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A conversation about social media, China and freedom: a follow-up
For those of you that didn’t catch last night’s conversation between Chinese digital activist Ai Wei Wei, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and Richard McManus, founder of ReadWriteWeb, here’s some initial coverage of the event. (You can, of course, also check out the Think Social live blog of the event, here.)
And while you’re reading, what’s interesting is to note different takes on some of the night’s more notable moments. Key points? I’d include Jack Dorsey admitting that he didn’t know Twitter was blocked in China (and the discernible disappointment in the audience and pointed follow-up questions directed at Dorsey); the witty and often downright bawdy Ai Wei Wei cracking jokes about the power of Twitter in courting girls and how his eight hours a day using the platform made it a “true lover”; a heated back-and-forth on whether Chinese people were happy or actually oppressed, and discussion about a timeline for Chinese democracy, between Ai Wei Wei and a Chinese businesswoman in the audience; and Richard McManus talking about Google’s “brave move” in pulling out of China and refusing to self-censor, and the panel’s discussion of whether internet companies were responsible in acting to preserve people’s internet freedoms. (The answer to the last point was a decided yes — Ai Wei Wei said there’s no excuse for not acting out “for human values.”)
“Digital Activism in China: A Discussion Between Ai Wei Wei, Jack Dorsey and Richard McManus”
Check out ReadWriteWeb’s recap of the event — pretty straightforward. For a refresher on censorship in China, it’s helpful to check out Kaiser Kuo’s SXSW presentation on Google in China this week or his earlier interview with ReadWriteWeb.
Read on for more after the jump …
“Some Thoughts On Ai Wei Wei and Jack Dorsey from ReadWriteWeb’s Social Media Activism Panel”
Digital East Asia is a web site that aggregates and analyzes news about digital and social media in and about East Asia. This post focuses more on discussion between Dorsey and Ai Wei Wei on translating Twitter in Chinese (which one audience member later said was more about Chinese display and input than just translating text).
“Artist Ai Wei Wei Makes Rare U.S. Appearance to Talk About Digital Activism”
The Los Angeles Times’ arts blog devotes its post to Ai Wei Wei’s evolution from artist to activist, and reports on the confrontational Q&A moment between Ai Wei Wei and the Chinese businesswoman.
A number of write-ups of the event focused on Dorsey’s promise that Twitter in China was in the works:
“Twitter in China? In Due Time, Twitter Founder Promises” (PC World)
“Twitter Working on Chinese Translation” (Portfolio’s Tech Observer)
“Twitter Working on Chinese Registration Page” (Associated Press)
Hm — I wonder when Twitter began considering the creation of Twitter.cn? Ai Wei Wei was pretty insistent on getting an answer from Dorsey yesterday, and so was the audience. Keep an eye on @aiww for more (though you might want to send it through a translator, unless you can read Chinese!) and keep an eye on this blog for future commentary on this subject.
Posted in: Art, Culture & Expression, News, Public interest category | Tagged: Ai Wei Wei, Asia, censorship, china, digital activism, Jack Dorsey, Richard McManus, social media, translation, twitter
