I teach classes in strategic political communication. Every week, for the last seven years, I have begun each class session with a simple question: “What happened in the news this week?” The idea is to draw out lessons about how strategy and power work in the digital age. I often …
June 9 (UPI) — Pope Francis on Sunday decried the increasing use of social media in a “culture of insults” during his Pentecost Mass that celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Apostles. The pontiff told the thousands of faithful in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square in “the age of the …
First, YouTube said a streaming star’s repeated homophobic remarks about a Vox writer did not violate the platform’s rules. Then, after a lot of furious people sent a lot of furious tweets prompting a lot of scorn-filled news stories, YouTube determined the remarks did violate its rules, and announced it would strip advertising from the offending …
Some efforts are more sincere than others Even on April Fools’ Day, Singapore’s government was in no mood for fun. K. Shanmugam, the law minister, warned lawmakers of the dangers of unregulated speech, handing them a list of “offensive song lyrics”, which included hits by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. Shortly …
In an age of information warfare, Russia is going back to basics in a bid to protect its secret information from prying eyes, by telling troops to step away from their smartphones and social media. On Tuesday, Russia’s lower house of parliament passed a bill banning military personnel from posting about …
People’s dependence on smartphones and modern technology could bring about the coming of the Antichrist, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has warned. Russian social media users largely responded with humour and scepticism, while some accused the Church of “serving the regime”. Speaking to Russian state TV, Patriarch Kirill said …
LAST year, Vietnam’s National Assembly approved a new cybersecurity law that came into effect on Jan 1, and Facebook is reportedly the first to get in trouble over non-compliance. The law, which allows the government to compel foreign website owners to censor information and hand over data on demand, had …
President Donald Trump today accused Twitter of reducing the number of users who follow him and suggested the company is slowing down his account’s growth, in his latest attack on internet companies over alleged bias. “Twitter has removed many people from my account and, more importantly, they have seemingly done …
Corey Lewis was leaving a Subway sandwich shop in the US state of Georgia on Sunday with the two children he was babysitting, when a woman approached him in a Walmart car park. The woman asked if the children were OK, and requested to speak to them. When Mr Lewis …
Influential Facebook users, pejoratively referred to as net idols, are facing retribution for their online posts. Vientiane, Laos – Inside a packed lecture hall at the American Centre in the capital Vientiane, 60 National University of Laos students sit surrounded by framed posters featuring inspirational quotes by American icons Martin Luther …