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November 30th, 2012
08:10 PM ET
Syria internet blackout enters second day as U.S. contemplates arming opposition
Our second story OutFront: panic in Syria.
At this moment, there is a sense of fear that the Assad regime is getting desperate in the face of opposition gains as much of the country experienced a second day without cell phones or internet access.
And as the violence continues to rage on the ground, there's a debate here at home as to whether the U.S. should get involved and finally send arms to the opposition.
Is it the right time to take this step? OutFront tonight to discuss are author Alex Berenson and RAND political scientist Seth Jones.
See also: Bowman, Warigia Margaret (Clinton School of Public Svc, Univ of Arkansas) and Camp, L. Jean (Indiana Univ), "Protecting the Internet from Dictators: Technical and Policy Solutions to Ensure Online Freedoms," (July 5, 2012). Forthcoming, The Innovation Journal.
I heard there's a State Dep't program called the Open Technology Initiative, helping to put open-source mobile technology in the hands of dissidents in dictatorial regimes. June of 2011 the Times did a piece on it, even had their team lead Sasha Meinrath show off their "internet in a suitcase" back when the whole Arab Spring was set off. The beauty of it is that since it's open source, there's no part of it that's easily detectable for the regime.