Here, some of the amazing DIY barricades put up in and around Istanbul’s Taksim Square after the Turkish government’s brutal crackdown on protestors.
More images, and the latest on Turkey’s conflict
[Photos by Victor Kotsev]
Turkish channels are being fined for live-streaming the country’s protests
According to a Turkish news site, the country’s broadcasting watchdog, RTUK, has fined several TV channels for their coverage of the Gezi protests. Halk TV, Cem TV, EM TV and Ulusal TV have all been reprimanded for live-streaming content that is “harming the physical, moral and mental development of children and young people.”
“He said, ‘…I have some information in the intelligence community. and it won’t be a waste of your time.’”
Activist filmmaker Laura Poitras quotes NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
How the NSA surveillance story broke
…had it not been for social media, the government would likely have succeeded in hiding the protests from many Turks. Turkey is a country that jails more journalists than Iran, and it is hardly surprising that the mainstream Turkish media, which has been additionally co-opted by the authorities through financial measures, broadcast pictures of beauty contests and cooking shows for several days while parts of Istanbul and other cities were blanketed with tear gas.
“On Friday [May 31] I saw on Facebook that there were riots, and I came here [to the center of Istanbul],” a 29-year old teacher named Ulas said in a bar near Taksim Square. “There were many people and we fought them [the police] all night. But on Saturday I spoke to some of my friends here in Istanbul, and they had no idea what was going on. One, a leftist, was at the zoo. This is because they were watching penguin documentaries on the mainstream channels.”
How social media forced Turkish news organizations to change course
[Photos by Victor Kotsev for Fast Company]
“Social media is a bliss. I even tweeted to Jack Dorsey, thanking him for inventing such a big thing that gives all information to people who want to stay impartial and get to the real knowledge through checking through all this information and using their minds.”
25-year old Esin, who has been active in the Turkish protests, both in Gezi park and online.
“Nobody is listening to your telephone calls.”
How the NSA monitors America’s phone traffic
A scoop from The Guardian confirmed what many people suspected—the National Security Agency (NSA) is spying on the phone activity of millions of Americans. Using a secret court order, which was not disclosed to the public, the NSA obtained bulk phone records for Verizon’s customers on a daily basis. Each day, the NSA would receive a massive flood of data from Verizon.
How do they do it, and what can they do with the information?
The Guardian newspaper claims to have seen a secret court order from April that mandates Verizon give all its phone call records data to the National Security Agency for a three month period.
Twenty four people have reportedly been detained on charges of inciting riots and spreading anti-government propaganda.
Almost all of the Pentagon’s 600,000 smartphone users currently tote BlackBerry devices in their holsters, but that’s about to change.
The Pentagon has given the green light to both Apple and Samsung to bid for the smartphone and tablet business contracts for its defense staff.
Cities across the country are making plans to cater to bikers and pedestrians (along with cars) as they design and manage their transportation infrastructure. These are 10 that are doing it really well:
- 1. Indianapolis, IN
- 2. Hermosa Beach, CA (tie)
- 2. Huntington Park, CA (tie)
- 4. Ocean Shores, WA
- 5. Northfield, MN
At a Congressional hearing this morning that veered into contentious arguments and cringe-worthy moments, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spilled the beans on their social media monitoring project.
DHS Chief Privacy Office Mary Ellen Callahan and Director of Operations Coordination and Planning Richard Chavez appeared to be deliberately stonewalling Congress on the depth, ubiquity, goals, and technical capabilities of the agency’s social media surveillance. At other times, they appeared to be themselves unsure about their own project’s ultimate goals and uses. But one thing is for sure: If you’re the first person to tweet about a news story, or if you’re a community activist who makes public Facebook posts—DHS will have your personal information.
Department Of Homeland Security Tells Congress Why It’s Monitoring Facebook, Twitter, Blogs
It’s got many of the same qualities as heavily controlled substances, but we freely add it to everything (it’s even on the FDA’s list of things that you can safely add to any food, at any amount). Is it time to put the sugary snacks behind the counter at the corner store?
Could Better Design Reform the Banking Industry?
The government just unveiled a prototype of a new clear and readable credit card agreement, with the goal of making sure people understand what they’re getting into when they get a new card.
I barely even look at new credit card offers any more, they are all such a mess.
