#Milktea or milquetoast?

Abstract:

The role of technology in political and social movements like the Arab Spring is widely considered by scholars to be important, but not revolutionary. But significant political upheaval in Asia is powered by highly online protest communities operating in media environments unique to our region.

Does tech power protest differently in Asia?

Join the second seminar in the Digital Politics in the Asia Pacific series to find out.

Moderator: Professor George Lawson
Panellists: Associate Professor Merlyna Lim (Carleton University), Assistant Professor Lokman Tsui (Chinese University of Hong Kong), and Ms Fanny Potkin (Reuters).

Merlyna Lim is a Canada Research Chair in Digital Media and Global Network Society. Her research interests revolve around the mutual shaping of technology and society, and the political culture of technology, especially digital media and information technology, in relation to issues of justice, democracy and civic/participatory engagement. Lim considers herself an interdisciplinary scholar and has published extensively in various disciplines, including communication and media studies, religious studies, journalism, urban studies/sociology, geography, anthropology, Asian studies, Middle East studies, information and library science, computer science and information systems.

Lokman Tsui is a scholar and activist and is currently an Assistant Professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where his research focuses on free expression, digital rights and internet policy. He has been a faculty associate and Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and was formerly Google's Head of Free Expression in Asia and the Pacific (2011-14) and Policy Manager, Open Internet, Google (Asia and the Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Russia).

Fanny Potkin is South East Asia technology correspondent at Reuters. She writes about technology developments across Southeast Asia with a focus on Indonesia. Her work has covered everything from the region's biggest technology companies to state-backed disinformation campaigns. She has postgraduate qualifications in politics and economics from McGill University.

This is the second seminar in the Digital Politics in the Asia Pacific Seminar Series, which focuses on urgent and emerging issues in digital politics in the Asia Pacific region. Presented jointly by the Bell School, the University's Humanising Machine Intelligence Initiative, and the ANU Regional Institutes. The series is coordinated by Dr Sarah Logan, Dr Graeme Smith, and Dr Ross Tapsell.