Acknowledgments
As the saying goes, it takes a village to produce someone—or something—
worthwhile. That could not be more true than with this book, only in this case it’s
a global village. In composing a 2016 snapshot of a world in protest and the roles
that the Internet and social media are playing in those uprisings, we have con-
sulted and aggregated a multitude of sources to put these far-flung stories between
the two covers of a single book. It is a dynamic and fluid story that will continue to
emerge long after this account has collected layers of dust on a library’s basement
reference shelf.
It is impossible to acknowledge all of the sources these stories have been drawn
from, but we will name a few that have been extremely helpful. Among them are
the international freedom monitoring organization known as Freedom House, the
international collaboration of journalists known as Reporters Without Borders,
the international collection of citizen journalism blogs known as Global Voices, the
Global Post, The World Factbook of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Committee
to Protect Journalists, the International Press Institute, the New York Times, Wired
magazine, BBC News, CNN, The Guardian, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and
many other media and organizations that chronicle the stories of freedom from
oppression around the world.
Some of the raw research and input into the country essays in this book was pro-
vided by our global media students at Azusa Pacific University and California State
University at Fullerton, and we wish to thank those students for their assistance.
Finally, on the personal side, we thank our partners in life, Anne and Clara, for
their help and input, and for their patience in sharing their husbands during this
year-long project. Both women are professionals and have amassed keen insight
into the world’s fights for human rights.
Jim Willis and Anthony R. Fellow
