Global Culture, Local Cultures, and the Internet. The Thai Example

This paper addresses the questions of whether, and if so, how and to what extent the Internet brings about homogenization of the local cultures in the world. It examines a particular case, that of Thai culture, through an investigation and interpretation of a Usenet newsgroup, soc.culture.thai. Two threads of discussion in the newsgroup are selected. One deals with criticisms of the Thai government and political leaders, and the other focuses on whether Thai language should be a medium, or perhaps the only medium, of communication in the newsgroup. It is found\ud that, instead of erasing local cultural boundaries, creating a worldwide monolithic culture, the Internet reduplicates the existing cultural boundaries. What the Internet does, on the contrary, is to create an umbrella cosmopolitan culture which is necessary for communication among people from disparate cultures. That culture, however, is devoid of "thick" backgrounds, in Michael Walzer's sense

A Qualitative Analysis of the Relationship Between Cyberthreats and Democratic Backsliding

Interstate conflict has developed beyond conventional tactics to include the cyber realm, making cybersecurity a key component of international relations and an integral part of state defense plans. Research in international security has included the analyses of the relative success or failures of particular cyberattacks. However, the instigators behind these attacks receive comparatively little attention, leaving a gap in knowledge for when, why, and where cyberthreats are likely to emerge. Recent analysis has found that democratic institutions are likely to hinder state-sponsored cyberattack initiation. A consideration that the latest wave of global democratic backsliding could be fueling cyberthreats must be made. I explore this linkage between democratic backsliding and cyberthreats using a qualitative, case study approach. By comparing changing political systems with frequency and severity of state-sponsored cyberattacks, I show how increased state cyberthreat usage often aids in eroding democratic institutions and values, and how the process of democratic backsliding itself paves the way for utilization of cyberthreats

The anti-democratic employment of school cyberspace. A pilgrimage into an Arab winter?

In this article I wish to bring critical attention to the manner in which the Internet and intranet are employed as pedagogical space in schools. Within this article I also articulate my struggle to understand and conduct research in this place of electronic communication. Informed by Nietzsche and some biblical scripture, I suggest that what we are finding in education is a church of the intranet that is worshiped as a shelter of safety for educational learning. However, my contention is that a lack of control of uploaded and downloaded digital media results in spaces which mirror extant societal prejudices and bigotry. To evidence my argument I present specific data from English schools' colonisation of cyberspace and suggest that in this terra nullius a new civilisation, constructed upon old world ideals, ‘conformed’ the construction of the disabled indigene

The WELL and Usenet Alternative Newsgroups: Revisiting the Free Speech Revolution on the Electronic Frontier of the 1980s and 1990s

  The democratization of personal computers and their increasing role as tools of individual empowerment, starting in the second half of the 1980s, brought along new ways of interpersonal communication on what was about to be known as cyberspace (Barlow 1990).             The examples of The WELL, founded by Larry Brilliant and Stewart Brand in 1985, and of the alt. groups created by John Gilmore (Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder) and Brian Reid in 1987, both in the San Francisco Bay Area, illustrate new territories of free speech on an electronic frontier under construction (Rheingold 1993; Dyson 1998).Inspired by the libertarian ideals of the local counterculture and the 1964 Berkeley Free Speech Movement, these two forums of discussion embody a techno-social revolution underway. One where the sharing of information - that may otherwise be judged as taboo in the offline world - is encouraged. Both The WELL and the alt. groups embody the development of virtual communities where online speech not only liberates itself from mainstream society, but also creates novel ways of socializing on a new "augmented territory" (Musso 2010, 76).Based on on-site archival research and personal meetings with the main founders and members of these platforms (Brand, Brilliant, Felsenstein, Gilmore), this paper reflects on how the personal computer and online network access revolutionized communication and communities, both online and offline. How did these groups manage to implement the American constitutional value of free speech on cyberspace? With implications and repercussions (such as "fake news") still tangible nowadays through web 2.0, this paper proposes to shed some light on the digital revolution of the 1980s and 1990s and how it can help us navigate the ongoing controversies occurring on modern social networks

Hate in Cyberspace: Regulating Hate Speech on the Internet

The speed at which information can be spread throughout the United States and other countries has been greatly enhanced by the Internet. This computer-driven, technological medium consists of various modes of transmission, including discussion groups, interactive pages, and mail services. A wide variety of pictorial, auditory, and written information is available on the Internet. Persons with disparate goals can access and affect large audiences through it. Both those seeking social improvement and those promoting racist violence can now increase the magnitude, diversity, and location of their audiences. Persons advancing democratic ideals and those inclined to exclusionary elitism can use e- mails and electronic chat rooms to communicate with like-minded individuals located in different cities and in other lands

Hate in Cyberspace: Regulating Hate Speech on the Internet

The speed at which information can be spread throughout the United States and other countries has been greatly enhanced by the Internet. This computer-driven, technological medium consists of various modes of transmission, including discussion groups, interactive pages, and mail services. A wide variety of pictorial, auditory, and written information is available on the Internet. Persons with disparate goals can access and affect large audiences through it. Both those seeking social improvement and those promoting racist violence can now increase the magnitude, diversity, and location of their audiences. Persons advancing democratic ideals and those inclined to exclusionary elitism can use e- mails and electronic chat rooms to communicate with like-minded individuals located in different cities and in other lands

Computational Transformation of the Public Sphere : Theories and Case Studies

This book is an edited collection of MA research paper on the digital revolution of the public and governance. It covers cyber governance in Finland, and the securitization of cyber security in Finland. It investigates the cases of Brexit, the 2016 US presidental election of Donald Trump, the 2017 presidential election of Volodymyr Zelensky, and Brexit. It examines the environmental concerns of climate change and greenwashing, and the impact of digital communication giving rise to the #MeToo and Incel movements. It considers how digitilization can serve to emancipate women through ride-sharing, and how it leads to the question of robot rights. It considers fake news and algorithmic governance with respect to case studies of the Chinese social credit system, the US FICO credit score, along with Facebook, Twitter, Cambridge Analytica and the European effort to regulate and protect data usage.Non peer reviewe

The Future of Civil War History

In March 2013, hundreds of academics, preservationists, consultants, historical interpreters, museum professionals, living historians, students, K-12 teachers, and new media specialists gathered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to assess the state and potential future of the study of the American Civil War. The essays in this special issue build on the themes of that conference: embracing the democratic and civic potential of historical thinking; reaffirming the power of place and the importance of specific, focused stories; integrating military, political, social, cultural, and gender history; and encouraging collaboration among historians working in different settings. Our three guest editors offer their own thoughts about the state and potential future of Civil War history. [excerpt

Computational Transformation of the Public Sphere: Theories and Cases

This book is an edited collection of original research papers on the digital revolution of the public and governance. It covers cyber governance in Finland, and the securitization of cyber security in Finland. It investigates the cases of Brexit, the 2016 US presidential election of Donald Trump, the 2017 presidential election of Volodymyr Zelensky, and Brexit. It examines the environmental concerns of climate change and greenwashing, and the impact of digital communication giving rise to the #MeToo and Incel movements. It considers how digitilization can serve to emancipate women through ride-sharing, and how it leads to the question of robot rights. It considers fake news and algorithmic governance with respect to case studies of the Chinese social credit system, the US FICO credit score, along with Facebook, Twitter, Cambridge Analytica and the European effort to regulate and protect data usage