MIT Global Media Technologies & Cultures Lab - GMTaC

What can we learn from past technology-based educational projects? Check out this post on the history of Brazilian satellites during the 60s and 70s by Iago Bojczuk, former research assistant at MIT Global Media Technologies & Cultures Lab - GMTaC and recent graduate from MIT Comparative Media Studies / Writing.

Media and Satellites for Remote Learning: A Brief History of the SACI Project (1960-70) in Northeast Brazil – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab Media and Satellites for Remote Learning: A Brief History of the SACI Project (1960-70) in Northeast Brazil Published on October 26th, 2020 Written by Iago Bojczuk In his writings from the post-war period, Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan contended that it is through the “electronics that we ...

What are the latest developments in digital sovereignty in the European Union? Check out the newest post in the Network Sovereignty Blog: "European Digital Sovereignty: EU’s Projection of Normative Power?" by Abid Adonis, researcher at Abdurrahman Wahid Centre for Peace and Humanities, Universitas Indonesia (AWCPH UI).

For more info on this blog post and others, check out the Network Sovereignty Project page here: http://globalmedia.mit.edu/category/blog/network-sovereignty-blog/

European Digital Sovereignty: EU’s Projection of Normative Power? – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab European Digital Sovereignty: EU’s Projection of Normative Power? Published on September 9th, 2020 Written by Abid Adonis Figure 1. European Union flag. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons) In the last four years, “digital sovereignty” has turned into a new prominent talking point between the Eur...

A letter signed by more than 350 media and communication scholars to TV Network CEOs, as well as commissioners with the Federal Communications Commission, was covered in Los Angeles Times and The Hill. The letter was started by professors Anna Everett (UC Santa Barbara) and Lisa Parks (MIT).

Letter signed by more than 350 media and communication scholars to TV Network CEOs covered in Los Angeles Times and The Hill – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab Letter signed by more than 350 media and communication scholars to TV Network CEOs covered in Los Angeles Times and The Hill Published on August 14th, 2020 A letter signed by more than 350 media and communication scholars to TV Network CEOs, as well as commissioners with the Federal Communications C...

Lab news: Lisa Parks and Rachel Thompson published a peer-reviewed article, “The Slow Shutdown: Information and Internet Regulation in Tanzania From 2010 to 2018 and Impacts on Online Content Creators” in the International Journal of Communication in August 2020.

Lisa Parks and Rachel Thompson publish peer-reviewed article “The Slow Shutdown: Information and Internet Regulation in Tanzania From 2010 to 2018 and Impacts on Online Content Creators” – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab Lisa Parks and Rachel Thompson publish peer-reviewed article “The Slow Shutdown: Information and Internet Regulation in Tanzania From 2010 to 2018 and Impacts on Online Content Creators” Published on August 13th, 2020 Lisa Parks and Rachel Thompson publish peer-reviewed article, “The Slow Shu...

What are the different meanings that "digital sovereignty" has acquired over the years in academic and public discourse? In this blog post, Stéphane Couture, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the Université de Montréal, offers a short summary of what has been written during the last couple of decades on this topic.

For more info on this blog post and others, check out the Network Sovereignty Project page here: http://globalmedia.mit.edu/category/blog/network-sovereignty-blog/

The Diverse Meanings of Digital Sovereignty – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab The Diverse Meanings of Digital Sovereignty Published on August 5th, 2020 Written by Stéphane Couture The notion of sovereignty as it is applied to the digital has been increasingly used in recent years. The notion of “data sovereignty” in particular was almost nonexistent before 2011 while it ...

How media piracy has changed in recent decades? What techniques were used in the past to disrupt cable TV infrastructure? Check out the newest post in the Network Sovereignty Blog: "Notes on Creating the Zine, Cable TV Infrastructures: A Glossary of Illegal Access" by Daniel Carter, Assistant Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University.

For more info on this blog post and others, check out the Network Sovereignty Project page here: http://globalmedia.mit.edu/category/blog/network-sovereignty-blog/

Notes on Creating the Zine, Cable TV Infrastructures: A Glossary of Illegal Access – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab Notes on Creating the Zine, Cable TV Infrastructures: A Glossary of Illegal Access Published on July 2nd, 2020 Written by Daniel Carter Download the zine Cable TV Infrastructures: A Glossary of Illegal Access here. Figure 1. Sketch based on photo posted to reddit.com/cablefail. Source: Cable TV infr...

What are the politics behind mobile applications, app stores, and operating systems? Check out the most recent post in the Network Sovereignty Blog: "Mobile Politics: Infrastructural Chokepoints and Geopolitical Flashpoints" by Lianrui Jia, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Arts, Culture and Media at UTSC.

For more info on this blog post and others, check out the Network Sovereignty Project page here: http://globalmedia.mit.edu/category/blog/network-sovereignty-blog/

Mobile Politics: Infrastructural Chokepoints and Geopolitical Flashpoints – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab Mobile Politics: Infrastructural Chokepoints and Geopolitical Flashpoints Published on July 1st, 2020 Written by Lianrui Jia  The coronavirus has toppled any kind of normalcy that we are used to. It also laid bare the failures of our digital technologies. Tech companies are scrambling to make state...

"In a world where the corporate technology sector increasingly aims to monopolize imaginaries of the future, thinking through technological sovereignty proliferates a multiplicity of imaginaries. These imaginaries can help re-frame the future, not as the inevitable outcome of a techno-determinist teleology, but as an opportunity for collective experimentation and construction."

Read the most recent post in the Network Sovereignty blog by Casey Lynch, Assistant Professor at UNR Department of Geography.

For more info on this blog post and others, check out the Network Sovereignty Project page here: http://globalmedia.mit.edu/category/blog/network-sovereignty-blog/

Networked Sovereignties: Imagining Alternative Futures in Barcelona – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab Networked Sovereignties: Imagining Alternative Futures in Barcelona Published on July 1st, 2020 Written by Casey Lynch I arrived in Barcelona in 2016 with the intention of studying the city’s world-famous “smart city” program. Since at least 2011, the municipal government had worked to establi...

How the introduction of government digital services contribute to reproduce social exclusion in Nordic Europe? Check out the newest publication in the Network Sovereignty Blog: "National Belonging and Exclusion in Estonia’s Networked Sovereignty". This blog post was written by Stanislav Budnitsky, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

For more info on this blog post and others, check out the Network Sovereignty Project page here: http://globalmedia.mit.edu/category/blog/network-sovereignty-blog/

National Belonging and Exclusion in Estonia’s Networked Sovereignty – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab National Belonging and Exclusion in Estonia’s Networked Sovereignty Published on June 23rd, 2020 Written by Stanislav Budnitsky On a cloudy afternoon in June 2017, I landed in Estonia’s capital Tallinn to attend the tenth annual European Dialogue on Internet Governance. As I made my way through ...

What are the challenges to exercising network sovereignty for Native Nations within US boundaries? Check out the newest publication in the Network Sovereignty Blog titled "Notes from the Field: Wardriving and Warflying: Collecting Accurate Spectrum and Coverage Data in Indian Country." This blog post was written by Marisa Elena Duarte, assistant professor in the ASU's School of Social Transformation​, and Morgan Vigil-Hayes, assistant professor in the NAU School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems.

For more info on this blog post and others, check out the Network Sovereignty Project page here: http://globalmedia.mit.edu/category/blog/network-sovereignty-blog/

Notes from the Field: Wardriving and Warflying: Collecting Accurate Spectrum and Coverage Data in Indian Country – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab Notes from the Field: Wardriving and Warflying: Collecting Accurate Spectrum and Coverage Data in Indian Country Published on June 22nd, 2020 Written by Marisa Elena Duarte, MLIS, PhD, & Morgan Vigil-Hayes, PhD What is network sovereignty in Indian Country? The concept of network sovereignty is part...

How Chinese citizens are using platforms to share documents, narratives, and data about their experience of the COVID-19 pandemic? Check out the newest publication in the Network Sovereignty Blog titled "Platforms, Community Archives and Remembering the Pandemic." This blog post was written by Amelia Acker, assistant professor in the School of Information - The University of Texas at Austin

For more info on this blog post and others, check out the Network Sovereignty Project page here: http://globalmedia.mit.edu/category/blog/network-sovereignty-blog/

Platforms, Community Archives and Remembering the Pandemic – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab Platforms, Community Archives and Remembering the Pandemic Published on June 9th, 2020 Written by Amelia Acker For the past two years, I’ve been researching platforms’ digital preservation strategies and studying how platforms like Facebook, iOS, and Android preserve information and provide acce...

Check out the newest publication in the Network Sovereignty Blog titled "Building a Fugitive Communication Infrastructure during the South African Liberation Struggle." This blog post was written by Sophie Toupin, PhD candidate in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University.

For more info on this blog post and others, check out the Network Sovereignty Project page here: http://globalmedia.mit.edu/category/blog/network-sovereignty-blog/

Building a Fugitive Communication Infrastructure during the South African Liberation Struggle – Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab Building a Fugitive Communication Infrastructure during the South African Liberation Struggle Published on June 4th, 2020 Written by Sophie Toupin During the South African liberation struggle, a group of scientists and techies formed a technical committee to assist the African National Congress (AN...