Monday, June 8, 2015

Social media in government: 1 to 8 June

Summary

In Europe, The UK is cutting budgets for public programs but also issuing contracts to monitor social media and Kosovo holds a conference on social media and interfaith dialogue.

Meanwhile, in Africa, Kenya holds the OLX Social Media Awards and the Government takes the opportunity to lay out plans to hire more IT graduates. Nigerians are Tweeting about the First Lady's watch, and South Africans have issued a report looking at their new media landscape - and guess what? Facebook has outpaced the native social network. Morocco has banned a film and ensured everyone has seen or heard about the film on social media. Libya is using social media images to support demands that an arms embargo is repealed.

The Turks have a new Parliament and the AK Party, despite its social media team, has lost the majority (thanks to some clever social media tactics of the Kurdish opposition?) Egyptian Islamic teachings are now on YouTube. Syrian refugees in Lebanon are using WhatsApp to organise (and complaining about a lack of UN funding.) The UAE is planning its fourth annual Government Social Media Summit. Syrians are pleased IS has shared social media images of the destruction of an infamous prison. The Saudis are considering banning social media after it played a role in recent terrorist bombings, and Kuwaitis got a bunch of citizenless Kuwaitis (yes, they exist) re-hired by government offices.

The Chinese are somewhat successfully controlling a social media narrative after a tragic accident in the Yangtze River while stopping any posts about the Tiananmen Square anniversary (a bit too conspicuously...) And KFC is suing Chinese companies over social media posts. India is angry on social media this past week - over poor government reimbursements, over a pigeon (though that's a bit amusing for them) and over Maggi noodles (also amusing as well as irritating.) And the Indian Muslim Review Board is joining social media.

A Malaysian official blames naked tourists for an earthquake and Australians and New Zealanders consider educational legislation to fight radical jihad.
Canadians and Germans are teaming up to stop the radicalisation of youth - how? Moms online. American Millennials get most of their news on Facebook (yes, it's official!) and Facebook counts as free speech - well, not exactly, according to the US Supreme Court. Also, the US is looking at legislation to extend wiretapping into social media - what? And American Sikhs are suing Facebook over their Indian Facebook page.

Hondurans are organising offline protests online and Argentinians, Uruguayians, Chileans, and Mexicans don't want to lose another girl to gender violence.

Then there are reports and tools....

Also, in case you missed it, the OECD held its annual forum last week. Find comments, images, and videos via the hashtag #OECDwk. There was a great discussion on social media and government led by Twiplomacy's Matthias Lüfkens ( and social media expert Mary Goudie (


 

Europe

The United Kingdom

The UK, despite spending cuts, has reached the first ever contract to monitor online media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) for "real-time" feedback about the Government.  While government officials have received press clippings regularly and monitored digital media in an ad hoc manner, "[t]his is believed to be the first time that the Government has signed up to a cross-Whitehall [slang for British civil service] contract that includes “social” as a specific media for monitoring..." One of the companies awarded the contract includes Precise, a Kantar Media company.

Sources:  @oliver_wright, +The Independent


Slovenia

Slovenians held an event on "Social media and Books" June the fourth. The Slovenian Culture Minister Julijana Bizjak Mlakar gave the opening address.
Sources: Vlad.si

Kosovo

Kosovo is a Balkan Republic with a Muslim majority and a median age of twenty-seven. It has committed to ensuring that its population does not radicalise through a combination of legislation and outreach. The government has criminalised recruitment for and participation in radical jihad as well as hosted several annual conferences that bring together Muslims, Christians, and Jews. This year, one of the conferences thus far is "Interfaith Dialogue in a Time of Social Media: Enabling Agents of Change, Countering Violent Extremism and Hate Speech." At the Conference, Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga (@PresidentKosovo) praised Deputy Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi (@Petrit) who "has been at the forefront of using digital diplomacy to engage international audiences with the new Kosovo as well as to counter the extremist message from nationalist and religious fanatics." She also noted that 85 percent of Kosovo households have broadband Internet access "which makes Kosovo a particularly fertile soil for new platforms of interaction with young audiences." Jahjaga cited the Interfaith Kosovo initiative, "a native response to global challenges," for its multilingual web portal and social media presence (@InterfaithRKS, on Facebook, and YouTube). The conference this year included representatives of the metaphysical Islamic Sufi communities of Kosovo.



Sources: +The Huffington Post, @PresidentKosovo, @Petrit

 

Africa


Kenya

Speaking at the OLX Social Media Awards, the Information, Communication and Technology Authority board member, Dr Matunda Nyanchama (@nmatunda) said that the Government will employ 400 Information, Communication and technology (ICT) fresh graduates by October 2015. These employees will help drive an ICT agenda in public institutions. Moreover, the Government aims to create "180,000 jobs in the ICT sector by 2017 to boost the sector's contribution to the GDP to 8 percent." Other speakers at the event called for more budget for social media departments in the public and the private sector to increase employment and support economic empowerment, particularly for the youth. "For Kenyan companies the growing use of social media has brought itself a new challenge that has resulted in the emergence of digital agencies and social media experts charged with developing and implementing strategies to grow the companies online fan base," said OLX, leading online classifieds, Country Manager, Peter Ndiang'ui. The theme of the event was "Social Media for Economic Empowerment," and it was attended by local and federal government authorities as well as private company representatives.

+AllAfrica

Nigeria

The new Nigerian President's wife Aisha Buhari allegedly wore a $52,000 Cartier watch to her husband's inauguration. This caused an uproar in Nigerian social media, which noted that it would take the new President Muhammadu Buhari three months of official salary to purchase such an item. President Buhari has vowed repeatedly to tackle corruption and bribery.

Sources: @cristymsilva

South Africa

The South African book Media Landscape 2014 was launched last week by Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) Acting Director General Donald Liphoko. "Media Landscape 2014 captures various aspects of this journey. Each chapter in the book considers the media landscape from 1994 and reflects on how far we have come, while considering future challenges....We trust that it will lead to broader debate on the media and communication in South Africa. It explores many pertinent issues such as media diversity, media ownership, the rise of social media, diversity in the media space and a raft of other topical issues...A multitude of news sources are freely available on the internet. The days where the realm of breaking news was the sole privilege of the media are also long gone. Social media in the guise of twitter, Instagram, Facebook, blogs and many others has made every person a potential journalist" Liphoko said. Find the executive summary of the book here. Some highlights:


Sources: +AllAfrica

 

Middle East


Morocco 

The Moroccan Government has banned a fictional film called "Much Loved" featuring sex workers in Morocco, but clips of footage actually cut from the film have leaked via social media. Moroccans have used the clips for their own amusement but also to debate the role of free speech in the society. Morocco has a well-known sex trade, but it is not something that the government nor many citizens want demonstrated in film.

Sources: +BBC Trending

Libya

Libyan forces of the official government have appealed to the international community for more military arms (and a reprieve of the NATO-backed  arms embargo levied on the country since 2011) after the Islamist Majlis al-Shura forces posted pictures of their mortars and rockets to social media. "We are facing ammunition shortages in all parts of Benghazi," said Mohamed el-Hejazi, army commander Khalifa Haftar's spokesman.

Sources: +Reuters

Turkey

Hasan Ali Benlioğlu, a forest guard employed with the Antalya Forestry Directorate has been reassigned three times to new posts allegedly after posting photos of flooded streets to his Facebook account. “The photos of flooded streets that I shared on Facebook annoyed [Mayor] Mehmet Özeren. AK Party officials began to create problems for me, and then I was temporarily transferred to the Akseki district,” Benlioğlu explained. He is one of many public officials reassigned by leadership from the ruling AK Party due to posting or sharing “embarrassing” content via social media.

Sources: +Todays Zaman

The Turkish Parliamentary elections were yesterday, and social media played a big part. Opposition parties claimed traditional PR and media refused to host a significant amount of their content for fear of repercussion. Plus, the high-level and well-paid New Turkey Digital Office (sometimes referred to by outsiders as the AKTrolls) churned out thousands of social media posts promoting the ruling AK party. Some grass root groups did manage a few social media memes, e.g. Kurdish women “turning their backs” on the AK party (both literally at an event attended by the AK party leader and figuratively by uploading images of their backs online.)  The AK party lost the majority needed to vote in more powers for the party head. 

Sources: @isabelhunter, +The Independent, +The Guardian 

Egypt

Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi told Egyptians in a New Year's speech that they are at the forefront of a “religious revolution.” He instructed clerics to combat radicalism in schools, mosques, and the media. In the same speech, held at the symbolic Cairo’s Al-Azhar, a 1,000-year-old Islamic learning center, Sisi noted that radacalisation in Egypt was “a source of anxiety, danger, killing and destruction for the rest of the world...It is very important that the world sees us as Egyptians. And you have noticed that I never use any other word but the word Egyptians. It’s not acceptable for anyone to tell anyone else anything different. We are Egyptians. Nobody should say: What kind of Egyptian are you? … We are setting an example from right here in Egypt....Is it possible that 1.6-billion people [Muslims] should want to kill the rest of the world’s inhabitants — that is seven-billion — so that they themselves may live? Impossible! I am saying these words here at Al Azhar, before this assembly of scholars and ulema: Allah Almighty be witness to your truth on Judgment Day concerning that which I’m talking about now...I say and repeat again that we are in need of a religious revolution. You, imams, are responsible before Allah. The entire world, I say it again, the entire world is waiting for your next move … because this umma is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lost; and it is being lost by our own hands.” Al-Azhar has since taken the task to stop radicalisation online, opening a YouTube channel with videos promoting their own interpretations of Islam and posting videos criticising IS. In addition, Al-Azhar has a Google Plus page and an active Facebook page (with more than 76 thousand followers.)



Sources: +AzharTvSite

Lebanon

“Lebanon should be commended for hosting the Syrian refugees,” an International Monetary Fund report last month said, along with “the Syria crisis...dominates Lebanon’s short-term outlook and longer-term prospects” and that Lebanon “will need ongoing and sizable international assistance as it alone cannot shoulder the related costs.” However, Syrian refugees have claimed that too little or even no support is coming from international organisations. Instead, Syrians themselves are using social networks and applications like WhatsApp to self-organise and collect donations or to create and support private refugee camps. In addition, refugees use social networks to find black market jobs in the country, given that Lebanon has officially outlawed any further Syrian refugees.

Sources:  @alessandriamasi, +International Business Times

United Arab Emirates

In September, the UAE will host the fourth annual Government Social Media Summit for the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (often referred to as the GCC, but officially known as the CCASG). The theme for this year will be “Leveraging Social Networks to Drive Government Innovation and Create Smart Cities” and so far the summit is "expected to attract more than 250 regional and international communications and social media experts, decision makers and executives from the government sector."
Sources: @SocialMediaSmts, +Social Media Series 

Syria

IS destroyed a much-feared prison in Palmyra. The prison was run by pro-Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad forces, and its destruction has been met with much joy in social media run by anti-Assad/opposition forces.
Sources: +Middle East Eye, @zaidbenjamin, +Al Jazeera English


Saudi Arabia

The government of Saudi Arabia is considering banning social media networks that incite violence and spread hatred. Evidence has shown that the suicide bombers involved in two attacks during Friday prayers in different Saudi cities planned their violence via social media. IS, which has publicly called the Saudi royal family the “head of the snake and stronghold of disease,” has claimed responsibility for the so-called "lone wolf" bombings which have killed 25 people and injured over a hundred.

Sources:  @ian_black, @DrFayez2013

Kuwait

Ten percent of the Kuwaiti population are "bidoons" ("without"), individuals without any citizenship. When the Government fired a number of bidoons from temporary contracts at the country's health and religious affairs ministries recently, Kuwaitis took to social media to support the bidoons and demand their country treat this section of the population with more respect. "Firing the bidoons who are loaded with the burdens of life shortly before Ramadan is an act that is not related to Islam nor to humanity," Tweeted a Member of the Kuwaiti Parliament. "Imagine that you were without a homeland, without a job, without a salary, without accommodation, what meaning would your life have? You would either become a criminal or you would take drugs," said another Kuwaiti netizen. After the outpouring of support, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Religious Affairs reversed its decision while the Health Ministry agreed to re-hire the bidoons for morning shifts. 

 Sources: +BBC Trending



Asia


China

The Eastern Star, a cruise ship carrying 400 people, sank in the Yangtze River. Fourteen passengers have been recovered, hundreds are missing, and the official death toll stands at seventy-five. Meanwhile, Chinese social media censorship is carefully removing all negative posts related the tragedy from traditional media while social media is, for the most part, more broadly discussing the accident. However, there have been some censored social media posts, and reaction has been far less critical - and less well-informed than during previous disasters. The Chinese Government is carefully publishing images and stories of rescue workers and  the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visiting the scene of the sinking in an attempt to control the narrative. One blip for the Chinese Government was a public letter posted to social media by family members of victims of the disaster. The letter demanded an apology from Chinese leadership, the death penalty for the boat captain, and financial compensation.


Jeremy Goldkorn (@goldkorn), the founder and director of Danwei,  a media consultancy for foreign businesses in China, explained the history behind the social media censorship to a reporter: “The government has been a lot more transparent in recent years, partly because the Internet has made complete coverups impossible. A look back at the Wenzhou train crash of 2011 helps explain the authorities' current reaction, because it was the first time social media made the government lose control of the narrative. In the weekend of the Wenzhou accident, most of the information about the train crash came from citizens who were posting on Weibo (a Twitter-like microblog service). The government was one step behind ordinary people writing about the tragedy and criticizing the government's response….That really woke up the government to the possibility of social media, and there have been a number of measures put in place since then, not only to control narratives about natural disasters but also political dissent…In the case of the cruise ship sinking, social media is certainly highly censored, and there is a lot of pro-government propaganda on social media talking about how the government is doing a good job.”

Sources: @goldkorn, +PRI Public Radio International, @sroberson_93, 
@dhewittChina, @gabewildau


The 26th Tiananmen Square anniversary arrived last week, and Chinese censorship is allegedly worked very hard to ensure it is not mentioned in traditional or digital media. Individuals refer to the murder of peaceful protestors using the digits "six-four" (for the day of the event, June fourth.) If users of the social application/network WeChat try to send 6.40 or 89.64 yuan (the event happened in 1989), the Wechat will not permit the transfer. “Irregular transaction, please try again later,” the app responds. Weibo is also blocking potentially politically sensitive posts: "The politically delicate tweets that the censors have recently deleted include one reporting July Brent crude futures falling to $64.88 a barrel and another about a 64-year-old American woman returning lost money that she found on the street."
Sources: @sinoceros

The Chinese Internet police will soon join the Chinese social media that they police, according to the Chinese Government. In an official statement, Chinese authorities explained, “The internet police are coming out to the front stage from behind the curtains, beginning regular open inspection and law enforcement efforts, raising the visibility of the police online, working hard to increase a joint feeling of public safety for the online community and to satisfy the public." Police from 50 geographical districts including major cities like Beijing and Shanghai will open accounts on the Chinese social media platform Weibo to contribute to the aim of "a harmonious, cultured, clear and bright Internet." Police will use Weibo to further root out “illegal and harmful information on the internet, deter and  prevent cyber crimes and improper words and deeds online, publish case reports and handle public tip-offs."The Public Security Ministry announced that Chinese Internet officials have thus far in 2015 deleted 758,000 pieces of "illegal and criminal information" and have investigated more than 70,000 cases of “cybercrime.”

Sources: +Reuters

Chinese photographer Coca Dai () has was in Shanghai last week after posting a photograph of President Xi Jinping making a strained face (called the "Chrysanthemum Face" in China.) The image is part of a series of photos that depict people in the process of using the toilet. The official charge is “picking quarrels and stirring trouble.” 



Sources:  @dhewittChina,

The fast food provider Kentucky Fried Chicken has filed a lawsuit against theree Chinese companies that used social media to spread false rumours about the restaurant's food.  The companies used their social media accounts to suggest KFC chickens have six wings and eight legs. "KFC is demanding 1.5 million yuan ($242,000) and an apology from each of three companies that operated accounts on the popular mobile phone app WeChat. It is also seeking an immediate stop to their infringements. Shanghai Xuhui District People's Court has accepted the case, according to a press officer who would only give her surname, Wu," reports CTV news. KFC's China CEO Qu Cuirong said in a written statement, "[T]he stepped-up efforts by the government in recent years to purify the online environment, as well as some judicial interpretations, have offered us confidence and weapons" in the lawsuit.

Sources:

Chinese social media and US social media have debated US allegations that the Chinese Government is involved in state-sponsored hacking of US government offices, most recently  the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the Interior Department computers, made public last Thursday. Chinese social media point out that the hack, even if state-sponsored, is no worse than what the USA’s National Security Agency has done. Meanwhile, Shen Dingli, the director of Fudan University's Center for American Studies in Shanghai, defended the Chinese Government and said that if the USA wanted to discuss the hack, they should have approached the Chinese leadership quietly rather than “making any unverified allegations” in a public forum. 

Sources: +Associated Press

Singapore

Governance expert Kishore Mahbubani (@mahbubani_k), 66, a former United Nations (UN) Security Council president and now dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, provided an interview to Tham Yuen-c of the Straits Times. In it, he shared his opinion on social media and governance. Some quotes: "I think that here, it's a mistake to pass moral judgment on whether the Internet and social media is good or bad. It doesn't matter. When you educate the people, you create a new political reality. When you create a middle-class population, you create a new political reality. You cannot turn back the clock and say: I want to go back to the era when all I needed to do in the 1960s was to go to a slum in Toa Payoh, put in a standing water pipe and the people would be so grateful that they would vote for the government. Those days are gone. In the same way, you cannot turn the clock back on social media and the Internet. It is a reality, you have to deal with it....When the flood is coming and there's a hole in the dyke, and you put your finger in, it won't stop the flood. And social media is a flood. No government can control it any more." Mahbubani goes on to praise India's Prime Minister for his active presence on social media while supporting the controversial closure of The Real Singapore (TRS) website because it fanned "ethnic tensions." (Mahbubani is Sindhi, a minority ethnicity in Singapore.) Mahbubani said Singapore need to widen the out-of-bounds markers in some things, but probably narrow them when it comes to race and religion.

Sources: @mahbubani_k

India

Last week, the Indian Prime Minister (and social media maven, according to Twiplomacy and other social media experts) Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) celebrated his first year in office with a mass of social media promotion, but he does not plan to stop there. Modi's digital team is planning to up the PM's social media engagement:"During one of the meetings in May this year, the PM had casually said he was getting many mentions on Twitter, but wasn't able to respond to as many. While he has had twitter chats with a diverse group of people from the chairman of the World Bank to singer Asha Bhonsle, it has been decided that our team will identify the most interesting tweets and the PM may choose to engage with them," a volunteer on his staff explained. "In a normal week, the PM reaches two crore people through Facebook. His report card in graphic form, posted on Facebook, got clicked by 1.5 million people, his jugalbandi video in Dantewada was responded to by 2.1 million people, while the selfie with Chinese Premier Li reached more than 15 million people."

Sources: @nistula, +Nistula hebbar, +The Times of India

Indians from the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which experienced widespread and devastating flooding last year, received minimal compensation checks from the government and took their ire to social media. J & K netizens vented their wrath with Tweets, Facebook posts, and photos targeting authorities and demanding more money, posting images of the checks provided by the government to demonstrate the small amounts. J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed responded to the criticism saying, "The government will compensate those people who lost their residential houses in the last year's floods. All those persons whose 'pucca' or 'kutcha' houses, which were partially or fully-damaged in the floods, will be compensated."
Sources: +The Times of India

A popular Indian snack food made by Nestle called Maggi Noodles has been banned in several Indian states while India and now Canada investigate the lead levels in the food. Nestle has performed its own investigation and deemed the product safe to eat, yet the company voluntarily took the snack off shelves in India due to the “environment of confusion for the consumer.” Indian social media is debating the move by the Indian state governments and Nestle with many taking the opportunity to point out that an awful lot of Indians’ favourite snacks are unhealthy. Meanwhile, a prominent academic and member of the ruling BJP party suggested that the love of the unhealthy noodles is due to lazy mothers, sparking backlash from opposition party members and citizens.
 Sources: +The Independent

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, which reviews Sharia-related issues for Indians, has decided to open up a social media cell to post and respond to social media discussing Islamic law. Maulana Khalid Rasheed, a member of the executive committee of the Board told reporters from The Times of India, "It is high time that the Board made its presence felt on the social media primarily because of its reach and impact...Members agreed that the Board must use the social media as a part of its campaign to reach out to the masses on regular basis." The Board will also be engaging in a campaign to resist having lessons on the Hindu religious text the Gita and yoga compulsory in Indian schools.

Sources: +The Times of India

A pigeon carrying a message in Urdu was found on the Indian side of the border last week. Since largely Pakistanis speak Urdu in the area, the Indian police took the pigeon and x-rayed it before registering it as a "suspected spy"in the police logs. This set off a wave of gleeful amusement in Pakistani and Indian social media.
 
 Sources: +BBC Trending 


Malaysia

The Malaysian Government has blamed a group of foreign tourists that posed nude on a sacred mountain for a 5.9 earthquake that followed a few days after the tourists' images appeared in Malaysian social media.  The deputy chief minister of the state of Sabah (the Parliament) told reporters that it was his opinion that the earthquake provided "confirmation" that the mountain is sacred and "cannot be taken lightly" by humanity.

Sources: +BuzzFeed, @stephemcneal

Australia and New Zealand

The Education Council, which includes all the education ministers in New Zealand as well as the Australian territories and states, is considering adding a "jihadi watch" program to school curriculum. The program would instruct teachers and students in how to identify when a student has been radicalised. Australia is concerned about students joining IS as well as the allegedly more subtle al-Quaeda front al-Nusra. The program has arisen in part out of concerns that more and more Australian youths are in touch with IS and al-Nusra recruiters on social media. 

Sources: +The Conversation



 

North America

Canada

Parents of ISIS fighters from seven countries, including Canada, the U.S., France and Germany, have begun to use social media to urge those involved in fighting for IS to come home. “It’s a question of fighting fire with fire against the recruitment happening on social media,” the leader of the group Mothers For Life (@Mothers_4_Life), Canadian Chris Boudreau (@ChristianneBoud) stated after the group posted its first open letter on social media. The letter quotes the Qu'ran several times, e.g. "Even if you think death will give you that ‘better’ life, remember that even the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘Paradise lies at the feet of your mother,’” the group wrote in its inaugural message. “By leaving us against our will to give up your own life and take those of others, you have put our struggle, pain and honour under your feet and walked over it.” Mothers For Life launched with the guidance of the Berlin-based German  Institute on Radicalization and Deradicalization Studies. Those involved note that Europe is much more open to repatriating former IS fighters than North American countries.

Sources: @Mothers_4_Life, @MPwrites

In Montreal, Quebec, ten youths suspected of planning to join jihadist groups in the Middle East were arrested this year and several more are believed to have left for Turkey in attempts to join jihadi forces. Most of these youths were contacted and recruited online via social media. As a result, Quebec's Concordia University has introduced Digital Mass Atrocity Prevention Lab () as part of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies. Kyle Matthews (@kylecmatthews), who leads the lab, noted in an interview that "ISIS has become like a genocidal force where it exists and it tends to squash all diversity and annihilate anyone who is different...Tied to that, we have cases in Canada where individuals are being radicalized online, targeted on social media much like online sexual predators...They're creating a narrative that kind of makes the ISIS fighter look like the Che Guevara of 2015....The response [of the Government] is so slow and what I keep telling people the government can't do this stuff. Bureaucrats are not creative, they don't understand how social media works...They (ISIS) have got an entire social media infrastructure that's laid out and they're doing it in multiple languages and I don't see any equivalent response."

Sources: @sidhartha_b, @kylecmatthews, 

The 42nd general Federal election in Canada is scheduled for October 19th, 2015. Parties are already gearing up online and off. Follow their leaders on Twitter here and check out real-time Tweets below.




 

The United States

A Pew Research Center report released the first of June noted that "When it comes to where younger Americans get news about politics and government, social media look to be the local TV of the Millennial generation. About six-in-ten online Millennials (61%) report getting political news on Facebook in a given week, a much larger percentage than turn to any other news source, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis. This stands in stark contrast to internet-using Baby Boomers, for whom local TV tops the list of sources for political news at nearly the same reach (60%)" Millennials tend to rely less on local TV for political news (37% see news there in a given week) and more on social media. The data is based on a "survey conducted between March 19 and April 29, 2014, with 2,901 members of the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel." For a bit more analysis, see the reports section (below) in this week's blog or see the Pew Research Center blog poste here. And don't forget the follow-up Pew blog post, which looks at why the Republican GOP is having a "Millennial issue."

Sources: +Pew Research Center, @jocelynkiley, @MichaelDimock

The United States Supreme Court overturned a case in which a man from Pennsylvania was arrested for threatening to kill his estranged wife over Facebook. The man claimed that he was an amateur rapper and that he was simply trying out rap lyrics when he described how he graphically planned to murder his wife via the social network. He claimed the posts were part of his therapy for depression and never meant to be public. "Elonis' [the defendant] conviction cannot stand," Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority in the 8-1 decision. "The jury was instructed that the government need prove only that a reasonable person would regard Elonis' communications as a threat, and that was an error." The Supreme court did not invoke the Constitutional right to free speech, instead focusing on the mens rea/criminal intent doctrine, which is a legal principle that requires those convicted of a crime to know what they are doing is wrong.

Sources: @cmondics

Some US Congress Members have called for a wiretap law specifically for social media. With encrypted social networks hindering the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s capacity to track terrorists online, Michael Steinbach, assistant director of the FBI's Counter-terrorism Division asked Congress Wednesday to use the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) as a model in a new rule to focus on Internet-based Communications. Steinbach emphasised that he did not want backdoor access to encryption technology: "We're not talking large-scale surveillance techniques. We're not looking at going through a backdoor or being nefarious; we're talking about going to the company and asking for their assistance." Steinbach notes that such a law would require the FBI to get a court order before going to the companies to access the allegedly criminal communication. Given that Facebook (like Google and Apple) recently announced plans to allow users to encrypt their communications using a key that not even Facebook would possess (so if you forget your password, good luck to you...), one wonders how useful such legislation would eventually be.

Sources: @GrantGross, @TomRisen

Usaama Rahim, a man in Boston who was both a consumer and creator of online propaganda for IS, planned to behead police officers. He was intercepted and shot dead prior to being able to commit the planned attack; however, his online activity adds fuel to the argument that IS is capable of inspiring "lone wolf" attacks as well as inciting online propagandists located in the USA.


Sources: +Yahoo News

Isabel Nassief (@isabel_nassief), a social media analyst specialising in the Middle East, wrote a piece for The New York Times exploring how the US Government and social media companies could disrupt ISIS online networks. She explains, "The reach of ISIS's propaganda on social media is perhaps more significant than the content of its messaging. On Twitter, a relatively small group of pro-ISIS accounts disseminate information which is then broadcast by their followers to thousands of other users. This process repeats itself over and over again every day. As more than 20,000 foreigners have traveled to Iraq and Syria to join extremist groups, ISIS's strategy is clearly working. Winning the social media war, therefore, should focus on disrupting and undermining this network's capacity." Nassief goes on to note that while Twitter is suspending graphic and harmful IS accounts, a more effective strategy might be to suspend the most influential accounts: "Companies can identify the most influential ISIS accounts using social network analysis to calculate the centrality of various users within the larger ISIS network. Precise and consistent targeting of these accounts would significantly diminish ISIS's ability to spread propaganda". Read the full post here. 

 Sources: +New York Times, @isabel_nassief

US Senators Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) and Barbara Boxer (@SenatorBoxer) are sponsoring legislation that will require police to report any instance of death or serious injury while in police custody. Currently, such reporting is voluntary. The legislation is called the  Police Reporting of Information Data and Evidence (PRIDE) Act #PrideAct. Both Senators are using social media to promote the legislation. “It is time we address the trust deficit between law enforcement and many communities across our country. It’s time that we come together and work to see each other clearly,” Booker wrote in a piece about the proposed legislation on the popular content site Medium.  In a complementary press release, Senator Booker summarised the bill:  
"The Boxer-Booker measure would require states to report to the Attorney General on use-of-force incidents involving officers and the public that result in serious bodily injury or death. The reports must include, at a minimum:
  • The gender, race, ethnicity, and age of each individual who was shot, injured, or killed;
  • The date, time, and location of the incident;
  • The number of officers and number of civilians involved in the incident;
  • Whether the civilian was armed with a weapon; and
  • The type of force used against the officer, the civilian, or both, including the types of weapons used."
Anecdotal evidence along with the reporting that exists on police shootings in the USA thus far can be found via The Guardian’s project “The Counted,” which provides downloadable data for users.

Sources: @kerrymflynn, @CoryBooker

Senators Rand Paul (@RandPaul), currently seeking the Republican Presidential nomination, is the most popular Republican candidate on social media thanks to his recent criticism of the Patriot Act and the National Security Agency's bulk surveillance. The stance is not necessarily popular within the Republican party, but it has garnered Paul a lot of credit amongst voters online. His popularity escalated during his 11-hour filibuster on the Patriot Act the 20th of May. (Several controversial areas of the Act have since expired without being renewed.) Former Republican Presidential candidate and current Arizona Senator John McCain “contended there was an obvious political reason for Paul’s stance, pointing out how his colleague was tweeting supporters taking “selfies” of themselves next to Paul speaking on TV,” reported Politico.

Sources: +Breitbart News, +POLITICO 

Remember, if you want to keep up with the USA Presidential candidates on Twitter, you can subscribe to this 2016 Presidential Twitter list or check out the Tweets below.



Alternatively, you can follow this Facebook list.


Sikhs For Justice, located in the USA, is suing Facebook in the USA for blocking its Facebook page in India last month “on its own or on the behest of the Government of India.” The Facebook page in question is used to run a campaign demanding a referendum for the creation of an independent Sikh country in the Indian state of Punjab. Sikhs For Justice has charged Facebook with engaging in “a pattern of civil rights violation and blatant discriminatory conduct” by blocking its content in the whole of India. Facebook says the lawsuit is without merit. "In its Government Requests Report for July to December 2014, Facebook said it restricted 5,832 'pieces of content,” including “anti-religious content and hate speech that could cause unrest and disharmony.'"

Sources: @Johnribeiro

Tony Tyler, CEO of the International Air Transport Association (@IATA), commented on the impact of social media in air traffic safety today. To journalists he said, "Airlines almost are seeing things on their television screens ... quicker than their internal systems are able to communicate with them." He acknowledged social media calls for at least two pilots to be in the cockpit at all times after the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash, but pressed for listeners to "make sure that we don't lose the benefits of the enormously rigorous and thorough approach that the industry's had towards investigation of root causes of accidents, even as governments are pressed by political imperatives into quick action and almost instant response to these terrible things that occasionally happen.."

Sources: @IATA

In New Jersey, the Vineland Police Department acknowledged violating the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) when removing comments related to an individual's death while in police custody from the Vineland Police Department Facebook page. OPRA says that a government record includes  “… any paper, written or printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph, microfilm, data processed or image processed document, information stored or maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a similar device, or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or kept on file … or that has been received in the course of his or its official business…” A New Jersey political blogger notes that any public entity should have a social media policy that needs to define "what social media content constitutes a public record; what methods the municipality will use to capture and store the records; how long the records must be archived, including those retained by third-party service providers; and how to archive comments and other material on other social media sites by municipal employees."
 
Sources: @Scarinci 


Republican Don Willett, a member of the Supreme Court of the state of Texas manages to regularly Tweet ten times a day. For his efforts, the Texas legislature has named him “Tweeter Laureate." "I'm the most avid judicial tweeter in America, which is like being the tallest Munchkin in Oz," said Willett, known on Twitter as @JusticeWillett with more than 17 thousand followers. The new position of “Tweeter Laureate” is ceremonial, much like the position of Poet Laureate. However,"Tweeter Laureate" does seek to promote social media “as a medium of communication between [the judiciary] and the people of Texas." Willett is a good example; he is careful to follow the judicial rules of content in his social media activities, never commenting on a case or something that could come before the court. He Tweets a lot about his family, Texas, shares a few jokes, and he does sprinkle his Twitter account with short but general legal instructions. 

Sources: @OdessaAmerican

Quick note: In Louisiana, local parishes are preparing for hurricane season - and many have told citizens to keep in touch via social media.


Central America

Honduras

Hondurans organised a massive protest in the capital last Friday via social media. The protest called for the resignation of President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who had acknowledged that his campaign was heavily financed by businesses that conducted a number of illegal activities. President Hernandez denied any personal involvement, but protestors changed “JOH out!” (referencing the President’s initials) and delivered a letter to the local United Nations office asking for an international commission to investigate government corruption.
Sources: +The Daily Star - Lebanon


South America

Argentina

On June third, activists gathered online and offline to condemn gender-based violence in 70 cities across Argentina, as well as in Uruguay, Chile, and Mexico. Netizens used the hashtag #NiUnaMenos ("Not one less") to demand concrete Government reforms across Latin America including comprehensive sex education, better victim protection, and access to free legal representation. The hashtag gained traction after the murder of a pregnant 14-year-old Chiara Paez in Argentina, which gained little attention from police or state authorities. The women's rights organisation La Casa del Encuentro reports that more than 1,800 women were murdered due to their gender (victims of femicide) in Argentina between 2008 and 2014.
Sources: @lvzwestcott, @neontommy, +Newsweek 

 

Tools

Fire Tweet

Twitter has released a new application called FireTweet. "FireTweet functions using a P2P network, this means that any user inside a restricted area will connect to another user in a non-restricted one; ultimately giving their users the freedom to express themselves in any way they want. Adam Fisk, leader of the Lantern team, expressed that the main goal of FireTweet is just to provide access; this goal, as simple as it sounds, will allow a great number of people to escape the fear of their government for a while. With FireTweet, everyone that lives in a region where the government takes any action necessary to control their citizen’s lives, will be able to express their thoughts without any kind of fear or remorse." So great for privacy (not so great for counter-intelligence...)





Reports

Millennials and Political News: Social Media – the Local TV for the Next Generation?

A Pew Research Center report released the first of June noted that "When it comes to where younger Americans get news about politics and government, social media look to be the local TV of the Millennial generation. About six-in-ten online Millennials (61%) report getting political news on Facebook in a given week, a much larger percentage than turn to any other news source, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis. The data is based on a "survey conducted between March 19 and April 29, 2014, with 2,901 members of the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel." For a bit more analysis, see below or see the Pew Research Center blog poste here. And don't forget the follow-up Pew blog post, which looks at why the Republican GOP is having a "Millennial issue."

Some stats:

Millennials (under 18)
  • low reliance on local TV for political news: 37% see news there in a given week
  •     six-in-ten online Millennials (61%) report getting political news on Facebook in a given week
  •     a quarter (24%) of Millennials who use Facebook say at least half of the posts they see on the site relate to government and politics
  •     a quarter of Millennials (26%) select politics and government as one of the three topics they are most interested in (out of a list of nine)
  •     "less familiar with many of the 36 sources asked about in the survey, which range from USA Today to Rush Limbaugh to Slate."
  •     18% who pay attention to political posts say the posts they see are mostly or always in line with their own views**
Gen Xers (ages 18-33 at the time of the 2014 survey)
  • Roughly half (51%) get political and government news on Facebook in a given week and about half (46%) do so on local TV.
  •     18% who use Facebook say at least half of the posts they see on the site relate to government and politics
  •     34% select politics and government as one of the three topics they are most interested in (out of a list of nine)
  •     21% who pay attention to political posts say the posts they see are mostly or always in line with their own views**
Baby Boomers (33-68)
  • low reliance on Facebook for news (39%)
  •     16% who use Facebook say at least half of the posts they see on the site relate to government and politics
  •     45% select politics and government as one of the three topics they are most interested in (out of a list of nine)
  •     31% of Baby Boomers on Facebook who pay attention to political posts say the posts they see are mostly or always in line with their own views**
Not included: "Silent generation" (69 to 86)

**Across all three generations, most Facebook users who pay attention to political content do, in fact, see views on the site that aren’t in line with their own.
*** All three generations trust, on average, about four-in-ten sources they have heard of and distrust about two-in-ten.

Millennials and Baby Boomers: A Generational Divide in Sources Relied on for Political News

Sources: +Pew Research Center, @jocelynkiley, @MichaelDimock

How the Internet, the Sharing Economy, and Reputational Feedback Mechanisms Solve the “Lemons Problem”

The "sharing economy" is made up of those “that use the Internet to bring together distributed networks of individuals to share or exchange otherwise underutilized assets.” The "sharing economy," made up of things like Airbnb, Uber, TaskRabbit, etc. generates about $15 billion in economic activity daily, according to George Mason University's Mercatus Center in the USA. In fact, in a study run by the Center, it is suggested that the sharing economy is far more effective as well as just more efficient than the government at saving consumers time, money, and effort. Participants in the sharing economy can more quickly and easily identify problems and solutions. An example in the study is the incident in which an Airbnb user robbed another user. Airbnb quickly doubled its support staff, and then introduced a hotline and an insurance policy.

Sources: @mercatus



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