Monday, April 20, 2015

Social media and government: 13 to 19 April

Summary

In the UK, Bloomberg outages caused some snarky social media commentary and a Government postponement. A Spanish politician made a gaffe and apologised via Twitter. France is trying to be cool and social when it comes to communicating social policy.

Ugandans are increasingly using social media to achieve real world change. Nigeria is watching a sad anniversary pass by while politicians snipe at each other on Twitter. South Africans protest xenophobia.

Iraqis are more active against Daesh on social media. Turks are still experiencing a censored media environment in general. Iran was hacked by the Saudis (allegedly). The UAE hosted "Innovation Days" and shared some amazing stats about citizens and social media.  Ethiopians are trying to verify the nationality of new ISIS / Daesh victims in a Libyan video in social media.

The Chinese are fighting smoking online while India - well, India's going through a lot via social media, as usual: An old politician is re-entering politics, an current politician is being shamed, and net neutrality is up for grabs. Plus, convicts are posting to their social media accounts. The Vietnamese saved some trees through social media activism, but the Vietnamese Government is keeping an eye on activists online. A Singaporean youth has been arrested for criticising Jesus and Singapore's founder on YouTube. Malaysia is updating its Sedition Act for the digital age, as is Papua New Guinea. Australia and New Zealand shut down the ad campaign of a local fresh food supplier.

Canadians are fighting humanitarian douchery. Hillary Clinton is still running and running strong - at least in social media. The USA Office of Government Ethics has published social media guidelines for its employees. Jamaicans are on social media, a global report announces, and Mexicans on social media are justifiably outraged at federal agents - again.

Venezuelans want you to adopt them and Bolivians may soon be monitored in their use of social media. Brazilian President Dilma is "paying attention" to online protests.

Read more and find three good reports below...

Europe

 

The United Kingdom

 

On Friday, the Bloomberg terminals used by financial industry workers throughout the world to trade and research financial deals went down for several hours. When the terminals came back online around 9 am, the hiccups didn't stop as slowdowns and troubles connecting were reported throughout the day. Blooomberg blamed the unprecedented shutdown on a combination of hardware and software failures, dismissing rumors of cyber-attacks. The glitch allegedly forced the UK Debt Management Office to postpone a sale of 3 billion pounds worth of one-month, three-month, and six-month bills till Friday afternoon. What the shutdown showed more than anything is the incredible reliance on Bloomberg the financial industry has. Chatter on social media mocked and debated the causes and results of Bloomberg's power.



Sources: @TelegraphNews
 

As part of their campaign for Parliamentary seats in the general election, the Liberal Democrats have promised to introduce a Digital Bill of Rights to set out "fundamental rights in the digital space." The Bill would protect online encryption technologies and strengthen the role of the UK data regulator. The party leaders have also promised "to work to introduce tougher penalties" for those individuals and organisations that are responsible for significant data breaches.

Sources: @GovComputing


The UK elections are playing out in social media as well as offline. However, the jury is still out on how effective social advertising is at swaying the vote. Despite the debate, both parties are spending plenty of money on social advertising (e.g. the Tories were spending about 100 000 pounds a month on Facebook as of February this year.)

Spain

 

The leader of the Socialist (PSOE) pushed the wrong button in a vote on abortion regulations in Spanish Parliament, prompting his apology on social media and a lot of general Spanish sarcasm from netizens. Pedro Sánchez () inadvertently supported the Popular Party (PP) reform that will force women under the age of 17 to get parental consent prior to an abortion. Sanchez immediately took to social networks to apologise, but his gaffe will live in online infamy for a bit at least. The new regulations, by the way, passed, but not due purely to Pedro Sánchez.
Sources: ,


France

 

France recently published a "Letter to the 7 families" of the fictional Game of Thrones world in an attempt to share public policy with the French masses (presumably the Game of Thrones fans.) "The idea is to put in place a strategy for governmental communication across the different avenues opened by social media..." a government official said. "You have to break from approaches that are too institutional to reach the largest possible public."



 Sources: @gouvernementFR

Africa

 

Libya

 

A new ISIS/ Daesh video filmed in Libya shows militants killing 30 alleged Ethiopian Christians and is circulating on social media. Ethiopian officials have condemned the attack but have not yet verified if the people shown in the video are Ethiopian citizens. Ethiopian officials have also offered to repatriate Ethiopians in Libya that would like to leave.

Sources: +Firstpost

Uganda

 

In this article, readers are told that ignoring social media is perilous for those interested in reaching out to Ugandans. After citing several Ugandan politicians using social media (Amama Mbabaz,  Yoweri Museveni, Hon. Mukula, Ruhakana Rugunda, etc.), the article goes on to focus on general public use of social media to promote movements:
  • The 40 days over 40 smiles Foundation - a youth-led foundation helping vulnerable children that used Facebook and Twitter to build its foundation. 
  • The Rosemary Nankabirwa Cancer Treatment Campaign - when a former NTV Uganda newsanchor was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, a #HelpRosemary online campaign helped raise the money for her treatment within one week. (Unfortunately, despite the funding, the newsanchor died.)
  • Shell and Bolton - a company advertised a job for an Administrative Assistant and specifically requested an Indian, Philipino or white foreigner. National anger online caused the Government to intervene and Shell and Bolton shut down in Uganda.
  • #StopMTNGonya Campaign - the national Telecom giant MTN Uganda took remedial actions to save face after an irate customer led an online social media campaign to shame the telecom company's service.
  • Africell and alleged racism - When Lebanese owners took over from Orange, Africell was accused in Ugandan social media of racism and poor management. The company is working to counteract the bad publicity.
Source: @wirejames

Nigeria

 

Protests and solidarity online and offline across Nigeria recalled that it has now been one year since 276 girls were kidnapped from their boarding school in Chibok, Nigeria, by the terrorist group Boko Haram. Despite the #BringBackOurGirls campaign and the very recent Nigerian elections, most of the girls are still missing.

Sources: general Internet...


Former Senator and minister Musiliu Obanikoro and Governor of Rivers State Rotimi Amaechi used Twitter to argue over the veracity of election results in the Rivers State of Nigeria.  Both accused the other of rigging this or prior elections, and their followers joined in to support their preferred candidate or to attack the other. (It should be mentioned that the latest federal elections in Nigeria were successful in peacefully passing power from one leadership to the next.) For more, follow #NigeriaDecides.
Sources: @SaharaReporters

South Africa

 

Recent violence has taken the lives of five foreigners in a wave of xenophobia in South Africa. The city of Durban and online activisits throughout the country took to the streets and to social media to say no to xenophobia. They used the hashtags #PeaceMarch and #SayNoToXenophobia to share photos of the march online. Tim Flack, a local activist, felt the march and the online campaign was not enough. He filed Human Rights complaints against the King of the Zulus in South Africa, who has called foreigners "lice." The Zulu King denies instigating any violence against foreigners.


Sources: @tim_meh87, +CNN International


Middle East

 

Affinis Labs is an incubator group targeting Muslim start-ups that aim to solve issues unique to the Muslim community. At the moment, one of the most obvious concerns (at least, according to Western media) is ISIS recruitment of vulnerable Muslims, particularly among the youth. The Lab has two social media initiatives aimed at addressing this concern: One 2 One, an app to identify individuals using overtly extremist images or rhetoric on social media and connect them with others who can counsel the would-be extremists; and Come Back 2 Us, a website that allows ISIS recruits that want to return to their old lives to connect with family members and government representatives that can help them. Come Back 2 Us is still not live, pending guarantees from governments that individuals seeking to return to their home countries will not be immediately thrown in jail.




Sources: , @laserlauren, @Newsweek,

Turkey

 

Turgay Olcayto, President of the Turkish journalists' Association (TGC), criticised the Turkish Government's repression of opposition journalists, citing recent bans on social media. “There are restrictions on social media and accreditation censorship that eliminate equality among journalists. There is a lot of oppression of opposition newspapers. The government wants monotype journalists. We demand that these problems be solved in a democratic way,” Olcayto said at the TGC's 76th seminar in  İzmir, hosted with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS).

Sources: @Todays Zaman

Iran

 

Iran's Al-Alam television social media accounts were hacked by supporters of the Saudi-led air war against Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen. Al-Alam was critical in its coverage of the Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen, launched on March 26th.  Perhaps in retaliation, Saudi hackers posted the names and contact information for Al-Alam correspondents throughout the Middle East. The hackers posted in Arabic and in English, Tweeting "Think more if you are going to talk about Saudi Arabia," and "This hack I would give it as a gift for our pilots." The hackers also shared a video singing the praises of the Saudi king on Al-Alam's YouTube account.

Sources: @etribune

 

Iraq

 

When the Iraqi Government shut down online services after initial ISIS / Daesh attacks on Iraqi cities, some critics say the Government did a diservice to its citizens.  Iraqi blogger and activist Tahseen al-Zarkani, said, "The former Iraqi government made a big mistake by blocking those sites because they basically left the IS group alone online, to occupy Facebook and Twitter, with their own propaganda....Iraqi activists were defeated before the battle for social media even began...At first they were helpless and really didn't know what to do. But this has changed. Local activists have been able to get more experience and training to confront the IS group online since then." al-Zarkani notes most Iraqi activists use Facebook, and they can be split into three groups: "educated locals who already have well-established social media accounts and who may also have done some blogging" (e.g. Mosul Eye or Anbar Daily), then Iraqis with partisan interests (e.g. in support of Shiite Muslim militias), and then those Iraqis online who re-Tweet or re-post news. More information about social media in Iraq and amongst ISIS can be read in a report released by the Iraqi Media House which details how media - not just social media- is used amongst ISIS in Iraq.

Sources: +Your Middle East


Something this blog missed - when Iraqi forces retook the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State in early April, the Defence Minister Khaled Obeidi broadcast the "brilliant victory" with much pomp and circumstance on television and via social media. ISIS, of course, denied the victory - also on social media.

Sources: @nabihbulos


United Arab Emirates

 

At "Innovation Days," an event jointly hosted by the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG) and SAP, a global software company, panelists highlighted that more than half of survey respondents strongly support governments' use of social media. The Arab Social Media report ‘Citizen Engagement and Public Services in the Arab World: The Potential of Social Media’ indicates that the Arab world includes over 82 million Facebook users and 5.8 million active Twitter users, not to mention the WhatsApp and other social platform users. The UAE is a leader in this area, panelists noted. Dr Ali Sebaa Al Marri, executive president, MBRSG, said: “The UAE is at the forefront of Arab countries in utilising social media in the provision of services, whether for citizen engagement, innovation, or intergovernmental collaboration. A case in point is the success of the recent ‘UAE Brainstorming Session’ via Twitter, initiated by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to crowdsource ideas for addressing healthcare and education issues in the UAE. Another good example of mature social media use is Dubai’s enhanced focus on m-government services in various areas.” Moreover, according to the Oxford Economics and SAP study "Workforce 202," the demand for social media skills is expected to increase 28% in the next three years in the UAE.



Sources: @tradearabia

Asia

 

China

 

The Chinese Government launched an social media WeChat account last week that will help citizens enforce the nation's new smoking rules. The rules ban smoking in indoor public places, and citizens can upload photos of rule-breakers to the WeChat account to help the Government find and fine these rule-breakers. The Government is also encouraging Chinese netizens to vote on a hand gesture to encourage smokers to stop smoking:" I do mind（我介意）,which depicts a woman covering her nose with her hand, Don’t（不可以）, in which the woman is holding her palm like a stop sign, and Please stop（请停止）, in which the woman makes a time-out signal with her hands." Reactions online were a bit mixed, given the history of public smoking in China.

Sources: +Wall Street Journal

  India

 

Indian politiican Rahul Gandhi is staging a comeback in politics - potentially soon running as President of the the Congress party, the current opposition. Citing the recent land bill and related controversy, Gandhi led a rally and was the centre of an online hashtag: #KisaanVirodhiNarendraModi.


The Indian health Ministry is getting ready to inject $2 175 000 USD into digital communications to raise awareness about government initiatives. The goal of the digital strategy will be information, education, and communication. "The idea is to utilize the new age media platforms to disseminate information and create maximum awareness. For the purpose, the ministry has earmarked 50% of the Rs 300 crore communication budget entirely for digital media for the current financial year," said a health ministry official. Pilot projects have already been launched. 'Mission Indradhanush,' launched in December to encourage immunization of children against seven vaccine-preventable diseases, reached about 4 million online accounts.



Sources: @timesofindia


Suzette Jordan, the victim of a gang rape in 2012 who chose to share her identity with the public to bring attention to the under-reported crime of rape in India, died recently in Kolkata. Her alleged attackers remain in jail awaiting trial, yet they have been active - on Facebook and Instagram. Nasir Khan, Ruman Khan and Sumit Bajaj are all in a West Bengal jail, and all have managed to communicate publicly with their social networks despite their incarceration. Khan was posting so regularly that a daily news site picked his posts up and the jail was forced to confiscate his mobile and sim card. However, he's not been charged with anything as a result.
Sources: @dna


The hashtag #ShameonArunJaitley trended amongst Indian netizens last week. India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) appeared in an interview with the Indian channel NDTV in which he was seen to criticise the ruling party - his party - the BJP. Jaitley also took issue with another Indian politician and Member of Parliament, VK Singh (@Gen_VKSingh), who criticised the press for highlighting certain issues over others. In an angry Tweet, Singh called the media "presstitutes," mixing press and prostitute to criticise the media's motives in prioritising stories. Singh later apologised for the Tweet but stated he only apologised to "responsible" journalists.




India's Government is re-considering a tax initiative targeting Indian taxpayers with foreign bank accounts after being attacked on social media as well as offline for the initiative. Critics claim the new ITR form related to the initiative is too complicated and that the Government is making life more difficult for registered, honest taxpayers rather than those that try to avoid taxes altogether. Even Arvind Virmani, who is currently India’s representative at the International Monetary Fund, took the initiative to task on Twitter.


Sources: @dravirmani


Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi  spoke to a group of his party's lawmakers on the importance of his pro-poor government. You can find highlights of what he said here. He noted that he is particularly pleased with Minister Sushmaji (@SushmaSwaraj): "You might have seen on social media, if someone tweets Sushmaji, she replies even if it is at 1 am."



Sources:


Debate over net neutrality is flaring in India as two companies, Facebook and Airtel, claim that they aim to expand Internet penetration in India while opponents argue that both are making moves to violate the principle of net neutrality. Follow the debate via #netneutrality and #SavetheInternet. TRAI, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, has created a consultation aimed to find out how the Indian public feels about net neutrality. Activisits that found the consultation complicated built an interface designed to guide users through the consultation:



Vietnam

 

The Vietnamese have used Facebook to successfully protest Government plans to chop down 6,700 trees in Hanoi and to protest local government authorities from regulating humorous signs.  The Vietnamese Health Minister, who joined Facebook with a public page in March, has even used her Facebook account to respond to and help Vietnamese in need of special healthcare assistance. Last month, the Minister also used Facebook to help find a job for the daughter of a deceased veteran of the Vietnam-China conflict in the Truong Sa archipelago in 1988.

Sources: @tuoitrenewsvn


The Vietnamese Government has rolled out a recent "circular" detaling how authorities should interpret certain laws. The circular, released April 13th,"would require internet firms such as Facebook and Google to remove unwanted content and hand over information about rabble-rousers." Already since the end to the tree fellings mentioned above, the Communist Party sent out a memo warning that "bad people" are attempting to exploit the tree-cutting anger to "undermine the social order." In addition, academics that were earlier outspoken about the subject have been asked to be quiet and plainclothes agents have begun attending rallies related to saving the trees.

Sources: @TheEconomist, +The Economist

Singapore

 

Amos Yee Pang Sang, a Singaporean blogger and YouTube personality, posted an 8-minute video in which he likened the country's founder, Lee Kuan Yew, to Jesus because both are “power-hungry and malicious but deceive others into thinking they are both compassionate and kind... Lee Kuan Yew was a horrible person, because everyone is scared,” Yee says in the video. “Everyone is afraid if they say something like that, they might get into trouble.” Yee, age 16, was arrested at the end of March for violating Singapore's hate laws - specifically the Penal Code and Protection from Harassment Act. He could face up to 3 years in jail if convicted. He has outside support, however; journalists have used his case to highlight the restrictive environment in which the press in Singapore works and a Christian Singaporean launched a popular petition asking the Government to release Yee. A Singaporean contact of mine on Facebook noted, "There were several cases filed against him from the public, including his mother. He continued to post content disobeying a court order ordering him not to when his case is being heard. His parents denied to bail him out."



Sources: @SuperJulia


From the 15th to the 17th of April, Singapore hosted an East Asia Summit Symposium on countering violent extremism. In the panel East Asia Summit Symposium on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration, the only panel open to the media, panelists including USA Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel discussed the use of social media propaganda by Daesh (ISIS). Stengel defended the role of social media companies and pointed out the importance of individuals on social media. "The number of cat videos versus the number of Daesh videos is an exponentially larger number. People on the Internet are much more interested in cats than they are interested in Daesh...It's up to all of us to enlist the credible voices of real people out there, who are rejecting what Daesh is doing online."


Sources: +AsiaOne

"The number of cat videos versus the number of Daesh videos is an exponentially larger number. People on the Internet are much more interested in cats than they are interested in Daesh," he said to laughter, referring to ISIS by the acronym of its Arabic name, which militants hate. Some officials have used the term to refer to ISIS, to stress that there is nothing Islamic or state-like about it.
"It's up to all of us to enlist the credible voices of real people out there, who are rejecting what Daesh is doing online," he added.
- See more at: http://news.asiaone.com/news/world/calls-curb-isis-social-media-reach#sthash.wSu5Zxxi.dpuf

Malaysia

 

The Malaysian Parliament passed amendments to the 1948 Sedition Act on April 10th. Since then, the Communications and Multimedia Ministry (MCMC) has admitted that they are working on mechanisms by which to monitor news portals and social media for sedition. The Sedition Act amendments include more control over bloggers and general social media users. This will require amendments to the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) of 1998. Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek told the public, “I assure you these amendments will only be tabled in Parliament after we engage with all relevant bodies, including NGOs....We will hold discussions with them, and take their views and feedback into consideration when preparing the Bill.”
Communications and Multimedia Deputy Minister Datuk Jailani Johari explained to Malaysian Senators discussing the proposed amendments that the MCMC has opened a total of 283 investigation papers over the abuse of social media. As a result, 25 cases have been brought to court thus far. In addition to prosecution, the MCMC uses administrative actions, like restricting access to websites that violate Malaysian law, and, as part of a long-term strategy, the MCMC is developing its forensic team, running awareness programmes and strengthening its complaints bureau.

Sources:  The Malay Insider, @yahooSG


 In his address to Malaysian military personnel and representatives from South East Asia, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein appealed to parents, "IS has got a very sophisticated media initiative and using social media not to hide, but to promote (their agenda). That is the challenge that we are now navigating....This is a new phenomenon. This is not Mat Selamat, Nordin Mat Top or Jemaah Islamiah. We cannot face it alone, we need to work together. On the social media aspect, the most important, is that now they have access to the minds and the hearts of so many people who are traditionally not seen as a threat. We need to change the way we think. We need to change the way we act.”


Sources: thestaronline

Papua New Guinea

 

The Pacific Freedom Forum has condemned Papua New Guinea's national newspaper for endorsing the PNG Government's planned restrictions on social media. (These new restrictions, which include outlawing pen names in social media, were covered in this blog's Asia section at the beginning of April.) Jason Brown of the Pacific Freedom Forum explained "I guess it's differrent this time in that it's a member of the media raising the need for the law rather than the government and that raises all sorts of conflict of interest questions about the national newspaper and what their real intent is in having that newspaper."
Sources: @rnz_news


Australia

 

The Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory Andrew Barr is getting a reputation for savvy social media use. Instead of addressing the press in impromptu interviews, as did his predecessor, Barr has his own staff of media personnel filming his remarks and staging his outreach. Every media opportunity is then repackaged to emphasise Barr's message and posted to his various social media outlets. Barr even pays for promotion of his social media messages, e.g. promoted videos, out of his own pocket. He also cleverly promotes his messages and images through other ways - for example he posed for TV news with a cat that has over 7 000 Instagram followers. "Social media is an incredibly important tool in communicating with a broad range of constituents, particularly younger people and the growing number who do not engage with traditional media," Mr Barr told the Canberra Times via email. "Quality video content is becoming increasingly easier to capture with basic equipment.  My picture and video posts generally use digital cameras and smart phones." (In the USA, politicians as diverse as Chris Christie and Barack Obama have been accused of and admired for pursuing similar tactics.)



Sources: @TomMcIlroy, @ABarrMLA

Every five years, the Australian Government releases an Inter-generational Report which provides a snapshot of how Australia might look in 40 years. The Report covers everything from life expectancy to public spending. This year, the Report has been criticised for coming across less as an objective look at Australian realities and more as a policy document. Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, a well-known Australian scientist and commentator, participated in ads promoting the report, much to his chagrin. "Dr. Karl," as he is known, has since announced on Twitter that he wished he had never participated in the Report's ad campaign and that he is donating all money he receives as a result to "needy schools." Dr. Karl was particularly incensed that the Report does not mention climate change.
Sources: @DoctorKarl, @shalailah


Australia and New Zealand

 

Anzac Day is April 25th. Anzac Day commemorates the first day that the Australian and New Zealand armed forces sustained heavy casualties in the First World War. It is now used as a day of remembrance for all Australian and New Zealand veterans. There is even a 1921 law in Australia protects the use of the word Anzac. Woolworths, a supermarket chain with the slogan "The Fresh Food People," initiated a "Fresh in Our Memories" campaign around the day stoking anger from citizens and politicians. People found the use of the day as a marketing ploy in poor taste. Minister for Veterans' Affairs Michael Ronaldson, stated, "The Australian community quite rightly expects that the word 'Anzac' is not trivialised or used inappropriately and as Minister for Veterans' Affairs, I am responsible for ensuring that any use of the word Anzac does not provide commercial benefit to an organisation. In this instance, permission was not sought by the campaign proponents, nor would it have been approved. Immediately upon having this campaign brought to my attention, I contacted Woolworths." Woolworths pulled the ad campaign and apologised, but memes criticising the ads were already trending in social media with the hashtag #freshinourmemories.
Sources: +BBC News, @ErykBagshaw

North America

 

Canada

 

Meanwhile, if you are thinking of volunteering as a humanitarian - out to save the world and whatnot - do your research and search your inner motivation. Having some trouble? Check out this campaign to #endhumanitariandouchery. The campaign comes out of Vancouver, Canada.



Sources: @HumaniDouchery, @GuardianGDP

New Brunswick Finance Minister Roger Melanson (@RogerMelanson) announced a decision to stop a rebate programme for university students. The programme rewarded university students that chose to remain in New Brunswick post-graduation. His announcement has received mixed (well, largely negative) reviews in social media via the hashtag #nbpoli (for New Brunswick politics.)



Sources: +CBC News

 USA

 

According to Facebook, Hillary Clinton "generated 10.1 million interactions (likes, posts, comments, shares) related to Hillary Clinton and her announcement" last Sunday. Rand Paul only managed 1.9 million engagements from 865,000 people and Ted Cruz 5.5 million interactions from 2.1 million unique people. As of 7 am the Monday after Clinton's announcement, her Tweet announcing the campaign had received 95 000 reTweets and she'd reached up to 3.3. million followers. Not all the buzz was good - Facebook noted that in the run-up to her announcement, Clinton was the subject of a lot of posts on ethics - nor was the buzz particularly geographically diverse - a lot of it came out of DC. However, Clinton still leads the pack of US Presidential contenders on social media. There is debate and there are allegations, however, that Clinton is "astroturfing" - getting fake followers and using bots to push up her online popularity, something that politicians around the world have done before.



Sources: +USA TODAY, +Hillary Clinton


The USA's Office of Government Ethics has finally published a Standards of Conduct guide for federal employees on social media. The Standards indicate that government employees should not use social media during work time for non-work purposes, should refrain from using their official titles in social media when they are not using social media for work purposes - or at least remember to use a disclaimer - employees would do best not to use social media to look for another job (though you can endorse people on LinkedIn) and employees must not use social media to disclose "non-public" information to further private interests. There are also a few interesting bits like bosses can't ask employees to help them set up personal social media accounts. These Standards will evolve: "In light of the ever evolving nature of social media, the foregoing advice is not intended to be comprehensive. OGE expects to issue additional guidance in the future addressing questions outside the scope of this Legal Advisory. Designated Agency Ethics Officials with questions regarding the application of the Standards of Conduct to social media may contact their assigned OGE Desk Officers."

Sources: @computerworld, +Jack Dausman, +OGE Institute for Ethics in Government


Andreessen Horowitz, a $4 billion venture capital firm founded in 200, has announces plans to launch a new policy and regulatory affairs unit under Ted Ullyot, Facebook's former general counsel. The goal of the unit will be to ensure techies interact with regulators earlier in the development process so that there will be fewer fights later on over things like privacy and copyright, etc. 

Sources: @issielapowsky, +WIRED


The US Senate will now consider a social media-originated campaign to put women on the US 20 dollar bills. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (Democrat - New Hampshire) introduced a measure to convene a group of citizens to discuss the idea.


Sources: @WomenOn20s


The Government Publishing Office (re-branded just four months ago - it used to be the "Government Printing Office") is now on Instagram.  The US GPO is sharing images of employees at work and at various outreach events as well as a few historical images.


Sources: @usgpo, @Nextgov



The Food Stamp Challenge from celebrity chef Mario Batali asks individuals and celebrities to try to live off Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) the US federal food stamp programme that provides food subsidies to poor people. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow accepted the challenge and failed to succeed in sticking to it, eliciting general Internet mockery. However, Paltrow did succeed in raising awareness about the issue.
Sources: @msnbc



A recent survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation found that 75% of farmers think that communicating with customers is a part of their job, and they use social media as well as traditional methods in this customer outreach.


Sources: @AFPNewsSports


In the US State of Alaska, a government plan to euthanise a family of black bears living in and around Government Hill has been scrapped in the face of a social media campaign to have the bears relocated. The Governor of Alaska himself stepped in to pardon the family.

For a bit of a ironic chuckle, this article in the New York Times suggests using social media to shame "those who skip out on taxes."

Jamaica

 

A 2015 information technology report from the World Economic Forum discovered that 80% of Jamaicans are on social media networks like Twitter and Facebook. Last year, Jamaica's Minister of Water, Land, Environment & Climate Change, Robert Pickersgill, claimed that Jamaican critics on social media were an "articulate minority." (His comments were covered in this blog at the end of November 2014. Since then, the Jamaican Government has hired at least two social media-centric staff.) 

 Sources: @JamaicaGleaner


 Mexico

 

A video has surfaced in Mexican social media that suggests Mexican federal agents were involved in the murder of 16 civilians. In January 2015 in the Mexican town of Apatzingan, protesting vigilante groups and Mexican federal forces clashed and 16 citizens died. Journalist Laura Castellanos shared the video in response to Government allegations that the citizens were killed by friendly fire - the graphic video appears to show the federal agents gunning down the civilians. Castellanos suggested the police tampered with forensic evidence to cover up the murders. The hashtags #Apatzingan and #FueronLosFederales ("the feds did it") trended last week as netizens reviewed the newly released video and the allegations in horror.



Sources: @sarahdevin


South America

 

Venezuela

 

In Venezuela, frustrated netizens are using humour to express their irritation with the economic situation. #AdoptaUnVenezolano (#AdoptaVenezuelan) is a new trending hashtag via which Venezuelans plead ironically to be adopted by individuals from other countries. The Government has made it more difficult for Venezuelans to travel abroad via new regulations called El Cadivazo."

Bolivia

 

In Bolivia, the Government is planning a bill that will seek to regulae internet access and better track social media. “To avoid human trafficking we are drafting a bill to [regulate] access to internet...Among its goals is to regulate the operations of so-called internet cafes, which are one of the places used to commit crimes without being detected,” Melanie Torrico, director general of the state institution combating human trafficking, told reports April 12th. If the bill passes Congress, internet cafes will be required to have different rooms for children and adults and to install surveillance cameras. In addition, the government will up its "cybernetic patrolling," and the Bolivian government will have the authority to intercept emails that have been deemed "suspicious." While 27% of the women and children that are kidnapped in Bolivia have, prior to disappearing, had contact with their kidnappers via Facebook, opposition leaders suspect that the proposed bill is more about regulating government opposition on social media than regulating human traffickers.

Sources: @PanAmPost 


Brazil

 

Vice President Michel Temer has claimed that his Government is "paying attention" to the massive protests, organised largely via social media, held last Sunday. Brazilians have been holding various protests online and offline since mid-March in reaction to a scandal at the state-run oil company Petrobras as well as generally bad economic conditions, including inflation. The Government, according to Temer, "needs to identify what the demands (of the demonstrations) are and attend to those demands...That's what the government is doing."

Sources:


Reports

 

A Scalable Heuristic for Viral Marketing Under the Tipping Model

One author of this text was recently awarded a grant from the US Military to study how things "go viral" on the Internet. While technical, it's a not a bad way  to examine how computer scientists are manipulating algorithms on the Internet to determine what information we see in search and social (increasingly interconnected).


 Media arsenal of ISIS

Information about how social media is used Iraq and amongst ISIS can be read in this report released by the Iraqi Media House which details how media - not just social media- is used amongst ISIS in Iraq.  The report covers how ISIS uses a specific radio station to broadcast not only speeches but rules about daily life and how print and digital media is used to share interviews with fighters and their wives.


The Arab Social Media report ‘Citizen Engagement and Public Services in the Arab World: The Potential of Social Media

 

"The Arab Social Media Report, produced by the Dubai School of Government’s Governance and Innovation Program, is a recurring series that highlights and analyzes usage trends of online social networking across the Arab region. These reports analyze data on Facebook and Twitter users in all 22 Arab countries, in addition to Iran, Israel and Turkey. They highlight a specific theme in each issue (ranging from general social media usage trends, to the impact of social media on civil movements, and the role of social media in Arab women’s empowerment). This is part of a larger research initiative focusing on social engagement through ICT for better policy in Arab states, which explores the use of social networking services in governance, entrepreneurship promotion and social inclusion. The initiative also studies the potential of Web 2.0 applications for increasing collaboration, knowledge sharing and innovation, both between and among government entities, citizens and the private sector."

Great statistics in this report, for example:

Facebook in the Arab Region:
  •  The total number of Facebook users in the Arab world as of beginning of May 2014 is 81,302,064 up from 54,552,875 in May 2013.
  • By May 2014 the country average for Facebook penetration in the Arab region was over 21.5% up from 15% in May 2013
  • The percentage of female users has dipped slightly (from 33.4% in May 2013, to 31.75% in May 2014), after having fluctuated slightly between 33.4% and 34% in the past two years. This is still significantly lower than the global average of roughly 50%
  • The percentage of youth (those under 30) has decreased slightly due to slow and steady uptake amongst users aged 30 and above. As of May 2014 the percentage of users between 15 and 29 years old was 67%.
  • In terms of Facebook penetration rate in the region, Qatar now leads in the Arab region, followed by the UAE, with Jordan, Lebanon, and Bahrain rounding out the top five countries in terms of Facebook penetration.
  • Egypt continues to constitute about a quarter of all Facebook users in the region (24%) and has gained the highest number of new Facebook users since January 2014, with an increase of over 2.6 million users in that time period.
 Twitter in the Arab Region:
  • The total number of active Twitter users in the Arab world reached 5,797,500 users as of March 2014.
  • The country with the highest number of active Twitter users in the Arab region is Saudi Arabia with 2.4 million users, accounting for over 40% of all active Twitter users in the Arab region.
  • The estimated number of tweets produced by Twitter users in the Arab world in March 2014 was 533,165,900 tweets, an average of 17,198,900 tweets per day.
  • Saudi Arabia, alone, produced 40% of all tweets in the Arab world, while Egypt produced 17% and Kuwait produced 10%.
  • The percentage of female Twitter users in the Arab region – published for the first time in the Arab Social Media Report series - is 36.6%, slightly higher than that of female Facebook users in the region. 



LinkedIn in the Arab Region:
  • The total number of LinkedIn users in the Arab world stands at 8,445,515 as of May 2014. This is up from 4,716,515 in May 2013.
  • As of May 2014, the average LinkedIn penetration amongst Arab countries was 3.7% almost doubling from 2.1% in May 2013.
  • As with Facebook and Twitter, the ratio of female to male LinkedIn users in the Arab world is well below the global average. As of May 2014 female LinkedIn users constitute about 29% of LinkedIn users, increasing slightly from 26% in May 2013.
  • Youth below the age of 35 still constitute the majority of LinkedIn users in the region, and have shown a significant increase since last year. As of May 2014, 68% of LinkedIn users were between the ages of 18-35 compared to 60% in May 2013.
  • Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, specifically have shown considerable growth in this younger age bracket over the past year.



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