"Social media and digital technology offer immense potential for citizens, policymakers and practitioners to raise awareness of, monitor, and respond to violence. With Kenya’s elections approaching, technology can help to raise awareness of insecurity, support early warning, combat incitement of v
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iolence and promote accountability. However, digital technology also carries a number of risks. To maximise effectiveness and inclusivity, 1) greater support must be given to locally legitimate peace messaging and counter-speech; 2) government, media and civil society should collaborate to improve transparency and accountability in the regulation of online activity; and 3) social media monitoring of violence should be undertaken in conjunction with other reporting systems that seek to overcome inequalities in digital access and use." (Abstract)
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"Social media are now widely used for political protests, campaigns, and communication in developed and developing nations, but available research has not yet paid sufficient attention to experiences beyond the US and UK. This collection tackles this imbalance head-on, compiling cutting-edge researc
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h across six continents to provide a comprehensive, global, up-to-date review of recent political uses of social media. Drawing together empirical analyses of the use of social media by political movements and in national and regional elections and referenda, The Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics presents studies ranging from Anonymous and the Arab Spring to the Greek Aganaktismenoi, and from South Korean presidential elections to the Scottish independence referendum." (Publisher description)
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"This book explores how personalized content and the inherent networked nature of the mobile media could and do lead to positive externalities in social progress in Asian societies. Empirical studies that examine uses of the mobile phone and apps (voice mailing, SMS, mobile social media, mobile Weib
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o, mobile WeChat, etc.) are featured as a response to calls for theorization of the mobile media's efficacy as a tool for citizen engagement and participation in civic and political affairs, especially in the search for collective solutions to widespread social problems of food safety, pollution, government corruption, and public health risks. Considering the vast cultural diversity of Asian societies that are shaped by different levels of political, social, economic, and religious development, the book offers nuanced studies that provide in-depth analysis of the mobile media and political communication in a variety of communities of leading Asian countries. From the country-specific studies, broad themes and enduring concepts emerge." (Publisher description)
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"In contrast to most recent studies focusing on how ICT and new media were catalysts for the 2007/08 post-election violence, this article will shed light on the role of Kiswahili and social media in the process of fostering participation in the 2013 general election campaigns. It takes a closer look
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at how the use of Kiswahili and mobile phones has shaped citizen engagement by offering new forms and spaces of expression. It will give insight into evolving digital practices of political communication during the 2013 general elections in Kenya." (Abstract)
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"We analyzed more than 13,000 statements during the project. This report primarily builds on the statements that were collected between 24 February and 24 June 2015, three months before and one month after the parliamentary elections that took place in Ethiopia on 24 May 2015. FINDING 1 - Hate and d
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angerous speech are marginal forms of speech in social media. Only 0.4% of statements in our sample have been classified as hate speech (i.e. speech that incites others to discriminate or act against individuals or groups based on their ethnicity, religion, or gender) and 0.3% as dangerous speech (i.e. speech that builds the bases for or directly calls for widespread violence against a particular group) [...] FINDING 2 - The elections on Facebook were a “non-event” - they were broadly discussed, but there was widespread disillusionment. Most Ethiopian Facebook pages discussed the elections, but many statements either directly referred to, or seemed informed by, the perception that the outcome of the elections was already predetermined, with low levels of suspense and low expectations on the part of online users [...] FINDING 3 - Dangerous speech is a distinctive and more deliberate form of attacking other groups or individuals. When compared to hate speech, as well as to other types of messages, dangerous speech reflects a more deliberate strategy to attack individuals and groups. Almost all dangerous statements in our sample are uttered by individuals seeking to hide their identity (92%). This proportion is significantly lower for statements classified as hate speech (33%) and offensive speech (31%) [...] FINDING 4 - The political, social and cultural views reflected in social media in Ethiopia are less polarized than might be expected ..." (Executive summary)
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"This document provides general guidelines for electoral management bodies (EMBs) and other stakeholders, including political parties, candidates, citizen journalists and other social media commentators, who wish to agree on a code of etiquette for the publication and dissemination of election-relat
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ed news and information. Of course, each country must adapt these guidelines to develop a code of conduct that suits its particular political context and its own population’s use of social media." (Introduction)
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"Kuwait boasts high levels of political and media freedoms compared to many countries in the Middle East, and it enjoys a vibrant social media scene. The Kuwaiti parliamentary election in February 2012 was the first election in which candidates widely utilized Twitter during their campaigns. This ar
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ticle presents a content analysis of tweets sent by the 50 winning members of parliament (MPs) during the campaign period. It seeks to ascertain the Twitter usage patterns of MPs and determine whether Twitter was an effective tool in gaining votes. Although Twitter was widely used among MPs, it was employed less for information sharing or communicating about political issues and more for engaging with followers. This article concludes that no relationship existed between using Twitter and gaining votes. Rather, the social media platform acted as a natural extension of off-line interactions between MPs and the electorate." (Abstract)
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"The election protests in Moscow in December 2011 signified an important moment for Russian society. Political dissent, historically reserved for the private domain of Soviet kitchens and in recent years to the regulation-free space of the Russian Internet (RuNet), entered the public space of Moscow
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streets. Just like the protests revealed the long-held tension between the political discussion (and action) in Russian public and private spheres, the coverage of the protests by different media brought to light similar struggles in Russian journalism. This project combines the textual analysis of the protests' coverage by two progovernment and two oppositional media with the analysis of their connections to the RuNet-a space that played an important role in the protests' organization and coordination. The project aims to gain a deeper understanding of the role RuNet-a private space that increasingly becomes more public-plays in the development of Russian journalism." (Abstract)
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"The articles contained in this publication are dispatches from a new frontline in humanitarian action: the digital frontier. All are written by those observing, experiencing and attempting to respond to the challenges created by the digital revolution and the very real threats it is creating for hu
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manitarian operations, and exploring the potential of new tools to create a safer, more responsive operational environment for aid workers." (Page 5)
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"Undoubtedly, politicians have awoken to the political power of social media and it will be increasingly adopted as a mainstream means of information distribution and communications as voters and young people are becoming more politically active in a number of the jurisdictions surveyed in this book
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. But it is not a wholehearted embrace. On the side of the voters, the interest in the electoral process derives from personal considerations, such as ethnicity and location, rather than the desire to become politically active. On the side of the candidates, the motivating factor behind their social media efforts is the desire to employ more cost effective communication methods that reach all relevant demographics. Still, the paradigm shift has begun, with varying degrees of impact in the region. A similar survey of voting habits and the impact of social media from years from now would almost certainly tell a different story. Judging by the trends outlined in this book, the same applies to potential electoral impact of social media which could be the major driving force of future elections in the region - along with the youth vote as young people realize the importance of social media to the political machines and, accordingly, flex their own fledgling political muscles across the electoral process." (Introduction, page 10-11)
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"The May 2011 general election has been the most contested and most discussed in Singapore’s history. Prior to the polls, the government relaxed the rules on election campaigning in the Internet. For the first time in the highly wired city-state with its tech-savvy population of 5 million people,
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opposition parties had the chance to mobilize supporters via social-networking media like Facebook and Twitter. Bloggers used cyberspace extensively for political debate and comment. While the ever-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) posted its worst result in decades, the opposition gained historical victories, at least by Singapore standards. Observers were quick to label the polls as an “Internet election”, implying that media activism in the city-state’s cyberspace had a decisive impact on the ballot. A more measured reading of the election outcome, however, suggests that the polls were not decided in Singapore’s web. The voters’ choice was largely influenced by bread-and-butter issues as well as a call for divergent voices in politics and more control of the government. Although online political expression since the mid-1990s has challenged the PAP’s authoritarian rule and has changed Singapore’s political culture, its impact in electoral terms has so far been limited. The PAP still keeps the city-state tightly under control, online and offline, and is likely to continue its dominance in the foreseeable future. It remains to be seen if Internet media activism can push the city-state towards an open democracy." (Abstract)
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"Tres son los principales objetivos de la presente obra: 1. El primero consiste en poner al alcance de los ciudadanos de América Latin a los conocimientos y herramientas indispensables para que comprendan de mejor manera la forma en que la Comunicación Política incide, en mayor o menor medida, en
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su elección de representantes y funcionarios. 2. El segundo es fungir como un texto de orientación y referencia para todas aquellas personas vinculadas con la política o con la promoción y difusión de candidatos, campañas y mensajes. 3. Por último, el tercer objetivo perseguido mediante su elaboración y difusión consiste en que todas las personas que participan directa- o indirectamente en campañas de Comunicación Política logren identificar la necesidad real de prepararse teórica y técnicamente, para poder tomar las mejores decisiones, con base en análisis metódicos y objetivos del contexto y las coyunturas en los que se verifican las campañas electorales. Con lo cual, contarán con elementos para profesionalizar su labor y dejar de una vez por todas en el "baúl de los recuerdos" los mitos, tradiciones y descarriadas intuiciones con base en las que, desgraciadamente, aún se implementan muchos de los esfuerzos en materia de Comunicación Política de la región." (Presentación, página 8-9)
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"By getting connected with each other again, social media users seem to have more incentive to vote because approval by friends becomes an integral part of benefits from voting. In South Korea this phenomenon came at the dusk of the 1987 regime, which is a conservative representation system where yo
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unger, less wealthy, and progressive voters are under-represented and, thus, have little incentive to vote. Voter turnout going up again because of social media after twenty five years of going down has reversed a series of election outcomes since 2010. We pay special attention to Twitter which has played most of the political role for the past two years. The election law, last amended when there was no such thing as social media, failed to catch up with the political realities. Is democracy after Twitter going to be qualitatively different from the 1987 regime (i.e., democracy after democratization)? The reason to believe in the affirmative is that it solves at least partially the political representation problem inherent in the old system. The reason to remain pessimistic is that the offline party organizations, even democratic ones, tend to move in their vested interest rather than incorporating the new political energy accumulated in the social networks." (Abstract)
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"El ex-alcalde de Bogotá Antanas Mockus y su «ola verde» constituyeron un auténtico caso de ciberactivismo en la campaña presidencial colombiana de 2010. Una ilusión democrática creada en internet convocó a jóvenes y ciudadanos sofisticados a cambiar un país sobre la base de la promesa de
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legalidad, pero la historia terminó en una tremenda frustración política. Este artículo describe cómo se formó esa ola y qué tácticas de internet y redes sociales se utilizaron y, al mismo tiempo, reflexiona sobre la democracia en tiempos de activismo digital, sin dejar de señalar algunos límites políticos del ciberactivismo." (Resumen)
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"This book aims to record political activism on the Internet and "take stock of some of the successes and failures of cyberactivists as they try to beat the various censorship regimes in Asia." The sections of this 664-page book comprise of 'Political Frameworks & New Technology', 'Regulations and C
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ontrol', 'One Party States', 'Alternative Media', 'Civil Society', 'Diaspora Communities', and 'Political Parties'. The book's 18 chapters provide an overview of current trends in democracy related new media research to country-specific case studies. "The common thread running through the book is the organizing of civil society groups at the grassroots level, and how they are influencing certain segments of their respective countries, and even challenging state control and the monopoly of mainstream media." Asian Cyberactivism strives to examine political organising online in Asia even as the technology and the rules change. Activists provide their perspectives on how new media relates to democracy, and showcase examples that could be emulated to further the cause of democracy." (Communication Initiative)
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