Why the Middle East Never Bought Obama’s Politics of Hope

Egyptian Revolutionaries Were Hardly Surprised When America Fumbled the Arab Spring

On the night of Barack Obama’s election in 2008, I stood outside a dormitory at the University of Texas at Austin, debating two Egyptian bloggers about Obama’s win.

About two months ago, I was watching another U.S. election season when I learned that one of those bloggers had been sentenced to two years in prison in Egypt. Ahmed Naje was convicted of offending “public morals” and “spreading licentiousness” after an excerpt from his graphic novel was published in a local newspaper. The novel, which includes sexually explicit content, had already …

By Rhonda Roumani | May 11, 2016

Will Globalization Kill Free Speech?

The First Amendment May Require New Limits in a More Interconnected World

by Andrés Martinez | January 26, 2015

U.S. Supreme Court justices are not supposed to say anything interesting outside of the Court, but in 2010 Justice Stephen Breyer was asked in a rare TV appearance if he …

Can a Hashtag Bring My Brother Home?

Americans Take Social Media Campaigns for Granted. But After My Brother Was Kidnapped in the Gambia, Our Family Got on Twitter.

by Juka Ceesay | September 19, 2014

Here’s something I could never type in my home country: #FreeAlhagieAndEbou.

This hashtag is part of my family’s effort—which includes calls to the State Department, the FBI, and the White House …

Was Fred Phelps Democracy’s Necessary Evil?

You Don’t Have to Like the Man or the Westboro Baptist Church, But Their Antics Strengthened the First Amendment for All of Us

by Joseph Russomanno | March 26, 2014

It has been written that the safeguards of liberty have often been forged in controversies involving not very nice people. If that is true—and the facts support the premise—then the …

Oh, What a Crummy Web We Might Weave

If We Don’t Get Serious About Protecting Our Digital Spaces, We’ll Get the Internet We Deserve

February 9, 2012

In 1997, Rebecca MacKinnon–who was at CNN’s Beijing bureau at the time–was having dinner with Chinese friends when she told them about a book she was reading. The book was …

Cyberspace Isn’t a Place

So Ideas Of a Sheriff Are Off-Base

by Julian Sanchez | February 8, 2012

In the early days of the mass Internet, John Perry Barlow–the Grateful Dead lyricist turned digital activist–penned an influential “Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace,” proclaiming the birth of a …

free speech

Why the Middle East Never Bought Obama’s Politics of Hope

Egyptian Revolutionaries Were Hardly Surprised When America Fumbled the Arab Spring

Will Globalization Kill Free Speech?

The First Amendment May Require New Limits in a More Interconnected World

Can a Hashtag Bring My Brother Home?

Was Fred Phelps Democracy’s Necessary Evil?

You Don’t Have to Like the Man or the Westboro Baptist Church, But Their Antics Strengthened the First Amendment for All of Us

Oh, What a Crummy Web We Might Weave

If We Don’t Get Serious About Protecting Our Digital Spaces, We’ll Get the Internet We Deserve

Cyberspace Isn’t a Place

So Ideas Of a Sheriff Are Off-Base

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The Bedouin People Who Blur the Boundaries of Egyptian Identity

An Indigenous North African Minority Near the Libyan Border Has Often Been Treated Like Foreigners

What The Young People of Egypt Learned

A Close Up Look at Four Young Egyptians Who Were Present at the Revolution

Why I Won’t Stop Flying EgyptAir

Despite the Recent Crash, the Airline Is as Endearing as the Country

See You at the Polls … Or Else

We Aussies Have Found Compulsory Voting Binds Our Country Together. It Would Work in America, Too.

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