The Cute Cat Theory of Web Activism
Ethan Zuckerman - Global Voices
November 12, 2008

Web 1.0
photo by Marvin (PA)
Web 2.0

mosaic by stabillo boss

March 5, 2007 - Phil De Vellis

Astrubal’s version - 2004

When you block activist video
adorable cats are collateral damage.
One activist goal:
Raise the social cost of censorship.

How to censor the web:
- Block keywords
- Block URLs
- Block DNS
- Block IPs

How to censor the web:
- Block keywords Expensive
- Block URLs
- Block DNS
- Block IPs

How to censor the web:
- Block keywords Expensive
- Block URLs Difficult
- Block DNS
- Block IPs

How to censor the web:
- Block keywords Expensive
- Block URLs Difficult
- Block DNS Ineffective
- Block IPs

How to censor the web:
- Block keywords Expensive
- Block URLs Difficult
- Block DNS Ineffective
- Block IPs Overbroad

Smart activists raise the price of censorship
for governments
Smart governments raise the price of censorship
for Web 2.0 companies

opennet.net/map

advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/maps

Access Denied Map, Sami ben Gharbia for Global Voices Advocacy

freedomhouse.org
MAP OF PRESS FREEDOM 2006
The Map of Press Freedom reflects the flow of news and information within In 2005, there were 1.11 billion people living in countries with free media,
and between 194 countries and territories. Universal criteria determine the representing 17 percent of the world’s population. There were 2.57 billion
judgments, starting with Article 19 of the United Nations’ Declaration of people living in countries with partly free media, representing 40 percent of
Human Rights. the world’s population. There were 2.79 billion people living in countries with 1995 2000 2005
not free media, representing 43 percent of the world’s population.
Criteria include: the legal environment in which the media operate; the degree 64 72 73
of independence of the news media from governmental ownership and Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes
influence; economic pressures on news content; and diverse violations of press freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart 1301 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20036 63 53 54
freedom from the murder of journalists to other extra-legal abuse and information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Article 19, Phone (202) 747-7000 Fax (202) 293-2840
harassment. Universal Declaration of Human Rights – UN General Assembly, 1948 60 62 67
www.freedomhouse.org 187 187 194
Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

PDF file of
Google Maps
PDF file
distributed by
distributed in
email
Bahrain
by email in
Bahrain

you can’t block PDFs without blocking commerce
who knew that google maps was an activist tool?

Hao Wu
Blogger, Filmmaker
Detained February 22, 2006

freehaowu.org

Don’t speak - point.

Most activists don’t think of
themselves as activists.
They’re going to use the tools
they have at hand.

Alaa abd el Fateh - manalaa.net

photo by Elijah Zarwan
Malek Moustafa

- over 100 million handsets
in sub-Saharan Africa
- 300 million handset in China
- 2.2 billion worldwide, rising to 3.3 billion in 2010
- 97% of Tanzanians say they can access a phone

montage by keso

mosaic by stabillo boss

mosaic by

\"I love freedom of speech, human rights and democracy.\"
\"You must enter a title for your space. The title must not contain prohibited language,
such as profanity. Please type a different title.\"
Content control on MSN Spaces
Chinese language edition

- he xie - “Harmonize” - sange daibio - “3 Represents”
- he xie - “River Crab” - dai sange bio - “Wears 3 watches”

What can’t China afford to block?
Gmail
MMOGs
Skype

Michael Anti
photo by bbcworldservice
Chinese activists moving back to web 1.0

ddos as “cyberwar”

sustained ddos can equal losing your hosting

the future of activist hosting?

Approximate range
of the wild lolcat

Early attempts at introducing Lolcats
outside their native environment.

Censorship is the
sincerest form of flattery.

ethan@ethanzuckerman.com
advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org
ethanzuckerman.com/blog