Posts Tagged ‘government’

Another political campaign watchdog group has joined the ranks of those calling for more regulations of online content published by politicians. The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), a California-based group, released a report Monday detailing their recommendations for political messages transmitted via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and their compatriots. The bulk of their recommendations boil down to one point: social media should be regulated in the same way as traditional media. This approach – lumping social media in with all other media – has been a popular one lately, but is it the right move? Read on for more details from this report and analysis.
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A new Facebook group was created – and subsequently deleted – that is creating some tension between the UK government and lawmakers, and Facebook itself. The group is a memorial page for Raoul Moat, a man who attempted to kill his ex girlfriend, killed her new lover, and wounded a police officer before shooting himself while cornered by police. Attracting more than 38,000 fans before its creator took it offline, the group “R.I.P. Raoul Moat You Legend” is still stirring up controversy over the question of governments and lawmakers versus public morality: Should governments have a right to step in when there is an issue of public morality at hand? And does the fact that this is occurring on a social network have anything to do with it?
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The FTC wants you, the users, to comment on the settlement which would ban Twitter from misleading consumers about the extent to which it protects your privacy.
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In an attempt to foster better communication between U.S. government agencies, the State Department plans to launch FedSpace this fall, a social networking portal for federal employees. While not the government’s first foray into social networking (Intellipedia, a top secret network, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary), it is expected to be its largest digital undertaking to date.
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A congressional commission co-chair, Erskine Bowles, has asked Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about the possibility of developing a game that allows players to solve the national budget deficit. This is certainly a stretch of the word ‘game’ by any means, but the news is a sign that games represent more than just entertainment: they represent a key way to get the interest of the population. The game mechanics are still undetermined, but former Democratic Senator Bob Kerrey, who worked on a similar commission in 1994, thinks a title like this could “go viral”, possibly implying that the game would do best to leverage social networks.
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ITV, the largest commercial television broadcaster in the UK, will be broadcasting tomorrow’s first election debate between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg live online, and will be using social networking tools to reach out to the public. The event will begin streaming live on ITV’s website at 8:30 GMT, and during and after the debate users can use Facebook, Twitter, and live chats to discuss the event.
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The State Department’s eDiplomacy think tank will be launching a “Statebook” social network to connect diplomats and employees with one another via a Facebook-style system. This appears to be part of a larger cultural shift at the State Department from one of relative secrecy to one of more openness, transparency, and information sharing.
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As part of U.S. President Obama’s Open Government Directive (OGD), new rules have been announced today that would allow select government agencies to employ social media channels for feedback from citizens, in certain situations, without making everyone fill out a form. Transparency is the operative word, the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) is a driver of these changes.
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March 12th was World Day Against Cyber Censorship, a campaign by Reporters without Borders intended to raise awareness of the power of the Internet to promote freedom of thought and speech. To mark this event, the international non-profit has released a list of “Enemies of the Internet“, holding nothing back in an attempt to reveal the regimes that most blatantly censor the Internet. Maintaining an unflinching interrogation of those governments that prevent their citizens from accessing the powerful social and informational tools available online is one way that Reporters without Borders is leading the fight for free access to the Internet around the world.
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New year, new president, new administration in the White House, and new focus on technology as an integral aspect of all the changes that lie ahead for President Obama’s term. Just this morning, Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, and already we’ve seen some major updates and changes to the White House’s website.

Aside from a new face and a new blog, the administration’s goals for technology have been laid out on a dedicated page within the website. Nothing posted here seems to be surprising or different from what we’ve heard throughout Obama’s presidential campaign in the past year, but it is important to note some of the changes outlined by the new administration.
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