I’m giving at talk at the University of Washington

Networked Authoritarianism in Azerbaijan: How the Azerbaijani government uses the Internet to deter dissent

Thursday May 2, 2013
7 pm
HUB 214

Katy Pearce

Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies

reecas@uw.edu

In Azerbaijan, an authoritarian state with little space for free expression, much of political life takes place on the Internet. While the opposition uses the Internet and social media for organization and information sharing, the Azerbaijani government also uses social media to advances it positions as well as to deter dissent. While this online battle is not unique to Azerbaijan, what is unique is that the Azerbaijani government does not engage in very much Internet filtering and even claims that Internet freedom exists in Azerbaijan. Thus, government control of the Internet in Azerbaijan is not technical, but psychological. In recent months, Azerbaijani online political life has taken on increased importance. This talk will also outline recent events and speculate on how social media will impact the 2013 presidential election.

http://jsis.washington.edu/ellison/events.shtml#_4608

It shall be livestreamed here.