The Use of Cell Phones In Documenting the Uprising in Myanmar
As the world watches the brave citizens of Myanmar continue to stage pro-democracy rallies against the military junta which has controlled the the nation for the last 44 years, its still amazes and inspires me on how cell phone video, or any other form of technology (web access, digital images) is being by the protesters to inform the world about their struggles for a democratic government.
Watching the pixleated images of the pro-democracy rallies appearing on BBC, ABC, and on user created content platforms such as Youtube, CNN’s Ireport, helps us all understand that the future in reporting news will come from the average person who is experiencing it and not on the established media platforms. While it is true that the established media platforms enables a much larger audience to view these user submitted media assets, this will change with the availability,affordability, and open layer security of web access.
According to the AP news service, the military junta is attempting to disrupt the distribution of cell phone videos of the democracy rallies, by shutting down cellular service in some cities. This may work to some degree but if the users can bluetooth the video from their cellphones to their computers, they can still send the videos to user content providers such as CNN’s Ireport, Youtube and other, off course they would need to use proxies to bypass any web based restrictions.
I will continue to observe and post on how mobile technology is being used by the people of Myanmar in their quest for a Democratic government.
Mobile Reporters In Africa
I came across a very interesting article on VoicesofAfrica about the use of mobile phones, Nokia E61i to be exact in reporting stories. The Voices of Africa project is being piloted by 3 reporters and is a initiative of the Africa Interactive Media Foundation, and its overall goal is at enabling the creation citizen media through feature rich mobile devices.
While I believe this is a major step forward in enabling the creation of citizen media, one thing that I believe also needs to be addressed is the issue of anonymity. If end users could use an anonymous network, which would protect their identity and mask the media assets (text, video, images), then I believe you would see a new range of citizen-generated content.
MobileVoices:Conclusion
In conclusion, I have discovered that there is still so much more for me to learn about the future implications of mobile technology. I want to research and learn more about not only how it will effect us within the U.S, and other developed nations but its future implications, either political, economical, or social within developing nations.
I truly believe that mobile technology has and will continue to have an even larger transformative effect on the very fabric of developing nations and I want to be at the forefront in making this into a reality. I want to develop new strategies in which mobile technology change truly have a positive impact and influence in the lives of the average people who live within these and every nation and this thesis paper and concept design is just the start.
MobileVoices:Possible Partnership Organizations
WITNESS
Witness.org
WITNESS is an international human rights organization that provides training and support to local groups to use video in their human rights advocacy campaigns. Beyond providing video cameras and editing equipment, WITNESS is committed to facilitating exposure for our partners’ issues on a global scale. We help broker relationships with international media outlets, government officials, policymakers, activists, and the general public so that once a video is made, it can be used as a tool to advocate for change.
Committee to Protect Journalists
CPJ.org
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1981. It promotes press freedom worldwide by defending the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal. By publicly revealing abuses against the press and by acting on behalf of imprisoned and threatened journalists, CPJ effectively warns journalists and news organizations where attacks on press freedom are occurring.
Human Rights Watch
hrw.org
Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world
Institute for War and Peace reporting
iwpr.net
International Crisis Group
ICG.org
Amnesty International
Amnesty.org
Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights. AI’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.
B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
btselem.org
B’Tselem endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations As an Israeli human rights organization, B’Tselem acts primarily to change Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories and ensure that its government, which rules the Occupied Territories, protects the human rights of residents there and complies with its obligations under international law. through fr
South African Human Rights Commission
sahrc.org
Recognizing that the protection and promotion of human rights cannot be left to individuals or the government, the South African Constitution created independent national institutions, subject only to the Constitution and the law, to transform their society from its unjust past and to deliver the fundamental rights in the Constitution and the Human Rights Commission Act of 1994 to all in South Africa. The SAHRC works with the government, civil society and individuals, both nationally and abroad, to fulfill its constitutional mandate and serves as both a watchdog and a visible route through which people can access their rights and fair media.
MobileVoices:Implementation/ Technical Issues
In order to speak with you about the implementation of MobileVoices, I must address the paramount concern for us, which are the issue of anonymity and the concealment of the identity of the users. Every possible step must be taken in order to prevent the disclosure of any users of the Mobilevoices network, we are after all talking about life and death scenario, if any of the user’s identity is disclosed.
In researching mobile encryption’s issues, I came across to very interesting patents which deal with the issues of secure data transfer from mobile devices, the two in particular that were quite interesting are as follows and were sent to me by fellow classmate collaborator; Joshua Klein,
The first patent #7076657, covers the establishment of a secure conduit for sms communication from a center to a wireless terminal. The center encrypts an authorization key in response to a wireless terminals sms message containing a public key and a request for the authorization key, sends back to the wireless terminal an sms message containing the encrypted authorization key, decrypts another sms message received from the wireless terminal which contains an authentication code and a request for a traffic key, authenticates the sms message, encrypts the traffic key, and sends to the wireless terminal another sms message containing the traffic key. This form of secure sms transmission is quite interesting and could be implemented to reach a larger group of users who do not have feature rich mobile devices and this would would be a cost-effective means for people to actively send in information.
The second patent #7,116,786B covers the interception of mobile data, so in a way these two patents lead me to understand that overall concept of secure mobile data transmission and mobile security is something that is being researched, and will continue to be researched as more and more people begin to use their mobile devices for every day use and begin to place a emphasis on privacy and integrity of the data they send and receive.
I believe that MobileVoices can be successfully implemented through strategic alliances with such well-respected organizations, which have already been involved in helping address a variety of social concern issues within developing countries. I believe that some of the following organizations which are listed on the blog, can from their experiences help find innovate solutions to inform and teach people how to use MobileVoices.
MobileVoices:Possible End User Scenario
Anjon Kenwa-So
Student
Accra State University in Ghana
Anjon is a 20 years old junior at Accra State University in Ghana. Anjon is a smart, upwardly mobile, activist who is keenly aware of the events in the world as well as in his community. Anjon is not afraid to voice his personal opinion and is viewed by his friends and peers as being brash, outspoken and at the same time charming.
Anjon was born to hard working farmers from a small town near Larabanga. Anjon saw and felt firsthand the role of corruption and poverty within his town and the lack of a means to address it since most of the media (radio, television, newspaper) are either influenced or outright controlled by he government. He was awarded a full scholarship to the national University in Accra because of his excellent grades and he wants to make a difference with the educational opportunity he has been given in helping bring about changes in own way, and in that sense he want the world to know the issues that he and his fellow classmates face and change in his country.
Anjon found out about MobileVoices from a friend who attended a meeting at the University in which a NGO human rights organizer, spoke to them on how they can use MobileVoices to report any stories they want the world to be aware of in a secure anonymous manner.
Anjon’s friend, Koso, a fellow student and activist, who was given a Nokia N80, which had the MobileVoices application pre-installed by the NGO Organizer, explains to him how the application works and how he can now help spread the use of the application by passing it to his friends who have bluetooth enabled phones.
Anjon can do any of the following to insure that the media content files he has captured can be uploaded to the secure anonymous MobileVoices platform.
a: He can move his files using blue tooth to a available computer with a Internet connection, upload the files to the online platform anonymously through a proxy server, which can bypass any filtering set up by the government.
b He can using the application, spread the media files he has with several of his friends who also have MobileVoices installed on their cellphones, and then upload it through through their mobile networks. This would allow large files such as videos or high quality images to be broken down into smaller pieces, through for avoiding detection on the mobile networks. To upload, all they would need to do is send the media files as attachments to the following e-mail address, media@mobilevoices.org.
c:He can select the image file which he wants to encrypt and send to other users within his network of friends, and they can only view the file with a password that he has given them. the method of encryption could be public. private key encryption which my fellow classmate, Josh Klein and I have talked about especially in encrypting the most common media delivery format, which would be audio, in a secure format which would avoid detection.
d:He can Bluebooth over his media assets to a python powered collection point, which would collect all the media content by all users. This helps in protecting the identity of the users but acts as a single point of failure, if its location is compromised.
Needs and Wants:
Anjon seeks a way to securely share with his friend and the world, the events that took place at the protest rally without revealing his identity, for fear of reprisals against his, his family and his classmates. Anjon is hoping that an international news organization will see his footage, investigate it, and then eventually report on it, and the public attention would force the government to enact changes.
Setting:
Student university dorms, street rally, street protests against government corruption; protest rallies against the closing of the two newspapers in his city; protest rallies against the censorship of his articles in the college paper about corruption within the city’s administration.
Plot:
Anjon attends a student protest rally against the removal of a very popular city official who had started implementing measures to limit and remove corruption within the university and in the city.
Thousands of students and residents who voted for her have turned out for this peaceful protest rally to show their support. Close to an hour into the rally, they are approached the police who give no advance warning to disperse and shots are fired. Anjon is injured and is taken by his friends to a friend’s second floor apartment near the rally.
Anjon, from a window, takes out his MobileVoices equipped mobile device and records and takes pictures of what he witnesses. Anjon describes his wounds that he received form the policeman’s baton and now wants to share this information with the world, as well as with his friends.
Anjon wants to make sure that the world (or anyone who has an interest in promoting democratic reform) is not attacked like he and his friends were. Anjon needs the world and his community to understand what happened in order to make sure it will not happen again.
Resolution:
The brutal attack by the police upon thousands of peaceful students and resident protesters is now shared with the MobileVoices. A BBC news reporter in London reviews the footage that Anjon submitted to the MobileVoices anonymous distribution network. After some fact checking by verifying with her contacts, that such a protest occurred and several students were injured, she send assigns and sends a reporter in Accra to cover the story. The story is then broadcast on the BBC world watch program and is distributed on BBC Radio as well. With outside public pressure the city mayor resigns, the head of the police force is sacked, the arrested students are released and the new mayor makes a public apology to them. The reform minded public official is also reinstated to her position.
MobileVoices:Who Would Use It?
The end user for MobileVoices would be anyone who has a feature rich mobile phone, a 3G enabled broadband connection, and feels an urge or need to have their voice and opinions heard, while protecting their identity.
They can be student activist in Mozambique, who has captured a brutal police attack on a group of students protesting for democratic reform on their mobile phone or a reporter for the New York Times, who because of editorial constraints is not able to release a story, which might be damming to the current administration in power.
MobileVoices will be an open platform for all users to us, so it is available equally to those who have feature rich mobile devices, 3G networks, as well as computers.
Mobile Device Background Info
Over the past few years Mobile telephony, alongside the advent of the Internet, has become one of the explosive developments ever to have taken place in the world. Mobile technology has affected all of our lives and I believe it can help bring about another revolution especially within developing nations, in allowing the average person to have his or her voice heard within the entire world.
We have and are now witnessing the political, economical, and social impact that mobile technology can have in the world. This impact will become greater as mobile devices become more affordable, feature rich, and the networks on which they depend on for deliver of content will become truly 3G enabled broadband networks (mobile networks that have broadband capabilities able to support greater numbers of voice and data customers and which have higher data rates at lower incremental cost than 2G networks enabled networks.
There were 2 billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide as of April 2006, 30 million of them with access to 3G networks. Of these two billion subscribers worldwide, 850 million have camera phones, a number that, along with global subscription, is expected to rise significantly, projected by Lyra Research to reach 1.5 billion by 2010. But the number already exceeds those with access to digital cameras worldwide and exceeds the 180 million whom own personal computers.
This phenomenon of mobile usage growth and adaptation is not only linked to developed nations but to developing nations as well. 3G infrastructures are considerably prevalent in developing nations in Africa, for instance, a continent that already has 83 million mobile phone users. In addition, in conjunction with changes in infrastructure, mobile phones themselves are only becoming more and more advanced and will so over the next few years to come.
The effect of this phenomenon will become even more incredibly extensive in the next few years, so what I would like to explore is how can you use have a social impact using mobile technology and my own answer to that is MobileVoices.
MobileVoices:Personal Statement
I am interested in this subject for a variety of reasons, one from my own personal background which instilled in me a deep appreciation for the freedom of expression, two being the impact that I believe that mobile technology will have in enabling a new level of grassroots citizen media, and last but not least the notion of empowerment through a secure anonymous mobile communication platform, in which people can express their opinions and beliefs without any outside interference, suppression or fear of reprisals.
My overall interest in using technology to address social concerns was influenced from my own personal background. I was born and raised during the independence struggle in Eritrea. A time period filled with violence, fear, and yet through all of this a deep unshakable hope for an independent nation to call my own.
A time when the Ethiopian army was attempting to silence the will of the Eritrean people, by closing all forms of independent media outlets, by shooting unarmed student protestors who dared march against the occupation. I grew up in a climate of fear, repression to the point when my parents home schooled me in my native language, Tigrinya rather then send me to any public schools, where the Ethiopian government was attempting to erase the Eritrean identity through its forced adoption of Ethiopian language and customs.
I learned the importance of expression and its value in society when from my parents risked their lives, in raising their voices against the Ethiopian occupation. I learned the importance of expression, which is a part of the right of self-determination, by the brave men and women, like my uncle Makkonen Kelib, who joined the Eritrean People Liberation Front in its armed struggle and sacrificed their lives so that I am proudly call myself an Eritrean and have the right to have my voice heard.
The notion of freedom of speech and its value in shaping any society was clearly understood by the EPLF and was one of main cornerstones of the independence movement. As I look towards the current state of affairs in Eritrea today, it’s with a heavy heart, but I still have hope for a better tomorrow.
I am in no position to point out the faults of any government and lay blame on any party, but the challenges that Eritrean faces especially in the realm of freedom of speech is quite severe.
I believe that the government and its people will in time, find a way to resolve them because after 30 years of struggle, I refuse to give up hope on my nation and the people who lead it to freedom after sacrificing so much.
I came to ITP to explore and create innovative ways of using technology in allowing everyone to tell their own stories, or share their viewpoints, without any fear of repercussion. I understand that building a secure anonymous communications platform is a very complex matter, but this is something that I truly care about and even the discussion of how mobile technology can be used in a socially responsible way, is in itself quite something that I can be proud to bring awareness to.
MobileVoices Introduction
MobileVoices explores my concept of an open source reverse p2p anonymous mobile communication platform and its possible effects in encouraging the growth of grassroots citizen media within developing nations especially those in Africa.
The goals of MobileVoices are to:
* Provide a secure anonymous communications platform, through a mobile and web platform, in which the identity and the media assets uploaded by a user of MobileVoices, would never be traceable, thus preventing any retaliatory actions against them for expressing their viewpoints and opinions. The mobile platform would be a open source application which would break the large media contents into smalls parts and blue tooth it over to other trusted users, who would then upload it to any network, without risking detection.
* Provide a unique online resource for other to review the media content submitted by users, hopefully they would include journalists, human rights activists, and ordinary people who want to get engaged tin bringing about community/global action around their issues which were raised by the users of MobileVoices
*Provide a platform for community dissuasion and dialogue around the issues raised by the users, as well involving the users to moderate and establish guidelines of what types of media will be reviewed and how factual they are.
*Develop a open source secure communications application/platform, which would flourish with the efforts of those like me that believe that technology, especially mobile technology can be used to have and bring about positive social change in our world.