Internet showdown

A note from the editor

Hazel Healy

It struck me as the perfect irony when Google ads about cyber security popped up on my screen as I researched surveillance for this magazine. It was an excellent example of how much we reveal online, and who has access to it.

Now that is not to say that we should all get paranoid, shut down our social network accounts and head for the hills. But seeing as this digital revolution thing is not going away, we need to get our heads around it.

We are living in a time of accelerated innovation. It poses huge challenges – not least to the magazine industry – when digital data, freed of physical substance, can be shared as easily as ideas. It’s a time of great promise – the global democratization of information and knowledge, new ways to network, organize and innovate.

But we don’t know, of course, where these new technologies will lead us. It won’t all be good news. Over the next 20 years, advances in open-design and 3-D printing promise to democratize and localize manufacturing. There will be environmental gains, and it will slash the import bill for Majority World nations – but it may also wipe out millions of jobs.

We also need to be wary of overstating the impact of new technology. Open access to government data, for example, can empower communities but it will not automatically confer power over decision-making, particularly for the 60 per cent in the world without internet access.

This is the case for 97 per cent of people in Mali, the focus of Jeremy Keenan’s exposé on US interference in North Africa. Keenan reveals how the US and other Western countries have been sponsoring terrorism, which is then blamed on Islamic militancy. His shocking report provides important background to a developing news story.

This month’s magazine also has two prominent human rights campaigners, Peter Tatchell and Joyce Arthur, taking opposite views on a thorny issue: should hate speech be a crime?

Hazel Healy for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

 Donough O'Malley www.pencilrobot.net

Donough O'Malley www.pencilrobot.net

Internet showdown: why digital freedom matters - to us all

New Internationalist co-editor Hazel Healy meets the free software hackers protecting your bits from cybersnooping governments and marketers.

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Features

10 steps to software freedom

10 steps to software freedom

Charlie Harvey outlines the righteous path to internet liberation

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So happy together: Algeria’s then president Abdelaziz Bouteflika with George W Bush in 2001.Win McNamee / Reuters

How the US has been sponsoring terrorism in the Sahara

Jeremy Keenan uncovers the shocking, murky background to the current conflict in Mali.

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Off the net, into the streets. Anonymous protest against police brutality in San Francisco.Robert Galbraith / Reuters

When Anonymous got into politics

"Quinn Norton looks behind the mask of Anonymous, charting its evolution into a global activist force."

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Digital freedoms – THE FACTS

Digital freedoms – THE FACTS

Who’s online where, who has your data and how much are they spending to get it?

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Privacy shouldn’t scare you

Privacy shouldn’t scare you

Nadim Kobeissi tells us about ways to protect our communication from prying eyes.

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Chris 3D-scanned himself with a Kinect scanner, which can be found in X-box video games. Easy if you know how.

This is for everyone

"Chris Thorpe gives his take on the impact of open-source tech on governance and manufacturing."

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Opinion

Members of the Grand Dragon faction of the Ku Klux Klan shout insults at gay couples going to request marriage licences in Houston.Carlos Sanchez / Reuters

Argument – Should hate speech be a crime?

Feminist Joyce Arthur and gay rights activist Peter Tatchell weigh up the pros and cons.

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Speaking out against a climate of fear: Wal-Mart employees on strike in October.Neon Tommy Under a CC Licence

It's time for a union at Wal-Mart

In the wake of the most significant strikes in Wal-Mart’s 50-year history, it's high time for a union.

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Agenda


Regulars

Southern Exposure - Zhuang Wubin

Highlighting the work of artists and photographers from the Majority World

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Interview with Khanim Latif

Interview with Khanim Latif

Iraqi campaigner Khanim Latif on her lifelong fight for feminism.

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Tibetan calm and karma

Tibetan calm and karma

Tibetan calm and karma, photographed by Zhuang Wubin.

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Nuptials in Botswana Illustration: Sarah John

Nuptials in Botswana

When it comes to weddings, it’s important to do things right, says Wame Molefhe.

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Country Profile: Peru

Country Profile: Peru

Peru is said to be booming but the poor would never know it. Stephanie Boyd reports.

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Film, Book & Music Reviews


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