The US started a social network in Cuba to foster dissent

At first glance, ZunZuneo had all the markings of your average Silicon Valley startup: a silly name, a focus on messaging, and plans to make a splash abroad. That wasn’t exactly the case though, as the Associated Press reports. No, ZunZuneo was a social messaging service (think of it as Twitter over SMS) cooked up by the U.S. Agency for International Development to help foment political unrest in Cuba. The plan? To hook users on a steady stream “non-controversial” updates on banal topics, before subtly injecting political messages into the mix in hopes of sparking a movement.

The AP says that some 40,000 unsuspecting Cubans used the service in its heyday, but it suddenly went dark in 2012 when it ran into the problem most startups inevitably do: it ran out of money. In a bid to polish its veneer of legitimacy, USAID apparently had a sit-down with Jack Dorsey to discuss funding and attempted to install a outsider as CEO. This situation, while utterly fascinating, is loaded with questions. Was it legal? The USAID argues it was – a spokesperson told the AP that a congressional investigation found the organization’s programs legally bueno. Was it ethically questionable? That’s another story entirely. ZunZuneo’s mass messaging was valuable in a country where internet access is limited at best, but Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) lays out the issues nicely:

“There is the risk to young, unsuspecting Cuban cellphone users who had no idea this was a U.S. government-funded activity. There is the clandestine nature of the program that was not disclosed to the appropriations subcommittee with oversight responsibility. And there is the disturbing fact that it apparently activated shortly after Alan Gross, a USAID subcontractor who was sent to Cuba to help provide citizens access to the Internet, was arrested.”

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Source: Associated Press

Turkey finally lifts Twitter ban, but YouTube is still blocked

It’s official: Turkey’s Twitter ban has officially come to an end. The country’s high court ruled that the ban was unconstitutional just yesterday, and access to the service was finally restored this morning after two weeks of social silence. In case you hadn’t been following this odyssey, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan promised to “root out” the service after recordings of reportedly corrupt government officials made the rounds ahead of nationwide elections.

Savvy users managed to bypass the block with tools like Tor, but Erdogan seems to have gotten what he wanted anyway: his party trounced the competition in municipal polls held over the weekend. Censorship is as powerful a tool as ever, sad to say. Twitter wasn’t the only social service that came under fire, as YouTube was blocked once illicit recordings of a high-level meeting about sending troops into Syria began to circulate. At this point there’s no word on when access will be reinstated, though this isn’t the first time YouTube has fallen into the country’s crosshairs: it was blocked between 2007 and 2010 because it hosted videos critical of Turkey’s founder, Ataturk.

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Source: Reuters

Twitter now shows emoji characters on the web

There’s a good chance that some of your smartphone-toting friends use emoji to express themselves on Twitter — wouldn’t it be nice to see those icons while you’re surfing the web? As of today, you can. Twitter has updated its web client to display emoji, giving you all the colorful characters that you’d expect while browsing mobile apps (and some desktop apps, too). The update won’t make it any easier to decipher the meaning of an emoji-laden tweet, but you’ll have at least some semblance of what’s going on.

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Source: Twitter Support

Turkey’s Constitutional Court: Twitter ban violates freedom of speech

Since Turkey blocked access to Twitter in late March — in response to posts about the prime minister’s alleged corruption — there’s been plenty of legal back-and-forth, with the ban even being lifted temporarily as judges weighed complaints against the government. Today’s news might mean Twitter is back for good: The Constitutional Court ruled that blocking the social-media platform was unconstitutional on the grounds that it violates the right to free speech. Most importantly, the ruling requires Turkey to immediately restore access to Twitter.

According to the Hurriyet Daily News, this ruling may be used as a precedent for similar cases in the future, possibly preventing authorities from imposing widespread bans like this again. It’s unclear whether this ruling will also affect the country’s ban on YouTube, which is currently in effect. In response to the ruling, Twitter’s @Policy account tweeted: “We welcome this Constitutional Court ruling, and hope to have Twitter access restored in Turkey soon.”

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Via: Hurriyet Daily News

Source: @Policy

Turkish court rules tweets are free speech

Turkey’s country-wide Twitter ban has already been temporarily lifted on a national level, but the stay-of-execution wasn’t completely universal. One of the three court orders that prompted the original ban forced Twitter to use its Country Withheld Content tool on an account that had reportedly accused Turkey’s former prime minister of corruption, effectively blocking it from the view of Turkish users. The social media network complied with the order, but immediately petitioned the court to overturn it, arguing in favor of freedom of expression. Twitter’s legal legwork seems to have paid off — the company is now reporting that the take-down order has been rescinded , and the Country Withheld Content action on the account has been reversed.

“This is an exceptionally strong win for freedom of expression,” Twitter wrote in its official blog post. “It will be of paramount value for us in protecting Twitter’s users against other attempts at censorship in the future.”Turkey’s Prime Minister may see social media as “the worst menace to society,” but the country’s ruling on the matter is pretty clear: “No one may be forced to express their thoughts and opinion for any reason and purpose, and no one shall be censored or accused for that reason. Governmental bodies should avoid all acts and actions which restrict such freedom of the people.” Sounds like a solid ruling to us.

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Source: Twitter

Twitter and Billboard team up for real-time tune-tracking charts

Billboard has long been the go-to for charting an artist’s or song’s popularity week to week. Now, the outfit has announced “an exclusive, multi-year partnership” with Twitter to create real-time charts monitoring tweets about music in the US. Billboard Twitter Real-Time Charts (catchy name, eh?) look to be the standard for tracking tune-based conversations as they happen. While the tallies will be housed at Billboard.com, the two have also agreed to a Twitter Amplify partnership that includes in-tweet charts and weekly video roundups — just in case you happen to miss anything. “Our goal with these efforts is to give artists who share songs and engage with their audience on Twitter a way to get noticed by even more fans, other musicians and industry decision-makers in real time,” said Twitter’s head of music Bob Moczydlowsky. No word yet on an exact launch date, but Billboard says charts should go live “in the coming weeks.”

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Source: Twitter, Billboard