telecommunications

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted February 26, 2015, in favor of new rules that would enshrine the principle of “net neutrality,” with a draft of the “Open Internet Order” then released March 12. This follows a long period of speculation, litigation and political pressure around this issue, stretching back at least five years to the FCC’s original open Internet rules.

Can social media promote lasting political change, perhaps even a revolution? If so, to what extent? And which Internet-related policies can help foster democracy in countries with repressive regimes?

Much research and media attention has been devoted to exploring rapidly emerging African countries in recent years. In addition to extraordinarily high GDP growth rates, many African countries have seen their middle classes grow substantially and demand goods and services that were formerly available only to individuals in more developed countries.

A 2012 report from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Economist Group, “The Future of Mobile News,” found that an estimated 50% of U.S. adults now own either a tablet device or smartphone that connects to the Internet, and 66% of these device users say they get news from these mobile devices.

How we communicate has changed rapidly over the last few years, and some of the greatest changes in behavior have been seen among teenagers, who are often “early adopters” of technologies. New applications and gadgets, though, can now quickly become commonplace and mainstream.