets and more since November 1st 2009.

What hasn't been reported is that the Subpoena served on Twitter -- which is actually an Order from a federal court that the DOJ requested -- seeks the same information for numerous other individuals currently or formerly associated with WikiLeaks, including Jacob Appelbaum, Rop Gonggrijp, and Julian Assange.  It also seeks the same information for Bradley Manning and for WikiLeaks' Twitter account.

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WikiLeaks CyberWar Update: Visa, MasterCard Sites Still Off-Line

For earlier updates, see Wednesday's story....

UPDATE 1640 GMT: Tweet of the Day. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley has tweeted, as the Department opens World Press Freedom Day, "No country believes in press freedom more than the United States. We practice what we preach."

UPDATE 1555 GMT:  WikiLeaks has issued a statement:  "These denial of service attacks are believed to have originated from an internet gathering known as Anonymous. This group is not affiliated with WikiLeaks. There has been no contact between any Wikileaks staffer and anyone at Anonymous. WikiLeaks has not received any prior notice of any of Anonymous’ actions.  Wikileaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said: 'We neither condemn nor applaud these attacks. We believe they are a reflection of public opinion on the actions of the targets.'”

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China and Blogging: Breaching the Great Firewall? (The Economist)

China’s military mouthpiece, the Liberation Army Daily, is not a fan of microblogging. On October 19th it said Twitter had caused chaos during Iran’s political turmoil last year, and gave warning that such instant information-sharing tools posed “hidden dangers” to national security. Having blocked access to Twitter, however, China is encouraging home-grown versions. Both the government and its critics have become avid users.

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Following Up EA's Stories: Strikes on Pakistan, Flotilla Raid, US Military v. Obama, Israel's Settlements, Twitter and Activism

Putting this week's stories on EA WorldView into context....

The Strikes on Pakistan: On Tuesday, we considered, "Stepping Up the Drone Killings (And How to Accept Them)".

The political tensions continue to increase. Dr Zalmai Rassoul, the Afghan foreign minister, has issued a pointed warning: "On many occasions from this podium, the Afghan delegation has drawn the attention of the global community to the reality that terrorism and the ideologies of extremism and radicalism are spawned beyond the borders of Afghanistan." 

Rassoul said that, as long as" certain state and non-state actors" provide Al Qaeda and its affiliated individuals and entities with sanctuary, arms and financing, they would remain formidable and murderous adversaries.

Yesterday Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said to members of his party that "international forces were whipping up a storm against the government" and pledged not to bow to the pressure.

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Mexico: Twitter & Bloggers Break the Silence on the Drug Wars (Tuckman)

Jo Tuckman writes for The Guardian of London:

A small army of bloggers and tweeters is filling the gaps left by traditional media in Mexico that are increasingly limiting their coverage of the country's drug wars because of pressure from the cartels.

"Shots fired by the river, unknown number of dead," read one recent tweet on a busy feed from the northern border city of Reynosa, #Reynosafollow. "Organized crime blockade on San Fernando road lifted," said another. "Just saw police officers telling a group of narcos about the positions of navy checkpoints," ran a third.

Nothing of this kind appeared in the city's papers which, along with most media outlets in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas, have become better known for what they do not publish than for what they do.

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A US Deal for Iran & Ahmadinejad: How Twitter Revealed the Plan on Afghanistan

We're working on a major analysis of the Obama Administration's approach to Iran --- think the pressure of sanctions linked to hopes for talks with Tehran on not only the nuclear issue but other regional matters --- but in the meantime, let's turn it over to Vali Nasr to give a sneak peek on Twitter.

For some in the Administration, this is the deal for Mahmoud in New York (and for the Supreme Leader in Tehran?): Give us the public appearance of coming back to the nuclear talks --- without insisting at this point on unilateral enrichment of uranium inside Iran --- and we can work together for mutual benefits in Afghanistan.

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Afghanistan: Did the International Security Assistance Force Just Back Partition?

 

This morning, a Twitter user plugged the following article in The Daily Telegraph of London, "Nato Urged to Allow Partition of Afghanistan":

Robert Blackwill, who was Condolezza Rice's deputy as National Security Adviser in 2003 to 2004, will use a speech at the International Institute of Strategic Studies think tank in London on Monday to call on President Barack Obama to make drastratic changes in the war's objectives.

The result was that America now had 1,000 soldiers deployed for every one of the estimated 100 al Qaeda operatives now believed to be based in Afghanistan and was hemorraging $100 billion a year on the conflict.