Monday, June 15, 2015

Social media in government: 9 to 15 June

Summary

Europeans are getting the only other Government Transparency Center from Microsoft (the other is in Washington State at Microsoft HQ.) The UK has got a 300-page report recommending the so-called "snooper's charter," and doctors are Tweeting about "seven-day service." Belgians worked with the US to use WhatsApp messages to stop a terrorist attack, and the Polish are snarking and sniping about Waitergate in Polish social media.  Oh, and Chancellor German Merkel has a new instagram account and compared Facebook to a washing machine (really.)

IS is still bragging on Twitter. Ethiopian Zone 9 bloggers are still on trial. Nigerians are still asking the Government to #Bringbackourgirls (and the military is not happy - or are they?) An Ugandan has been charged with posting about the President's health on Facebook (but he says it wasn't him.) Somolians are cracking down on fake social media accounts, and a Kenyan has a useful (but rather uninnovative) idea for security forces.

Turks are mad about the President attending a particular wedding. Israelis are cool with government surveillance of their electronic communications.

In Hong Kong, a new packet of legislation could improve (depending on who you ask) the controversial Section 161, which has led to the arrest of nine social media activisits. The Philippines are mad at China and promoting it on social media - where they should have promoted more disasters, according to a University of Michigan study. An Indian "social media journalist" has been killed and his family wants justice. Malaysians hosted Cooler Lumper, an international and annual creative media conference with some great social media promotion and engagement. And Australia hosted a Countering Violent Extremism summit to look at social media and terrorism (about time...)
The USA admits it - the terrorists are using social media to crowdsource. Also, the USA's army site was hacked...and these are the people that want backdoor access to social networks? Yes, but here them out - at least on Certification Authorities.

Guatemalans are still protesting and using social media to help. Panamanians have effective Tweeting potholes (you must read that one...) Venezuelans kicked out a former Spanish Prime Minister after a social media campaign. Ecuadorians used social media to stage and promote a car-related protest against their President. Paraguay defeated some government surveillance legislation using clever historical Tweets.

On June 12th, UN officials released a statement condemning Government aerial attacks in Syria. The statement also condemned social and traditional media articles that encourage ethnic violence and attacks on minorities, particularly recent posts dehumanising  Alawites and Christians. “Government air strikes have reportedly killed more than a hundred civilians in the past week. Employing means or methods of combat which cannot distinguish civilian from military objectives is a clear violation of international humanitarian law. Not only has the Government of Syria failed in its responsibility to protect its populations from atrocity crimes, but it continues to attack its own people.” The officials making the statement include: the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng; the Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Responsibility to Protect, Jennifer Welsh; the Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Rita Izsák (@IzsakRita); and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Heiner Bielefeldt.

The Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Rita Izsák (@IzsakRita), also celebrated the first international Day dedicated to #albinism and #AlbinismAwareness. Albinism is when individuals lack pigmentation in their skin and, in some countries, albinos experience discrimination, violence, and even death as a result of their condition. 


Europe

Microsoft has opened a Transparency Center in Brussels, Belgium, to work with the European Commission and clients in the Middle East and Africa. This is significant given the only other Transparency Center for Microsoft is next to its headquarters in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft noted, “It is our hope that, through the Government Security Program and this newest Transparency Center, we can increase communication and collaboration between Microsoft security professionals and governmental agencies in order to develop a safe and trusted digital environment for Europe’s Digital Single Market.” The Center “provides national governments with access to important Microsoft product and security resources, including:
  • Access to source code for key Microsoft products
  • Access to Transparency Centers to work directly with source code
  • Vulnerability and threat intelligence from Microsoft
  • Technical information about Microsoft products and services
  • The “GSP for Cloud” capability” 
Sources: @techaeris

The United Kingdom

David Anderson QC, appointed to oversee an independent legal team in and review existing investigatory powers of the British Government, has produced a report in favour of new state powers when it comes to electronic surveillance. The 300-page report states, “Modern communications can be used by the unscrupulous for purposes ranging from cyber-attack, terrorism and espionage to fraud, kidnap and child sexual exploitation...A successful response to these threats depends on entrusting public bodies with the powers they need to identify and follow suspects in a borderless online world.” Anderson recommends that:
  • definitions of communications data should be “reviewed, clarified and brought up to date”
  • security and intelligence agencies should have powers to carry out “bulk collection” of intercepted material but there must be “strict additional safeguards”
  •  judges should authorise requests to intercept communications, limiting the home secretary’s current role in deciding which suspects are so monitored.
Sources: @itproportal

A reviewer of anti-terrorism legislation in Britain from 2001 to 2008, Lord Carlile asked ministers to work with individuals that “create games on the internet” to help stop the radicalisation of youth online. “It’s hard to counter, but one has does have to use the same tools, the same thought processes, that do radicalise people,” said Lord Carlile. “The government must sit down with the best brains who, for example, create games on the internet, who write programme for the Internet, and they must try and produce the same methods to show that the good guys sometimes win." Lord Carlile mentioned the images of the Briton Talha Asmal, who was recruited online to participate in a suicide bombing in Iraq. IS has posted several images of the 17-year-old to social networks to encourage others to follow Asmal's path.

Sources: +The Telegraph, @benrileysmith

In a niche but essential social media discussion between health care workers and government in the UK, netizens are debating the planned “seven-day services” that the current Conservative Government hopes to push forward. The new proposal would, in theory, ensure that the UK’s National Health Service is able to offer the full suite of necessary health services on weekends. Some doctors feel that the approach is labelling them as lazy, others point out medical professionals have not gotten sufficient financial support from the Government, and now they may be required to work more for less. Others feel the seven days service initiative is a step in the right direction, reforming an NHS system that needs to be updated. Follow @7daynhs for more. 

Sources: @7daynhs, @twithugh

 

Belgium


A group of alleged Chechen terrorists with ties to a wounded fighter returned from Syria were arrested in Ostend and Louvain in Belgium last week after the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Belgian authorities intercepted messages between the terrorists on the social application WhatsApp. Facebook is the newest owner of WhatsApp, and Facebook is rolling out encryption software for the services. It’s unclear if the encryption software was being used by the individuals apprehended. 

Sources: +Ars Technica, @thepacketrat

Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel signed up for Facebook only a few months ago, and now she has also acquired an Instagram account under the handle @bundeskanzlerin. The goal of the account, which includes photos from 2014 is to provide "insight into the political work of German Chancellor Angela Merkel through the lens of the official photographer of the federal government." So far comments on the photos are largely positive (though some are sarcastic) and one of her most popular photos shows the Chancellor speaking to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and French President Hollande. A government spokesperson noted that many comments in Cyrillic writing were removed immediately after her account went live as individuals expressed their rage towards Merkel and Ukraine - perhaps an activity that inspired the Putin post. 
 Sources: @bundeskanzlerin


The Chancellor also shared her opinion about Facebook last week: "It's nice that you have it. This is so beautiful, as you have a car or a decent washing machine, " she said while speaking at a church in Stuttgart. "The pure existence of Facebook does not mean that I automatically have great friends...I have a Facebook page in my capacity as party leader and I think that for a lot of people Facebook is great..." But the Chancellor did favour more rules on the Internet. "Let us be curious about the new world, but let us not forget the standards in the federal republic that have made a good life worth living," she said.

Sources: +bildkontakte, @patidarsom

Poland

In Poland, Parliamentary Speaker Radoslaw Sikorski and the ministers of the treasury, health and sports have resigned just four months before this year’s general election. The officials, the latest in a long line, have resigned after 2,500 pages of transcripts related to an ongoing investigation into government eavesdropping were leaked online via a political blog. The eavesdropping scandal to which the transcripts pertain includes wiretaps recorded at fancy restaurants between high level Government officials (e.g. then foreign minister Sikorski, the Polish central bank chief, the then interior minister, and more.) Given the original tapes that initiated the scandal were made by a waiter, some in Polish social media are calling the scandal "Waitergate." The transcripts of the ongoing investigation were published by the Polish blogger Zbigniew Stonoga (@zbigniewstonoga), who claims he found them on a Chinese website. Stonoga could now face up to two years in jail for publishing the documents. 


Sources: @zbigniewstonoga


Africa

Libya

ISIS trumpted on social media that it had manged to take control of a power plant that supplies electricity to central and western parts of Libya. The event occurred while the two current Libyan Governments were locked in unity negotiations last week. Currently Libya has two Governments: Tripoli's self-declared leadership and rivals located in Benghazi. The power vacuum has been used by IS to take control of different areas of the country.
Sources: @encanews

Ethiopia

In recent elections, the Ethiopian Government has once again gone to the the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the ruling party in the country since 1991. Known for stifling free speech, the EPRDF has also yet to produce evidence as to why the Zone 9 bloggers are still in prison. The bloggers, who argue they used their right to freedom of expression, were thrown in jail over a year ago for using social media “to incite violence,” according to Ethiopian authorities. Human rights advocates point to the case of the Zone 9 bloggers as an example of the EPRDF’s repressive regime. There are over 2 million Ethiopians active on Facebook.

Sources: +The Guardian, @wdavison10

Nigeria

In Nigeria, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks), founder of #Bringbackourgirls and Major General Chris Olukolade (@GENOlukolade), Defence spokesperson, engaged in a serious Twitter debate over the missing Chibok girls and the #Bringbackourgirls campaign. Other Nigerians on Twitter and Facebook have weighed in and continue to do so - and it looks like Dr. Ezekwesili may have won in the court of public opinion. Maj. Gen. Olukolade, who used to Tweet regularly about military actions but has been less active recently, sent a letter to the Bring Back Our Girls campaign claiming they targeted the military with unfair criticism. Dr. Ezekwesili replied both online and in a letter explaining the campaign's goals to the Major General and expressing support for the Nigerian military.  Public Affairs analyst, Jibrin Baba Ndace, reviewed the debate and noted, “If you read the Director Defense Information, DDI, Major General Chris Olukolade’s response, it is a reaction to attack on him and the military institution, which has been through both the traditional and new media. It was only natural for him to respond through same channel that was used to attack or antagonize the military. And in any case, social media is a tool that PR practitioners are encouraged to embrace.”


Sources: @GENOlukolade, @obyezeks, +BBOG_Nigeria

Uganda

In Uganda, Robert Shaka has been charged and jailed for “offensive communication” on social media. The Ugandan Government alleges that Shaka, an information and security analyst, has violated the Computer Use Act with his social media posts about the President’s health. Shaka is known for posting critical comments about the Government to Facebook under the alias Maverick Blutaski. Now the Government believes Shaka is also behind the Facebook alias Tom Voltaire Okwalinga, or TVO. TVO has a large online following and regularly posts charges of incompetence, corruption and nepotism against President Yoweri Museveni and other senior leaders to Facebook.  Shaka denies the charges. There is a Facebook community demanding Shaka's release. Shaka's lawyer plans to challenge the relevant parts of the Computer Use Act in constitutional court with regard to freedom of speech. Shaka's lawyer also plans to demand why discussions of the President's health impact the President's privacy. “...the allegations that the president’s right to privacy is a private matter are strange because he is a public figure. If indeed he is sick, as claimed in the charge sheet, then it is in the public interest that the public should know.”

Posted by Tom Voltaire Okwalinga on Friday, June 12, 2015

Ugandan M7/NRM stateFree Shaka Robert!
Posted by Free Shaka Robert aka Maverick Blutaski on Friday, June 12, 2015

Sources: +Voice of America  

Somalia

Mohamed Yussuf, Internal Security spokesman in Somali, announced that the government has tracked and arrested three people for impersonating official ministers in social media. “The security agencies have discovered two people who set up fake social media accounts to abuse government officials, we have tracked their IP addresses and arrested two suspects namely Omar Hayow and Ali Abdi, investigations are going on,” Yussuf noted last week. Former Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed denied being on Facebook last year after an account in his name posted updates about a national political crisis, and current National Assembly Speaker Professor Mohamed Osman Jawari also publicly denied being on Twitter after a fake account surfaced. 

Sources: Mareeg.com

Kenya

Sylvanus Wekesa (@SylliWekesa) published a recent post in his blog arguing that Kenyan security forces should heed social media, particularly in the Northeastern part of Kenya, when it comes to public security. Wekesa points out that Kenyans is this region tend to talk to each other before they talk to the State, which they view with suspicion, and that this trend seems to have carried over to social media. He suggests that if security forces scan social media for mentions of concern and they might be able to stop  Al Shabaab attacks like that which allegedly killed Kenyan police officers in May. Wekesa admits some information on social media is false, but he highlights how there is also truth in social media - for example, some Kenyans in the Northeast did mention seeing Al Shabaab flags in their villages. The job of security is to investigate concerns and then differentiate those worth pursuing from those that are not. 

Sources: @SylliWekes

Malawi

President Peter Mutharika’s Government is introducing the Electronic Transactions Bill in Malawi. The Bill is controversial as critics claim it aims to gag both traditional and social media. If the bill becomes law, any media house or online editor that publishes information against the interests of  “public order and national security” is subject to prosecution. In addition, under Section 35 of the bill, journalists are required to publish their contact details, including their personal addresses, and, as stated in Section 28 (1) (e), the Government would also have the ability to “protect public order and security” by shutting down online social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Sources: @maravipost

Middle East

Turkey

Taha Ün is a notorious Twitter user in Turkey, known for harassing his critics and journalists online and for calling for the use of machetes against Kurds and for praising the "mujahideen of Syria" for "massacring Alawites."  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended Ün’s wedding last week. Ün married the personal secretary of Erdoğan’s wife. Many Turkish were outraged that Erdoğan attended the wedding, and media rumours suggesting Ün is a well-paid member of Erdoğan’s party’s “troll army” resurfaced. At the same wedding, photos show Erdoğan shaking hands with the alleged mafia leader Sedat Peker - another hot topic for Twitter users.

Sources: +Todays Zaman


İsmail Kılıçarslan (@kilicarslan_is) writes a column for the pro-government Yeni Şafak in Turkey. Kılıçarslan suggested in his column last week that the AKP’s loss of the majority in Parliament for the first time in 13 years stems from the party’s aggressive social media policy, which reflects a larger problem in the party as a whole. “It happened because those so-called [AKP] supporters would declare me a ‘crypto’ and ‘traitor’ for writing this article,” he writes. Kılıçarslan was widely criticised online after he suggested that the AKP’s social media team was “a group of useless, nondescript people.” The AKP, Kılıçarslan concludes, turned “a blind eye to criticism of any kind,” a practice that “was almost turned into a party tradition.” Fadime Özkan (@fadimeozkan), another columnist, also engaged in a little self-criticism on behalf of the AK party, “The party management knows about the issues that disturbed AK Parti voters. Shortcomings should be addressed, the burdens put on the party’s shoulders should be thrown away, and voters’ demands should be taken into account.” Pro-government daily Star columnist Ahmet Taşgetiren (@AhmetTasgetiren) joined in, adding “On the one hand, [Erdoğan’s public speeches in support of the AK Parti] revived the ‘Tayyip Erdoğan enthusiasm’ within the party. But on the other hand they led more moderate AK Parti voters to acknowledge that those who criticized Erdoğan over his ‘lack of impartiality’ were right.”

Sources: @kilicarslan_is, @francesmartel, @fadimeozkan, @AhmetTasgetiren

Israel

A University of Haifa study discovered that almost 90% of Israelis are prepared to have the state monitor their online activity, including their social media and even their emails, if it would boost national security.

Sources: @HaifaUniversity

Asia

China

In Hong Kong on June 2nd at at the Legislative Council’s Panel on Security, legislators gathered to debate Section 161 of the Crimes Ordinance, which critics argue has been used to target and penalise social media activists as well as in an attempt to generally quell government criticism on social media. The debate came in advance of a Legislative Council ballot on a political reform package. Section 161 allows authorities to charge individuals with  “access to computer with criminal or dishonest intent” instead of the more substantial charges of “illegal gathering,” “criminal intimidation,” or “assaulting police.”  According to a Hong Kong Transparency Report database, nine activists have been arrested under Section 161 since June 2014. These include: Barry Ma, chairman of local pro-independence group Orchid Gardening, “for suggesting on Facebook it was only reasonable to exterminate the entire family of a pro-police columnist;” “a 27-year-old autonomy group member..arrested for posting a guide on a local website about how to make weapons (e.g., gas bombs) to attack police during the anti-parallel trade protests;” “Tam Tak-chi, leader of the radical democratic coalition People Power… arrested for a Facebook post that authorities argued ‘incited others to commit illegal acts’ during road the funeral of Beijing loyalist Yeung Kwong;” “Tam Hiu-fung… was arrested by police for encouraging people to occupy Mong Kok last October on HKGolden, a popular local web forum.” Debaters in favour of reigning in Section 161 pointed out that police were guilty of a double standard - when an officer of the law sexually threatened pro-democracy student Christina Chan, no charges were filed. 


Sources: +Thediplomatmagazine, +Global Voices 

Philippines

China has moved forward economic activity in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), an area that is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, pending an ongoing arbitration case against China. This has prompted frustration from the Philippine Government - frustration and a media campaign. The documentary series “Kalayaan” (Freedom) will air June 12th, the day celebrating the 117th anniversary of the Philippine Declaration of Independence. The series is being promoted via celebrities, TV ads, and social media. “The objective of our information, , and communication (IEC) campaign is to raise the level of awareness of our people on the very important issue of the WPS, and to rally their support behind the Philippine government’s policies and actions,” Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Charles Jose said in an email statement. The social media accounts of the Office of the President, the DFA, and the Department of National Defence will share the documentary, along with a number of websites. 


Sources: @MSantosINQ

Bruno Takahashi, a Michigan State University assistant professor of Journalism, and his team studied the use of social media during typhoon Haiyan in 2013 in the Philippines. Their conclusion?  "We need to think of social media not as an afterthought.  It needs to be integrated into emergency-preparedness plans,” Takahashi explained. His research suggested that the more social media use - particularly by the government - would have resulted in more people knowing what was coming and how to prepare for it. 

Sources: @michiganstateu

India

The Chief Minister of the Indian state Uttar Pradesh (UP) Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) has found that his recognisability as well as that of his party and their policies is very low, especially in rural areas of the state. In response, he has launched a massive promotional campaign across radio, TV, and social media. On radio and TV, CM Yadav is limited by current legislation to promoting success stories of UP rather than his own image. However, on the web and in real life (via promotional LED screens carried by trucks) Yadav is promoting his own image and that of his family, aiming to up his recognition across UP. This includes sharing personal photos as well as photos of Yadav with Bollywood celebrities (and other celebrities...)
Sources: +The Indian Express

Attackers lit "Social media journalist" Jagendra Singh on fire, and Singh succombed to his injuries and died last week. Singh posted regular updates about the  state's dairy development minister Ram Murti Verma to a Facebook page, alleging the Minister was corrupt and had gangraped a worker.  Singh's last words, which were caught on camera and shared online, were “Why did they have to burn me? If the Minister and his people had something against me, they could have hit me and beaten me, instead of pouring kerosene over me and burning me.” Prior to that, Singh is allegedly heard saying in the same video “Prakash Rai (the police inspector) was there and along with him were present four-five police personnel. The police team, led by Prakash Rai, barged into the house and started assaulting me. They could have as well arrested me.”After his death, Singh's family accused the Samajwadi Party of attempting to pay them off. "We were told take the money and you will get a government job," Rahul, Singh's son told CNN-IBN. The leader of the Samajwadi Party, Bhukal Nawab, refused to fire the Minister, citing the exuse that Singh was not an official member of the media. "Social media toh ghar ghar mein chalta hai. Humara beta jo hai social media pe message idhar se udhar..sab yahi karte hain. (Social media is in every home. Even my son sends messages here and there...everyone does that) You will get 30 crore such people. I don't understand how you can call someone like this a reporter," Nawab said. This prompted widespread outrage in Indian social media, and the government eventually accused 9 including the dairy minister and the police inspector of participating in or facilitating the murder. 
Sources: @EconomicTimes

Malaysia

Between 12 and 14 June, Malaysia hosted Cooler Lumper (@coolerlumpur and #CoolerLumpur), an annual festival of global ideas and creative media. In addition to the healthy dose of social media arising from the festivities themselves, this year’s Cooler Lumper focused on "Dangerous Ideas" (#DangerousIdeas) and included a one-day class in documentary film-making led by the masters of the art at Al Jazeera. At the usual Poskod Journalism Campus discussion, panellists this year looked at the topic “Is social media a boon or bane when it comes to news gathering and writing?” The discussion noted that good journalism could be found both in traditional and social media, but that all to often, bad journalism eclipsed the good in both. There was a nice side discussion on anonymity vs accountability (both for the individuals posting and the individuals targeted.)  Interesting points were raised by Malaysian media leaders themselves, who, some critics argue, are facing a increasingly conservative and slightly censorious Government. The Festival had a lot of support in social media - Uber even offered free rides to the festival for a limited number of guests.

Sources: @coolerlumpur, @ahmadfuadrahmat, @leslielau, @joanlausc, @mayuism


Cambodia

Phoak Kung, co-founder and president of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, posted a news article on the need to create regulations to govern users that create and post "fake news" in Cambodian social media, despite concerns regarding freedom of speech. He begins by placing the rise of social media's influence in Cambodia, "Tellingly, social media is not a new phenomenon. Since the early 2000s, information technology has spread at an unprecedented rate. Last year, mobile subscription in Cambodia reached over 20 million. Further, internet users also witnessed a significant rise, topping 5 million in 2014. This number is expected to increase to 9.5 million by 2020. What is astonishing is that the number of active social media users is also at 2.4 million, according to the Singapore-based firm We Are Social." Read more of the article here. 

Sources: @KhmerTimes


Australia

The Countering Violent Extremism summit was a two-day international event in Australia last week convening ministers from across the world. The summit focused on social media recruitment and terrorism. "The recruitment of particularly young people online is escalating and it's something we are very focused on addressing," Australian Attorney-General George Brandis told journalists from ABC. "We have representatives of Google and Twitter and Facebook who will be part in the summit….It's a battle [against propaganda and online recruitment] that has to be fought on a daily basis." Initially, outsiders suggested Indonesia was snubbing the event due to tensions over the Bali 9; however, Indonesia sent an ambassador to the summit. "[W]e are very satisfied and pleased with the degree of commitment that Indonesia, like our other regional partners and neighbours, have shown to this summit," Brandis noted. (Read more about the Bali 9, covered in this blog, here.)

Sources: +ABC Australia 
Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm), a Member of Parliament, said he wants myGov to be “as cool and as interesting” as Facebook. In a 45 minute web conversation with citizens, MP Turball noted, “You’ve got to remember if you’re getting a fantastic product online for free, that means you’re the product…Or as the Onion, a very good satirical newspaper, said: who needs the CIA now that we’ve got Facebook? The reality is that most of us put much more information onto platforms like Facebook than we provide to the government. Much vaster…but nonetheless the information that the government has we have to protect, guard, keep very secure and use only for the appropriate purposes.” Six million Australians have an account on myGov, an online service that provided information on government services from tax to healthcare. Turnball answered the five most popular questions out of the 80 submitted in the week leading up to his online conversation.


Sources: +The Guardian, +Our Say, @m_onicatan

The Australian Terasurer Joe Hockey (@JoeHockey), known for outbursts seen as out-of-touch with the economic realities of most Australians, has done it again. He sparked the Twitter hashtag #adviceforJoe when he noted that all Australians have to do to get a home is get a good job. Housing prices are notoriously high in cities like Melbourne and Sydney. “Not everyone has the luxury of simply switching to a better paying job,” Australian Council of Social Service chief Cassandra Goldie responded when she heard Hockey's suggestion. “The reality is there are nearly 800,000 people who can’t get a job right now.” Australians responded to Hockey's comments with Tweets - some poignant, some just funny.

Sources: +news.com.au



North America

The USA

Terrorists are crowd-sourcing their funds via social media. “The Syrian conflict has seen a significant use of the Internet and social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, to solicit sizable donations that include support to designated terrorist organizations and their supporters,” the U.S. Treasury Department said in the National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment last week. “A number of online fundraisers explicitly advertise that collected funds are being used to purchase weapons and other equipment for extremist groups and post videos and photos verifying the receipt of donations by fighters.” Given the US has made it more difficult to use traditional banking systems, terrorists are also turning potentially to bit coin as a source of revenue, according to a blog post allegedly written by terrorists and found by the experts at the Treasury. 

Sources: @business

Army.mil, the US government’s army information site, was hacked allegedly by the Syrian Electronic Army last week. The hackers posted taunting messages to the site while the Army scrambled to warn users to avoid the site via social media. The hack, hard on the heels of a hack of the Office of Personnel Management and, prior to that, of the Internal Revenue Service, throws into question the US government’s appeal to private companies to let them have more access to their online data and infrastructure to support the fight against terrorism online. If the US government can’t keep hackers out, do private companies really want the government interfering with their arguable more successful encryption and security measures? 


Sources: @lalaurenista, +Think Progress 


The US Congress is getting involved in government-owned Certificate Authorities (CAs.) As noted in early April of this year on this blog, Governments that own CAs have the capacity to impersonate websites to collect user data. The US Congress wants to know the best way to address this concern. In a letter to major tech companies, Members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce noted the following:  “Our concern with a CA’s unfettered authority to issue certificates is heightened when the CA is owned and operated by a government. Because digital certificates are used to ensure the security and confidentiality of private communications like email and social media, such services can be targets for actors who who to inhibit political freedoms such as free expression…A government-owned CA that is accepted by the browsers may issue digital certificates for email providers or social media sites in order to seek out political dissent. Although the intent behind these certificates would be fraudulent, they would appear valid to a user’s browser. Exacerbating this issue, the traditional control put in place by the browsers to discourage this kind of malfeasance–the removal of the CA’s signature from the root store–would not be an effective deterrent to government CAs.” The letter inquired if by restricting government-owned CAs to cover just sites within their country codes, security for users could be improved. 

Sources: @DennisF, @threatpost


Potentially interesting: The US-based news network CNN is following two individuals seeking to open a (now) legal marijuana dispensary in Breckenridge, Colorado. This week, the entrepreneurs were denied the right to open the dispensary on Main Street in the “family-friendly” city. Users took to social media to express their reactions. Follow the hashtag #highprofits (the name of the show) for updates on the challenges involved in making legalised marijuana acceptable. 

Sources: +CNN


Interesting story in local government and social media: In one county in the state of North Carolina, a Facebook group managed to get a school superintendent reinstated just four days after he was fired - and to get three of the people who fired him to resign. Moreover, the group became a central place where parents, students, and teachers discussed the changes needed in their education system. 

Sources: @WriterDeVane

Portage, Michigan, is moving into social media and online applications to update government services. The applications include an emergency update option, a Report It! application allowing citizens to turn in requests online, and a website where users can access public services that let them pay city bills, research records, and watch city council meetings online. Plus, the site includes links to social media accounts updated with real-time information. Why? “Because that's where the people are," Devin Mackinder, director of Portage technology services and community marketing, said. "Seventy-five percent of adults use social media. They spend more time on social media than any other online activity, including email."

Sources: local news


Central America

Guatemala

And this past Saturday, as every Saturday for about the past two months, Guatemalans from across the socio-economic classes have gathered at Constitution Square outside Guatemala City's National Palace to protest government corruption. Social media (#RenunciaYaFase2) is credited with helping to organise the so-called “leaderless protests.” Protestors have gained victories in light of ongoing (and never-ending, it seems) corruption scandals: the resignation of the Vice-President in early May over a multi-million dollar customs bribery scandal and a Supreme Court ruling just this past week “green-lighting a congressional inquiry that could lead to impeachment proceedings against [current President] Mr Perez Molina (@ottoperezmolina.)”
Sources: +Associated Press 

Panama

Thanks to  Telemetro Reporta (@TReporta) in Panama City, Panama, the city’s many potholes are getting fixed. City officials were notoriously unresponsive to Panamanians complaints about the state of the city’s streets, so  Telemetro Reporta worked with Ogilvy & Mather to wire the city’s potholes to automatically Tweet (via @Elhuecotwitero) at the government’s Ministry of Public Works (@MOPdePanama) each time a car drove over a hole. The project has been so successful at nagging city officials into doing their jobs that Panama minister of public works, Ramón Arosemena, visited Telemetro Reporta to offer excuses.
Sources: @lilyhnewman, @Elhuecotwitero, @TReporta

 

South America

Venezuela

Spain's former Prime Minister Felipe González visited Venezuela to encourage the Government to release jailed opposition leader Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo López, another political prisoner currently on a hunger strike. His presence was not appreciated by the Venezuelan Government, and a pro-government social media campaign #FelipeFueraDeAqui (“Felipe Get Out Of Here”) called for González to leave. Brazil’s former presidential candidate Aecio Neves is scheduled to arrive next in an ongoing mission to encourage the Venezuelan leaders to stop jailing opposition officials. President Maduro took to Twitter to emphasise “Venezuela’s affairs are ours, and only Venezuelans have the power to take them up. Our entire country rejects interventionism.”

Sources: @NicolasMaduro

Ecuador

Opposition to current President Rafael Correa (@MashiRafael)  used social media to organise a convoy of around 200 cars to impede President Correa's return to the capital from the airport. At the same time, the opposition asked Ecuadorians along the Ruta Viva, the road from the airport, to wear black as a part of "Black Sunday." The President arrived safely in Quito, where his party has been met with regular protests. 

 

Paraguay

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which describes itself as “the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world,” reported the following from Paraguay: 
On Thursday morning, the Paraguayan Senate defeated a mandatory data retention bill that would have compelled local ISPs to retain communications and location details of every user for a period of 12 months. 

Paraguayan Internet users called the bill "#Pyrawebs," alluding to the digital version of pyragües, informers who monitored the civilian population's movements, meetings, political preferences, religious beliefs, and more on behalf of dictator Alfredo Stroessner, who ruled between 1954 and 1989.
The article includes an interview with  Maricarmen Sequera, the director and founder of TEDIC (Technology, Education, Development, Investigation and Communications), who points out how community and social media helped defeat the bill, more so than traditional media: "With these kinds of campaigns against mass surveillance, it is difficult to generate resonance on the issue without causing fear that paralyzes people and discourages them from getting involved. Drawing on the Paraguayan notion of 'pyrague' and giving it a modern (even comical) touch by adding "webs" helped give new life to a difficult subject, and also simplified it and made it intelligible to "non-techies".  Another piece of advice could be to place the same amount of importance on community media as on the national press and radio. In the end, the community is who will promote grassroots action -- and this kind of action is always one of a campaign's goals. Additionally, getting international coverage will help to demonstrate the importance of the issue. #Pyrawebs trended for four days in Paraguay. On the day of the vote, seven million Twitter users worldwide were talking about it (more than the population of Paraguay)."

Sources: +Electronic Frontier Foundation, @glynmoody, @marsebu

Tools

Impact4you

As part of the Impact Assessment for Social Innovation project (IA4SI), a university in Belgium has created the Impact4you Platform. This is a space where European citizens can discover the different Collective Awareness Platforms for Sustainability and Social Innovation (CAPS) projects and the tools they are offering to more effectively and sustainably react to societal challenges. The projects presented on this site range from raising people’s awareness of energy and climate change issues; projects working to reveal how any given company is doing environmentally and socially, to creating tools for social media users that help them protect their privacy, etc. There are also projects about e-democracy, tools for online community managers and some funding opportunities for social innovation projects.  By hearing from the European Citizens, projects like this can fine-tune their activities, improve their results and therefore, better serve the European citizens. Read more about these projects on http://www.impact4you.euand to share feedback at the bottom of the webpage.






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