Ilves launches Twitter campaign against Nobel economist Krugman

Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is a vocal austerity critic who once called Berlin’s insistence on belt-tightening during the euro crisis “just insane.” Read More »

Azerbaijan frees jailed Facebook activist

Azerbaijani activist and former parliamentary candidate Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was released from prison today, according to Radio Free Europe. The release comes two days before U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to visit Baku. The report does not say if the release was a pardon or probation. Read More »

In Russia, Internet eclipsing TV in popularity

It was bound to happen at some point.

In Russia, it now seems the Internet is a more popular source of information than TV – sort of. Read More »

Persian journalist angers Azerbaijani netizens and media

A firestorm of negative reactions has sprung up in Azerbaijan over a video posted to youtube of an Persian journalist criticizing Azerbaijan and it’s preparations for Eurovision. Read More »

Georgian political rivalry gets heated on Facebook

A rivalry has broken out on Facebook between the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, and Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire and opposition leader. Read More »

Soap operas find online niche in Azerbaijan

In Azerbaijan, soap operas are mainly aimed at housewives and elderly people. But recent changes applied to TV regulation in the country have made them popular with young Internet users as well. Although a recent talk show on the subject of one particular show has sparked an online debate. Read More »

Armenian politicians learn to ‘like’ Facebook

YEREVAN | A new flag is flying proudly these days alongside the Armenian national flag at opposition rallies for Armenia’s 6 May parliamentary elections, and it is the flag of Facebook. The U.S.-based social network is proving an increasingly handy tool for shaking up Armenia’s ossified election system  – both for exposing abuses and for campaigning – and political parties and voters alike are eager to claim allegiance.

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Bulgaria moves towards a paperless government

Moldovan bloggers get audience with the prime minister

Sometime bloggers complain of being voices in the wilderness; with so many other sources it can be hard to tell if anyone out there is actually paying attention to what they write.  This wasn’t the case in Moldova last week when a group of local bloggers got a case to meet with one of the country’s biggest political leaders.
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First political viral video from Belarus passes 60,000 views

A new video from Belarus depicting President Alexander Lukashenko as an annoying bee harassing a journalist has reached more than 60,000 views since it was posted 29 February, making it the first political video in the country to go viral. Read More »

Witnessing the economic crisis: Citizen journalism in Belarus

Citizen journalism is a great way of getting facts and local news directly from the source–from the community itself. This information can always be processed and published later by the professional journalists. However in Belarus, citizen journalism has yet to take off. Read More »

Using technology to increase political accountability

Earlier this month, TOL Executive Director Jeremy Druker participated in the Point conference, a three-day meetup on social media and political accountability in Sarajevo.   Read More »

Alaveteli: right-to-know software made easy

As interest has heightened across the region to launch freedom-of-information sites, one group is moving to make it infinitely easier to get such sites off the ground.

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Medvedev’s Facebook page blocked for Georgians

Hundreds of posts demanding the withdrawal of Russian solders from Georgia’s breakaway regions on Russian president Dimitry Medvedev’s Facebook page were removed by the administrator, and Georgian users were blocked from accessing the site. Online activists, consisting of forum.ge users, wanted to express their position concerning Russian policy on Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Read More »