How to Ignite, or Quash, a Revolution in 140 Characters or Less
The Promise and Limitations of New Technologies in Spreading Democracy
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 - 2:00pm - 6:00pm
Do the Internet and social media empower Big Brother or individuals in autocratic regimes, or do they offer a rare level playing field?
This year's Arab Spring resurrected exuberant claims for the role of new technologies in spreading democracy. At the same time self-proclaimed "cyber-realists" were quick to point out that President Mubarak's problems seemed to grow after he unplugged the Internet. Now, summer's deadly stalemate in Syria has given pause to anyone peddling absolute theories about the interplay between new information technologies and revolution.
If not a panacea, how can social media and the Internet be deployed to maximize civic engagement in autocratic societies? Does the U.S. policy of supporting Internet freedom amount to a policy of regime change in some countries? When Big Brother does unplug the Internet, what can -- or should -- the rest of us do about it?
A full writeup of the discussions from this July 13 Future Tense event can be found in the agenda below.
4:00 pm - Myths, Realities, and Inconvenient Truths of the Internet [Video]
Rebecca MacKinnon
Senior Schwartz Fellow, New America Foundation
Co-founder, Global Voices Online
4:30 pm - The View from Havana [Video]
Yoani Sanchez (via video)
Blogger, desdecuba.com
Human Rights Activist
4:45 pm - Internet Freedom's Next Frontiers? [Video]
Omid Memarian
Journalist
Recipient, 2005 Human Rights Defender Award, Human Rights Watch
Mary Jo Porter
English Translator for Yoani Sanchez and other Cuban bloggers
Co-founder, hemosoido.com and translatingcuba.com
Marcus Noland
Deputy Director, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Author, Witness to Transformation: Refugee Insights into North Korea
Moderator
Andrés Martinez
Co-Director, Future Tense Initiative
Director, Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program, New America Foundation
5:20 pm - Bypassing the Master Switch [Video]
Sascha Meinrath
Director, Open Technology Initiative
New America Foundation
Ian Schuler
Senior Program Manager, Internet Freedoms Program
U.S. Department of State
Moderator
Robert Wright
Future Tense Fellow, New America Foundation
Author, Nonzero, The Moral Animal, and The Evolution of God
