The Online Revolution

The internet is a relatively new conception, being invented in the mid-20th century, some of us remember before it was developed (and most of us remember it not being a part of our lives). Like most inventions, it has been used by both the ‘Establishment’ or ‘The Powers That Be’ and by ordinary people. The [...]

Justin Bieber's North Korean Tour Diaries

Originally published in the August 2010 issue of Leftfield, we today republish the following article  in tribute to the dearly departed, friend of the people and bullwark against imperialism, Kim Jong Il. Long live Juche! Earlier this year, users of cult online messageboard 4Chan struck a strategic alliance with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il. In [...]

New fangled technologies and activism

Political activism has been in the news more in the last year than in all the years since the 2003 Iraq war. Revolutions in the Arab world, occupations in America and beyond, and student protests and social unrest in the UK have all been hailed as ‘social networking revolutions’. To understand the importance of information [...]

Policing Social Media

You almost have to feel for the police in Scotland over the past few days. Unable to spend their week beating up kids on bikes, shooting each other, executing men in taxis, and ensuring that teenagers are locked up for heinous crimes like stealing bottles of water from Lidl and swearing at cops, polis north of the [...]

Facebook being shite #3874

Facebook can be a great place to get on your political soapbox. It gives you a chance to vent, you can share great articles and you can find yourself in a genuinely interesting discussion about certain issues.  As someone relatively new to socialism and who is still learning a lot about the issues surrounding it, [...]

CHAVEZ! Y U NO GIVE US INTERNETZ?!

NO! Hugo Chavez is going down the line of filtering Venezuela’s internet! The parliament has passed the law on filtering any messages which have incement or hateful material (politically or religious). This seems like a fabulous idea at first, but it is the opposite. Developing countries like Venezuela need freedom of access to all information [...]

E-petitions, useless pish

In a move with potentially hilarious consequences, the government is moving ahead with plans to turn the most popular online petitions into parliamentary bills. The most popular petition on the government’s website, or those that reach around 100,000 signatures, will be introduced as private member’s bills to be debated in parliament, and possibly passed into [...]

We don't control our information

Ever had something go missing from the internet? Whether it’s a Facebook event or a photo on Flickr, we usually don’t have any control over our data online. Most of us take this for granted – but when 4000 of Bill Barrol’s tweets mysteriously vanished, he wanted compensation. Working on the premise that he is [...]

Here's a bunch of awful things we're totally going to ACTUALLY do

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS MENACING ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS Paul Chambers is a man who has suffered one of the worst reactions to a joke of all time. Back in January, sitting cold in South Yorkshire’s Robin Hood airport (no, it’s not a joke, it really is called that), he was frustrated that his flight had [...]

Would you rather be hung or shot?

Hey Kids! Guess how cool and funky the ConDem government can be?! They’re going to ask YOU on Facebook about what you think should get cut from our public services! Neat, huh? Do you often think about how your local leisure centre is a waste of money? How about all those lazy disabled people that [...]

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