The digital mirror
A few weeks ago, I was asked by an expert on international Internet policy to describe what I think are the biggest threats to freedom of expression online in the region. While I have a well-rehearsed...
View ArticleThis Cold War isn’t over yet
This week on Global Voices I interviewed Tracey Eaton, a journalist and blogger who recently began the Cuba Money Project, a non-profit research and reporting initiative that aims to investigate and...
View ArticleAll politics are local, and maybe personal too
When I met Roger, a blogger and IT specialist in Cuba, we sat and talked in a little park in Old Havana and then walked down Calle Obispo, a bustling commercial walking street. A man called out to...
View ArticleAfter Fidel?
I took an extended vacation from blogging this summer,* and this felt okay until last week, when someone tweeted that Fidel Castro had died. My rational mind knew that this was probably not true. The...
View ArticleIn Mexico, government is only part of the problem
Over the last several weeks, I’ve been involved in discussions on and offline about the growing role of blogs and social media in covering drug-related violence in Mexico. CPJ reports that thirty...
View ArticleFree isn’t easy
As I study Internet use and human rights in different parts of the world, I am routinely struck by how difficult it is to make speech truly “free,” even when policymakers and citizens seem to agree...
View ArticleIn Cuba, art is a public good (but the Internet will have to wait)
In addition to triggering the greatest civic hell-raising in Internet history and inspiring numerous nonsensical quips about Latin cuisine and Kate Middleton’s younger sister, the SOPA/PIPA laws have...
View ArticleThe cyberwar continues
Two weeks ago, AP’s Desmond Butler obtained copies of several reports filed by USAID subcontractor Alan Gross on his ultimately ill-fated “tech support” mission to Cuba and wrote a long piece detailing...
View ArticleLove and loathing in Latin America’s second capital (it’s Miami)
Last week, Miami Marlins’ manager Ozzie Guillén told Time magazine that he “loves” Fidel Castro, and saluted the elderly leader for his many successes at avoiding assassination. “I respect Fidel,”...
View ArticleTake a closer look, freedom-lovers
Around this time last year, I had a meeting with a graphic designer who had come to my former office to bid on a project. The designer’s name was Bob. Eager to get our business, he asked me about my...
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