Tag Archives: protest

How the Uzbek Government Targets Exiles Abroad

I have a new article for Al Jazeera English about how the government of Uzbekistan punishes exiles abroad by persecuting their relatives at home. Two weeks ago, Hasan Choriyev, the father of Uzbek activist Bahodir Choriyev, was unlawfully detained: It … Continue reading

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My thoughts on freedom of speech

For Al Jazeera, I examine recent controversies over freedom of speech: The battle lines of free speech are often drawn over the banal. One strategy of those who seek to minimise the argument of the offended party is to scoff … Continue reading

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Why the phrase ‘The Muslim world’ is misleading

In my latest Al Jazeera column, I take on the misguided use of the phrase ‘the Muslim world’ to describe the very small number of Muslims participating in violent action against the West: It is time to retire the phrase … Continue reading

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Pussy Riot Are Manic Pixie Dream Dissidents

In case you don’t have enough Pussy Riot coverage in your life (or coverage of Pussy Riot coverage), I have added to the over-saturation with my latest for Registan: In 2005, film critic Nathan Rabin coined the phrase Manic Pixie Dream … Continue reading

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Internet at Liberty

Last week I presented during the “lightning round” of Google’s Internet at Liberty conference. This meant that I had to turn an extensive study Katy Pearce and I did of internet freedom in Azerbaijan into a five-minute spiel. The full … Continue reading

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Celebrity activism and Kony2012

The website Opinio Juris asked me to write an article about Kony2012 as part of their expert symposium on social activism and international law. So of course I wrote about Justin Bieber: Kony2012 rose and fell on the power of … Continue reading

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On Slacktivism

I have a new article for Al Jazeera English on perceptions of “slacktivism” in the Kony2012 and Trayvon Martin campaigns: Slacktivists are the hipsters of the digital world: everybody recognises them but no one claims to be one. The term … Continue reading

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