Cute Cats and the Arab Spring: When Social Media Meet Social Change

The Laurier Institution, Yahoo!, UBC Continuing Studies and CBC Radio One present the 2011 Vancouver Human Rights Lecture “Cute Cats and the Arab Spring: When Social Media Meet Social Change”.

Ethan Zuckerman will look at “the cute cat theory” of internet activism, as it helps explain the Arab Spring protests, aggressive internet censorship in countries like China and Vietnam, and the challenges for the corporate owners of social media platforms in an era of online speech. 

Zuckerman is director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, and a principal research scientist at MIT’s Media Lab. His research focuses on the distribution of attention in mainstream and new media, the use of technology for international development, and the use of new media technologies by activists. 

The lecture will be hosted by Paul Kennedy and will be recorded for future broadcast on the CBC Radio One program “Ideas”.

Date:    Nov. 20
Time:    7 p.m.
Place:   Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Info:     Free admission. Reserve a seat: http://www.vancouverhumanrightslecture.eventbrite.com/