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Democracy-Supporting Innovation Under Threat from Congress Democracy-Supporting Innovation Under Threat from Congress
**Editors Note: **In Dd’s work around the world, we have seen first-hand the critical need for ordinary citizens to access unfiltered content online. Take Thailand, where we have profiled the work of journalist Chiranuch Premchaiporn who has faced jail time for content posted to the comment section of the news site Prachatai. Currently, legislation is afoot in US Congress that reminds us all too closely of internet rules that have negatively impacted the lives of our partners abroad. Dd welcomes our newest Advisory board member, Jesse Friedman who guest authors this post: You may have heard about SOPA, the innocuously-named yet frighteningly over-broad Stop Online Piracy Act. If you believe in the power of technology as a social and economic good, and think that due process of law is a good thing, now is the time to take action against this noxious bill that’s zooming through the US House of Representatives. If you are an American citizen, you can call your representative now to voice your opinion on it: http://engineadvocacy.com/voice/ Read more…
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Participation transforms possibility. Please Give to Dd! Participation transforms possibility. Please Give to Dd!
What does democracy mean to you? **In 2011 the Digital Democracy (Dd) team has asked this question of people around the world. Egyptians in Tahrir Square, #Occupy protestors in Zuccotti Park, women in tent camps in Port-Au-Prince and folks at home have given us many answers, including freedom of speech and equal opportunity. The theme uniting them all? **Participation: the ability for all people’s voices to be heard & represented in their community’s governance. Read more…
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OccupyVotes: Democracy In An Open Source Protest OccupyVotes: Democracy In An Open Source Protest
What is an open-source protest (or in Egyptian nomenclature, a wiki-revolution)? Can technology tools be used to develop new methods of distributed grassroots decision-making? It’s clear that the Occupy movement is about something much bigger and greater than one person or group … how can the large numbers of people who identify with the movement contribute to decision-making? Read more…
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Voice of Elections in Guatemala Voice of Elections in Guatemala
Guatemala is a country with a complicated history. Although the 36-year civil war has ended, Guatemalan society is still struggling to rebuild from this history of war and ethnic conflict. One opportunity and challenge is the need to engage young Guatemalans, many of whom continue to be marginalized from political life. Participating in elections is not only a gateway to further civic engagement, reporting on elections offers an opportunity for the voices of youth which are rarely heard to help shape the national dialogue. Read more…
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Announcing 572: the First Emergency Response System Dedicated to Sexual Violence in Haiti Announcing 572: the First Emergency Response System Dedicated to Sexual Violence in Haiti
In one year since CGI commitment, Digital Democracy has trained 150 women and built a database documenting over 400 cases of rape in Haiti. Read more…
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Indigenous Science & Film in Mexico Indigenous Science & Film in Mexico
Update, March 22, 2012: Three of the communities we’re working with for Equal Footing have been given verbal warnings of eviction from the Mexican authorities. We’re deploying a rapid response team to respond to this concerning turn of events. See our blog post on 3/22/12 for more information. Read more…
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Vote To Discuss Technology For Democracy at SXSW Vote To Discuss Technology For Democracy at SXSW
What is the current discussion around how technology is being used for supporting people advocating for democracy around the world? Please vote for the panels we and are friends are trying to host at the upcoming South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas. Read more…
