News Roundup Archive

Thursday, March 12, 2015

PeaceTech News Roundup

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March 6-12, 2015

Media and Social Media

·  Australian Government to Meet With Facebook, Google Reps to Help Fight Against ISIS Propaganda (International Business Times, 3/11/15)

·  How Social Media is Bridging the Gap Between Israelis and Iranians (Huffington Post, 3/9/15)

·  Nigeria: Journalists Protest Against Rising Political Violence, Attack on Colleagues (All Africa, 3/9/15)

·  Who's Behind the Islamic State's Propaganda on Twitter (Huffington Post, 3/6/15)

·  The Queen of Jordan: Social Media Can Show an Arab World Beyond ISIS (Mashable, 3/6/15)

·  Testing Tools to Counter Online ISIS Recruitment (SciDev.Net, 3/6/15)

Peace Channel

How Not to Save Ukraine

by Stephen M. Walt

Washington pundits are jumping on a proposal to send weapons to Ukraine. Here's why they all need to take a deep breath.

 Read full article

 

Media and Social Media

Australian Government to Meet With Facebook, Google Reps to Help Fight Against ISIS Propaganda
The Australian government is set to hold talks with Facebook, Google and YouTube to discuss ways to stop ISIS propaganda from spreading over social media and the Internet. Australia is concerned about the growing number of citizens lured by ISIS to join the group and will request tech companies to take a harder stance on taking down ISIS-related propaganda.
See the full article (International Business Times, 3/11/15, Reissa Ru)
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How Social Media is Bridging the Gap Between Israelis and Iranians
After rhetoric about Iran's nuclear energy and reports of a soured relationship between President Obama and the Israeli Prime Minister, Iranian and Israeli citizens took to social media to have a completely different conversation. Israeli graphic designer Ronny Edry discusses how the people of both Middle Eastern countries have reclaimed their stories and reached out to one another online.
See the full article (Huffington Post, 3/9/15, Rahel Gebreyes)
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Nigeria: Journalists Protest Against Rising Political Violence, Attack on Colleagues
Members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) staged a peaceful protest against the rising political violence in the state and attacks on journalists by politicians and their agents. Some of the placards read: "Journalists in Rivers State say enough is enough to insecurity and election related violence"; "We are tired of Violent Politics"; "When you kill journalists, you kill society".
See the full article (All Africa, 3/9/15, Ann Godwin)
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Who's Behind the Islamic State's Propaganda on Twitter?
The Islamic State militant group has been extraordinarily successful at spreading its propaganda through social media networks. A new study, released by the Brookings Institution, seeks to provide the fullest picture of the group's presence on Twitter. The study warns that efforts to clamp down on extremists' Twitter accounts could make it even more difficult to gather information about the group.
See the full article (Huffington Post, 3/6/15, Charlotte Alfred)
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The Queen of Jordan: Social Media Can Show an Arab World Beyond ISIS
ISIS extremists have used social media to promote their own radical beliefs and barbarism, casting a negative light on the Arab world and Islam. Like it or not, we are being defined by a narrow narrative. Moderates must use social media to tell a different story, to show the world that there is more to the Arab world than the extremists would have them believe.
See the full article (Mashable, 3/6/15, Matt Petronzio)
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Testing Tools to Counter Online ISIS Recruitment
ISIS has stunned the world with its rapid and brutal occupation of land across Syria and northern Iraq. But the group also rose to fame through its slick media operations - from graphic but professional YouTube videos, GoPro films and social media campaigns to the technical wizardry of its digital encryption and anonymised networks.
See the full article (SciDev.Net, 3/6/15, Imogen Mathers)
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Technology, Science and Data

Etisalat to Help Families Separated By Conflict Reunite Through New Service
As conflicts mount, families become separated. Lack of access to the Internet, coupled with a breakdown of traditional media channels, makes it nearly impossible for families to find each other and reconnect. Etisalat is proud to partner with REFUNITE and Ericsson to leverage its own technology to ease the suffering of refugees at times of their greatest need. Etisalat is proud to partner with REFUNITE and Ericsson to leverage its own technology to ease the suffering of refugees at times of their greatest need.
See the full article (Gulf Today, 3/11/15)
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And Then He Switched Off the Phone': Mobile Phones, Participation and Political Accountability in South Sudan's Western Equatoria State
This study found little evidence that mobile phone coverage contributes to statebuilding or peacebuilding through a causal link between information, voting, political participation and government accountability. In a situation where administrative structures and mechanisms do not exist for citizens to hold politicians accountable, access to mobile phones might mean greater dissatisfaction with political participation and voting.
See the full article (Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 3/9/15, Mareike Schomerus and Anouk Rigterink)
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Does Climate Change Really Cause Conflict
Researchers themselves are appropriately cautious when making any claims about the connection between climate and conflict. In a statement that accompanied Hsiang and Burke's study, Hsiang wrote: "There's no conflict that we think should be wholly attributed to some specific climatic event. Every conflict has roots in interpersonal and intergroup relations. What we're trying to point out is that climate is one of the critical factors [that] affect how things escalate, and if they escalate to the point of violence."
See the full article (The Guardian, 3/9/15, Amy Westervelt)
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Google Executive Aims For A Better World Through Technology
With all the gifts technological advancements offer society, technology can also be a detriment. Cohen estimates that up to 5 billion people will gain access to the Internet within the next few decades, a majority of whom live under unstable governments or war-torn areas. Technology's reach into these types of areas helped ISIS grow, but the terrorist organization's massive web presence that makes it a formidable opponent will someday bring it down.
See the full article (The Eagle, 3/7/15, Sam Peshek)
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This roundup, sent weekly on Thursdays, summarizes and highlights the week's most important stories relating to the intersection of technology, media and data as effective means of reducing violent conflict around the globe.

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