AUSTIN SZABO WRITES: You can’t trust your kids once the sun goes down. At least that’s what Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) officials say. The News reports that the Pakistani government has demanded wireless companies stop selling late-night cellphone packages to teenagers, claiming such deals will ultimately destroy the country’s culture. Their logic? Discount…
Tag: social media
THAILAND: Rumor Has It
ELIZABETH NAAI WRITES – Is speaking about a rumor the same as spreading it? One of Thailand’s top cops says it is, and four journalists now face serious jail time as a result. Police Maj Gen Pisit Pao-in, head of the Technology Crime Suppression Division, says posting a Facebook comment,…
TAIWAN: Does Taiwan Media Need Reform?
BRIAN CANAVE WRITES – Taipei Times highlights the lack of a more diverse and critical media system. But wait, isn’t it one of the biggest newspapers in Taiwan? Recently, Taipei Times has published two articles stressing the media’s important role on uncovering news the government may have covered up, as…
JAPAN: Abe But No Lincoln
JEREMIAH FAJARDO WRITES – After two decades and a plethora of Prime Ministers, has political stability finally come to Japan with its united Diet? With the July 21 Upper House elections, Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) seized the second, upper half of the Diet in an acclaimed landslide victory.…
JAPAN: From Shrines to Tanks, Abe’s Cabinet Faces Criticism
JEREMIAH FARJADO WRITES- Will the Japanese government ever learn? Once again, Japanese tension with the Chinese and South Koreans have flared up due to a recent visit to the Yasukuni Shrine by over 150 Japanese politicians, including members of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet. As Bloomberg and Kotaku, a…
PHILIPPINES: Web Tyranny in the Social Networking Capital of the World
LAUREN CHEN WRITES – The Philippines, nicknamed the “Social Networking Capital of the World,” must watch out. Not only for stealth advertising, but for violating the supposed-to-be suspended Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. Facebook dominates Filipino Internet as the country’s most visited website, even more popular than Google. Further, the…
CHINA: Dollars Make China Holler
LANI LUO WRITES – With China’s booming economy and increasing standard of living, cell phone use has grown exponentially. Folks across the country are using stylish smart phones and all their fantastic features. One of which is the WeChat application offered by Tencent, a social media outfit that until now…
JAPAN: Japanese Politics Welcomes Modernity …. a Little, Bit, Anyway
After years of restrictions, the use of the Internet will likely be liberalized for use in election campaigns. According to the Daily Yomiuri, one of Japan’s leading dailies, the nation’s major political parties have jointly agreed to allow the use of services, like Twitter, during future campaigns. Drafted by the…
INDONESIA: Indonesians Take A Stand
Selina Swatek writes – In a storyline that is all too reminiscent of last year’s US elections, a candidate for the Indonesian Supreme Court, Daming Sanusi, has fueled media outrage after making an offensive comment regarding rape. During a parliamentary commission hearing to determine if he was a fit for…
TAIWAN: Keeping the Hakka Tradition Alive
Recently, the national Hakka cultural and economic summit was held at Taipei’s Hakka Cultural Park, by the Cross-Strait Hakka Cultural and Economic Association. Among those who attended were former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung, Hakka Affairs Council Deputy Minister Lee Chao-ming, and China Review News Editor in Chief,…
ARABS AND THE OLYMPICS: Serious Mixed Feelings about So-Called Saudi ‘Progress’
Editor’s note: Asia Media Staff writer Latifah RahmDel is visiting the United States this month – on holiday from United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, where she is a student. She files this from New York: “Being an Arab in the States during the Olympic Games is…
SINGAPORE: Online Advertising Proves Most Effective for High-Tech Singapore
In a recent article, Singapore’s Today Online reported that the tiny city-state is a giant in cyberspace, and touts the title of spending the most time online of all Southeast Asian states, with an average of 25 hours a week! And with 77% of their population on Facebook, Singapore &…
RIYADH and ROME: Grand Mufti and the Pope Together on Social Media
These days, Islam and the Catholic Church appear to agree on at least one thing: religious assertions on Social Media outlets should be treated with considerable skepticism—and indeed may be the source of serious religious error. For example, in his recent sermon in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Grand Mufti Shaikh Abdul…
SINGAPORE: Social Media Impacts Parliamentary General Elections
According to a recent panel, the Singaporean parliament’s General Elections this May were heavily influenced by the country’s proliferating use of social media.
CHINA: Advice on How to Understand the Chinese In Bits and Bytes
A recently published article in China Daily by Natalie Thomas discusses the recent success of Charlie Custer in taking on the role of relaying information about current events in China…