China’s authorities maintain a tight grip on the web. But with increasing numbers of tech-savvy users, how long can this control last? Index’s China correspondent investigates .
Ukraine’s President Yanukovych has completed his takeover of his country’s TV channels, and is making inroads into the internet. As Ukraine faces a choice of whether to align itself with Europe or Eurasia, Sergii Leshchenko wonders if there is a way back.
All commentators with whom I had the pleasure to spar - I in the red corner, they in the blue - had three essential messages to transmit: beginning with the statement that Hugo Chávez was a tyrant - albeit - and said without the slightest irony - an elected one.
The lyrics are all in colloquial Arabic, with artists using different dialects and referring to idioms, metaphors, and historical events from a variety of socio-political contexts, targeting Arabic-speaking communities from North Africa to the Gulf.
The debate over the direction of the web has just started, and contradictory messages that need careful scrutiny are emerging from governments and corporations alike.
The internet is an angry place, as is obvious from any examination of the comments section of blogs or popular news-sites. Anti-politicians have managed to use this disembodied universe we all increasingly inhabit to stoke people’s anger.
