Rebecca MacKinnon

I study how governments seek to stifle and control online dissent.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Companies have choices to make about what extent they're handling their users' content.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Digital activism did not spring immaculately out of Twitter and Facebook. It's been going on ever since blogs existed.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Authoritarian systems evolve. Authoritarianism in the Internet Age is not your old Cold War authoritarianism.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

One day, people in China may be able to see the records of conversations between multinational tech companies and the Chinese authorities.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

There's a real contradiction that's difficult to explain to the West and the outside world about China and about the Internet.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

There's a lot of politics over who gets the next allocation of Congressional funding.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Increasingly, people have very little tolerance for anything that smacks of propaganda.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

The trend in China is toward tighter and tighter control. They are basically improving their censorship mechanisms.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Google transformed the way most of us get our information with a search engine that enables us to find citizen-created media content…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

While American intellectual property deserves protection, that protection must be won and defended in a manner that does not stifle innovation, erode…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Human freedom increasingly depends on who controls what we know and, therefore, how we understand our world. It depends on what information…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

President Barack Obama's administration sometimes finds itself at odds with members of Congress who oppose nearly everything the United Nations does on…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

If multi-stakeholder Internet governance is to survive an endless series of challenges, its champions must commit to serving the interests and protecting…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Radio was used powerfully by Josef Goebbels to disseminate Nazi propaganda, and just as powerfully by King George VI to inspire the…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

As a condition for entry into the Chinese market, Apple had to agree to the Chinese government's censorship criteria in vetting the…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

The Egyptian Revolution makes it clear, if anybody was in doubt, that digital technologies are going to play a powerful role in…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

A number of countries, including Russia and China, have put forward proposals to regulate aspects of the Internet like 'crime' and 'security'…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

I lived in China for 9 years straight. I saw how my Chinese friends benefited and gained much more freedom to determine…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

When U.S. commercial interests press the Chinese government to do a better job of policing Chinese websites for pirated content, a blind…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

There isn't much question that the person who obtained the WikiLeaks cables from a classified U.S. government network broke U.S. law and…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Trade shows such as the wire tappers' ball are highly secretive and ban journalists from attending. None of the U.S. agencies that…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

China's censorship and propaganda systems may be complex and multilayered, but they are obviously not well coordinated.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

WikiLeaks published the Afghan War Logs and U.S. diplomatic cables stolen from a classified network by an Army private.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

The Internet is an empowering force for people who are protesting against the abuse of power.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

A lot of Chinese don't understand why people in the West are critical of China.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Microsoft, Yahoo and others are helping to institutionalize and legitimize the integration of censorship into the global IT business model.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Political activists in Hong Kong and Taiwan use Facebook as their primary tool to mobilize support for their causes and activities.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

In the physical world, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a wanted man.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Most people who use the Internet seem take its nature and characteristics for granted, like we take air and water for granted.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Internet freedom is a bit of a Rorschach test: it means different things to different people.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

The relationship between citizens and government is increasingly mediated through the Internet.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

There are a lot of people that think the Internet is going to bring information and democracy and pluralism in China just…

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Professional camera crews are rarely there when a bomb goes off or a rocket lands. They usually show up afterwards.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

Shibuya is a trendy part of Tokyo where young people come to meet and have a good time.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

While the Internet can't be controlled 100 percent, it's possible for governments to filter content and discourage people from organizing.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

The U.S. relationship with Bahrain is obviously more complicated than with Syria and Iran.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

The Chinese government clearly sees Internet and mobile innovation as a major driver of its global economic competitiveness going forward.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

The sovereigns of the Internet are acting like they have a divine right to govern.

— Rebecca MacKinnon

It's harder and harder for journalists to get out in the field and interview Iraqis. The Web can get these voices out…

— Rebecca MacKinnon