CONNECTIVITY Joining Zone Nine REBECCA MACKINNON A Global Voices Online blog entry written in the Ethiopian language of Amharic contains an update on jailed Ethiopian Journalist Reeyot Alemu. “We want more openness, more transpar- were scheduled to go on trial for terrorism in ency,” Ethiopian writer Endalkchew Chala early August—though the trial has since been observes. “People deserve choice; people de- adjourned to October 15. Perhaps because serve access to the world’s knowledge.” For the absurd charges against them were getting expressing views like these online, his friends more international attention than expected. TERRORISTS’ SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS World Policy Journal’s Fall 2014 timeline tracks the phenomenon of terrorist organizations employing social media to recruit members, broadcast their messages, and wage online warfare. Compiled by Lara Pham, Cami Tellez, and Marguerite Ward. Downloaded from wpj.sagepub.com at COLUMBIA UNIV on December 19, 2014 ZONE NINE Two years ago Endalk (as his friends to shield themselves from electronic sur- and colleagues like to call him) got to- veillance. They are also accused of clandes- gether with several like-minded young tinely organizing themselves into a blog- Ethiopian writers and journalists to ger collective—a bizarre accusation given launch a hard-hitting blog called “Zone that “Zone 9” is a public website. 9.” The blog’s name derives from Addis For the past two years, Endalk and Ababa’s infamous Kaliti prison, divided four other “zone niners” also ran an Am- into eight zones with political prisoners haric edition of Global Voices Online, an confined to Zone Eight. oungY bloggers international citizen media network that I believed that the entire nation was be- co-founded nearly ten years ago with the coming a virtual prison—effectively a media scholar and blogger Ethan Zuck- ninth zone. “All of Ethiopia is part of it,” erman. The Ethiopian branch translates explains Endalk. In 2011, one inmate, blog posts written by contributors from journalist Eskinder Nega, was arrested for around the world—particularly those re- the seventh time after writing a column, lated to activism, freedom of expression, which ironically criticized the Ethiopian and censorship— of strong relevance to an government’s habit of arresting journal- Ethiopian audience whose state-controlled ists on terrorism charges. media is heavily censored. Such edginess was too much for their government to take. Seven of the “Zone BARS AROUND THE WORLD 9” bloggers were arrested this past April. Disturbingly, the Zone 9 bloggers are not Then, three months later, they were for- the only Global Voices contributors who mally charged with terrorism and “related recently found themselves behind bars, as activities.” Endalk, pursuing a graduate governments in a disturbingly growing list degree in Portland, Oregon when the ar- of nations have recognized that modern-day rests took place, is now their spokesperson, connectivity can prove a lethal challenge to blogging and tweeting the latest develop- their legitimacy and very existence. ments. The group’s alleged crimes include Bassel Khartabil, a Syrian-Palestinian attending trainings by international tech- computer engineer and open Internet ad- nical experts on how to use software tools vocate, has been imprisoned in Damascus Rebecca MacKinnon directs the Ranking Digital Rights project at the New America Foundation. Author of Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle For Internet Freedom, she is co-founder of Global Voices Online and a former CNN bureau chief and correspondent in Beijing and Tokyo. 2010 Al Qaeda publishes its first issue of Inspire, the Via YouTube, Chechen Doku organization’s digital magazine. Umarov claims responsibility for the Moscow subway Al Shabab, Somalia’s Al Qaeda-linked group suicide bombings that killed releases an online video of captive French security 40 people. agent Denis Allex pleading for release. Jan June Downloaded from wpj.sagepub.com at COLUMBIA UNIV on December 19, 2014 CONNECTIVITY since March 2012. Alaa Abd El Fattah, and forth in over two dozen languages, an Egyptian activist and blogger arrested mainly by volunteers like the Zone 9ers. in November 2013 for violating Egypt’s Digital connectivity can indeed be rev- new Protest Law, was dealt a 15-year jail olutionary. In the 21st century, networked sentence along with 25 other activists this technologies are a necessary condition for past June. Tajik author Alex Sodiqov—a social and political change. But over the Ph.D. student at the University of Toron- past decade we’ve learned they are insuf- to—was arrested while carrying out aca- ficient on their own to prevent widespread demic research in the Gorno-Badakhshan and systematic human rights violations— Autonomous Region of Tajikstan. Eventu- let alone bring about a more democratic ally he was accused of espionage. While he and just world. has since been released, he has yet to be cleared of the charges. BATTLING EMPOWERMENT The idea for the Global Voices net- Governments are fighting back against the work came out of a 2004 meeting of blog- Internet’s empowering, decentralized char- gers from around the world. It was a time acter. They are upgrading their own in- of heady optimism, when bloggers seemed stitutional, military, and technical power. poised to break down barriers and help cre- They are passing laws criminalizing various ate a better world. We created a website forms of online speech and enforcing those with the tagline “The world is talking. Are laws with police, security, and intelligence you listening?” As our manifesto put it: forces. Law enforcement and intelligence “Thanks to new tools, speech need no services of democracies, as well as dictator- longer be controlled by those who own ships, are pushing their powers of surveil- the means of publishing and distribution, lance to the limit. Many governments are or by governments that would restrict also finding new and creative ways to con- thought and communication. Now, any- trol through their legal and technical pow- one can wield the power of the press. Ev- ers what people can and especially cannot eryone can tell their stories to the world.” do on the Internet and with mobile devices. We recruited a set of editors and vol- The Ethiopian government is a case in unteers from across the globe who helped point. It has revised the law so that practi- to curate, translate, and contextualize what cally anybody who uses the Internet to build bloggers were saying about their countries a movement around a common ideal, or con- and regions—what they were observing in duct independent journalism, can potential- their communities, and how people around ly be charged with terrorism. Internet access them were reacting to world events. Even- is available only through the state controlled tually, the site came to be translated back monopoly, Ethio Telecom, which keeps 2011 Zirah Moslem Al Shabab’s Twitter and Rezi MLTN, account, @HSMPress, merchandise The Norway shooter posts its first tweet. companies selling Al Shabab’s posts a video on pro-ISIS clothing, Omar Hammami YouTube before The Taliban-associated Twitter begin posting on releases rap beginning his account, @Qariyusufahmadi, Facebook. music online. rampage. posts its first tweet. Feb Apr July Dec Downloaded from wpj.sagepub.com at COLUMBIA UNIV on December 19, 2014 ZONE NINE prices artificially high and beyond the reach to companies for data stored outside UK of most. Those who can access the Internet jurisdiction—effectively legalizing its al- do so through heavily monitored cybercafés. ready sweeping technical power to spy on They must navigate censorship blocking much of the world. As former NSA con- overseas dissident websites, and face per- tractor Edward Snowden put it, “they are vasive surveillance thanks to technologies worse than the U.S.” purchased not only from Chinese companies The problem has been compounded by but from European firms like FinFisher, a Internet and telecom- German company that sells remote moni- munications compa- toring systems, and Hacking Team, an Ital- nies pursuing short- we have all ian firm specializing in spyware. term business interests unfortunately Anything the Zone 9 bloggers ever did without considering online can potentially be used against them the impact of their allowed without constraint. behavior on Internet companies to The attack by governments on Inter- users’ rights. We have track, collect, net freedom is by no means limited to au- all unfortunately al- thoritarian dictatorships. This year, along- lowed companies to and sell vast side the usual suspects like North Korea, track, collect, and amounts of Cuba, and China, Reporters Without Bor- sell vast amounts of personal ders listed the Indian government’s Centre personal information for Development of Telematics as one of without even real- information the 20 biggest “enemies of the Internet,” izing what was hap- without even thanks to its role in developing a clandes- pening. As American tine mass electronic surveillance and data security guru Bruce realizing what mining program for deployment on na- Schneier likes to say: was happening. tionwide networks. “Surveillance is the The United Kingdom also made the business model of the Internet.” list, winning the title “world champion of How convenient for the NSA, which, surveillance,” due largely to the work of until Snowden blew the whistle, had rela- the Government Communications Head- tively easy access to the communications quarters (GCHQ), which has developed and stored data of U.S. Internet companies. the world’s largest data collection and Now many of these companies have rec- communications-monitoring system. Last ognized that this situation is not actually month the British authorities invoked sustainable for their business in the long emergency powers to pass a new law al- run. Without basic levels of trust from in- lowing the government to issue warrants dividuals and businesses that rely on the 2012 Al Shabab uses #JihadDispatches Jabhat al-Nusrah, the to tweet its propaganda.