The state and the rebel: Online nationalisms in Niger

The advent of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) – particularly the internet and associated networks – have made it possible to express previously repressed nationalist sentiments, forbidden languages, ethnic loyalties, and new identities free from the control exerted between the boundaries of the state. New forms of nationalistic conflicts (that take place in what Arquilla and Ronfeldt (1996, 2001) call ‘netwars’) are now being waged along the lines of multiple forms of loyalties (civic, state-induced, or ethnic or subversive). Since the advent of democracy in Francophone Africa, the state has lost its monopoly over the media and now cannot control actors (particularly diasporic communities scattered around the world) who are disputing its hegemony and legitimacy. Citizens who no longer live in the national territory are fighting back against divisive and subversive tendencies in the name of national cohesion, unity, territorial integrity, and democratic governance. For example, in Niger since the beginning of 2007, two rebel movements led by Tuareg insurgents have been fighting the government on both the military and the virtual fronts. They have invaded existing virtual networks such as discussion forums and online media websites and created their own websites and chat rooms. In the name of national unity and peaceful development, they are being countered by the state as well as other citizens of the diaspora.

This article analyses how Tuareg identity has been framed over time by colonial anthropologists and administrators in Niger and how this identity is now being expressed online by current Nigerien Tuareg rebels in the context of conflicting nationalisms involving the state and its opponents. The discussion argues that, contrary to the deterministic role attributed to ICTs, it is the ‘external’ social and political conditions that determine the online contours of nationalistic expressions and conflicts. This article falls within the framework of the ‘structuralist-constructivist’ theory devised by Bourdieu; consequently, it approaches such conflicting nationalisms as ‘symbolic struggles over the power to produce and to impose a legitimate vision of the world’ (Bourdieu 1989, 20).

The topic here is limited to the Nigerien Tuareg movements and does not address in any way the Malian Tuareg movements or the pan-Amazigh movement. Where necessary, however, references will be made to the one or the other for the purpose of clarifying issues related to Nigerien Tuareg movements.     

The Role of Child Sexual Abuse Images in Coercive and Non-Coercive Relationships with Adolescents: A Thematic Review of the Literature

The objective of this article is to present a thematic review of literature that pertains to the role of child sexual abuse images in online coercive and non-coercive relationships with adolescents, synthesize and contextualize current research on this topic, and identify some of the complexities in the self-production of sexual images by adolescents and their potential use by offenders. This review examines why there is a trend for child abuse image production to be increasingly associated with adolescent self-produced sexual images and how this may be related to individual coercion, as well as changing social and Internet contexts. Practitioners need to understand the technological and social affordances offered by the Internet, particularly in relation to the ability to produce sexual images, as part of a more ecological approach to understanding online abuse and exploitation.     

Business conflict and international law: The political economy of copyright in the United States

The internet industry has emerged as an important economic and political actor, both within the United States and internationally. Internet companies depend on exceptions from copyright law in order to operate. As a result, internet companies have considerable incentive to try and influence international copyright law. However, the current literature has neglected the role of the internet industry, instead focusing on the influence of copyright owning media companies. This has largely homogenized the concerns of business interests, neglecting the interests of business actors which do not favor stricter copyright protection. By examining business conflict over recent copyright initiatives by the United States, this article criticizes the literature. It illustrates that the internet industry has been able to alter the negotiating preferences of the United States against the wishes of copyright owners. This argues against the homogenization of business interests regarding copyright while illustrating the importance of material over discursive factors in determining political outcomes.     

“微公益”失范的发生机理与跨界规制

"微公益"失范是社会"志愿失灵"的典型表现形式之一。加强国家监管抑或提升志愿力量自治能力,一直被视为解决"微公益"失范问题的关键所在。研究发现,"微公益"诸多失范乱象的生成,源于跨界行动利益相关方自律和他律机制失效及其彼此间协同、合作关系的断裂。为此,"微公益"失范问题的矫治,不只是从法律、政策上进行单向度的监管、控制,更要因循其失范的内在发生机理,从跨界合作治理的视角整合参与"微公益"行动的各方资源,引导、扶持其所代表的社会力量不断成长壮大,从而实现自律、他律机制的有效衔接与良性互动,重构并形成"微公益"行动多方跨界合作的规制格局。     

网络交易平台诈骗犯罪及其防控——以300份判决书为样本

网络交易平台诈骗犯罪的基本构造与传统诈骗犯罪无异,但缺少传统诈骗犯罪的案发现场,具有发案类型多样化、非接触性信息化、犯罪门槛低等特点。在大数据背景下,网络交易平台诈骗犯罪是网络交易平台与用户数据相互作用形成的结果,规范网络交易平台治理与完善用户数据保护成为防范此类犯罪的关键。网络交易平台的多样性和非接触性信息化加大了对犯罪进行打击和防控的难度,要从网络交易平台管理和个人数据保护两个方面进行治理,同时加强行政管理部门的相互协作,确立不同部门之间执法数据共享机制,从而构建完善的网络交易平台诈骗犯罪防控体系。     

Access Online: Internet Governance and Image in Cuba

This article examines the restrictions on internet access in Cuba and asks to what extent the lack of access to the World Wide Web has helped to maintain (with some evident changes), the socialist status quo on the island. The article will also examine how the internet is used to represent the nation externally and ultimately argues that the Cuban government is negotiating a fine line between taking full economic advantage of what the internet can offer and hampering its use as a mechanism for the subversion of the Revolution in the face of continued US aggression.     

高校线上教学现状分析及对策研究

后疫情时代，线上教学已经成为高校教学手段的主要组成部分，将继续发挥重要作用，与此同时, 也暴露出诸多问题，有待改进。本研究从学生、授课教师、平台技术和管理制度四个方面对高校线上教学的现 状进行分析，并提出优化高校线上教学的建议。研究认为，线上教学虽然符合教学发展的要求，有利于传统学 习模式的变革，但也带来了缺少师生互动、教学管理缺少标准和规范等问题。研究建议，应釆取线上线下教学 相结合、提高教师线上教学能力、改进平台服务技术水平、改革教学管理制度、做好基础服务等措施，进一步 优化高校线上教学效果。     

Indebted life and money culture: payday lending in the United Kingdom

Critical social scientific research holds that credit–debt is a principal economic and governing relation in contemporary economy and society, but largely neglects money’s role in indebted life. Drawing on qualitative research in the payday loan market in the United Kingdom, the paper shows that borrowers typically relate to loans in monetary rather than financial terms and incorporate them into practices of payment, spending and online banking. To analyse how indebted life is variously experienced and enacted through money, the concept of money culture is developed to refer to money’s culture, money’s meanings and money’s affects. Borrowers enter into and negotiate payday loans through a digitally mediated money culture that both mobilizes and runs counter to money’s powerful fictions as circulating universal equivalent and calculative means of account.     

Reducing the risk of insurance fraud by appearances of online surveillance

The efforts to tackle the growing problem of insurance fraud have focused primarily on examining suspicious claims and claimants after the accident has happened, ignoring a risk-reduction opportunity that exists even before the policy is purchased. The current paper aims to address this gap. In Study 1, a group of 40 participants were asked to input their personal details on a simulated comparison site. It showed that the numbers of obtained online quotes (i.e., how many times participants obtained them) and time spent to produce them by completing all the relevant information were positively correlated with misrepresentation of personal details for financial gain. In Study 2, a separate group of 120 participants took part in navigating a different simulated comparison site. The results suggest that equipping the site with mere appearances of online surveillance reduced the time that they took to input their details and minimized their manipulation for financial gain. Elaborating on the important theoretical and practical implications, the paper identifies a relatively easy and effective method of discouraging prospective policyholders from misrepresenting their details online.