U.S. Cell Phone Users Open to Texting Their Vote for President

A survey by Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) suggests that many teens and their parents across the U.S. would rather vote by text message on their cell phones in the next election rather than go to the polls.

According to the short survey, more than half of all Democrats, Republicans and Independents surveyed say that if allowed, they’d text in their Presidential vote.

[via Cellular News]

U.C. Berkeley student's Twitter messages alerted world to his arrest in Egypt

When Egyptian police scooped up UC Berkeley graduate journalism student James Karl Buck, who was photographing a noisy demonstration, and dumped him in a jail cell last week, they didn't count on Twitter. The Mercury News reports.

"Buck, 29, a former Oakland Tribune multimedia intern, used the ubiquitous short messaging service to tap out a single word on his cellular phone: ARRESTED. The message went out to the cell phones and computers of a wide circle of friends in the United States and to the mostly leftist, anti-government bloggers in Egypt who are the subject of his graduate journalism project.

The next day, he walked out a free man with an Egyptian attorney hired by UC Berkeley at his side and the U.S. Embassy on the phone."

Carrefour faces China boycott bid

An attack Monday against the Olympic torch relay in Paris has got the Chinese people very riled, and a boycott call is going out across the country through online forums and chatting and cell phone messaging, urging Chinese shoppers to refuse to patronize French-owned Carrefour chain stores during the coming May holiday. ChinaStakes reports.

"According to one widely spread cell phone message, Carrefour’s largest shareholder, LV, once made donations to Dalai Lama, adding fuel to the boycott bonfire.

As some western people call for a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games or at least the opening ceremony, some Chinese people think of boycotting western-owned businesses in China, since China’s huge and rapid-growing market has become important for many of them.

Li Jing, head of public relations for Carrefour’s Shanghai branch, said the company was investigating the situation.

The word is also spreading though online chatting venues such as OICQ (the most popular instant messaging in China) and by the ubiquitous cell phones, suggesting not to shop at Carrefour between May 8 and May 24, exactly three months from the dates of the Games. “Show them the power of Chinese people and the Chinese network.”

Image from the BBC.

S.F. almost outwits Olympic torch Twitterat

Switching itineraries threw off hundreds of protesters and put Twitter and text-message alert systems to the test, a city officials in SF decided to take the Olympic torch relay on a far different route Wednesday than had been previously announced.

"We are reorganizing the protest, sending text messages with minute-by-minute updates on where the torches are," said Tawni Tidwell, a member of protest organizer SF Team Tibet. "People are using their cell phones, BlackBerrys, and PDAs. We are also updating media though our phones, sending pictures."

Tidwell added: "It would be really, really hard if we didn't have this. Can you imagine if the protesters in Lhasa had this technology? Witnesses could just send things in."

[via News.com]

Pro-Tibet demonstrators in SF rallied by SMS

Pro-Tibet demonstrators are using Textmarks.com messaging to coordinate today’s demonstration at the Olympic Torch relay in San Francicso.

About 1000 have subscribed so far to their SFTORCH keyword. Interestingly, they also set up a twitter address, but that only has ~75 followers…

Repression 2.0

Totalitarian states are learning to control citizens by creating the impression of ubiquitous surveillance. Newsweek reports.

In the latest twist on Internet repression, governments don't just censor, they scare.

Last week, for example, the Chinese government broadcast a text message to cell-phone users in Lhasa, Tibet, where Beijing has cracked down on protests in recent weeks. The message demanded that users "obey the law" and "follow the rules," and no protester could have mistaken the meaning, or the messenger. If the government also managed to terrify even quiet, apolitical citizens, Chinese and Tibetan—well, so be it. Repression 2.0 is not a precise technology.

NY City City Subpoenas Creator of Textmob

Tad Hirsch, the creator of a mass text-messaging system Txtmob used to aid protesters during the 2004 Republican National Convention is resisting releasing information on its users. The New York Times reports.

"Last month the New York City Law Department issued a subpoena to Tad Hirsch, a doctoral candidate at MIT who wrote the code that created TXTmob.

Lawyers representing the city in lawsuits filed by hundreds of people arrested during the convention asked Mr. Hirsch to hand over voluminous records revealing the content of messages exchanged on his service and identifying people who sent and received messages. Mr. Hirsch says that some of the subpoenaed material no longer exists and that he believes he has the right to keep other information secret.

“There’s a principle at stake here,” he said recently by telephone. “I think I have a moral responsibility to the people who use my service to protect their privacy.”

Links to related articles.

Maoists shun gun for mobiles in Nepal poll campaign

For 10 years, Nepal's Maoist guerrillas waged a bitter "people's war." Now they are waging an election battle -- with mobile phones. Reuters reports.

" With a peace deal in place and elections planned next month, Maoists say they have started using text messages to win voters after the election commission enforced a ban on putting up posters, banners and slogans in public places.

The Apr. 10 elections are a key part of the 2006 peace deal which ended a decade-long Maoist civil war that killed more than 13,000 people.

.. Maoist activist Deep Sikha said he had already sent about 5,000 text messages to prospective voters requesting for their support for his party. "Nepal now has about 2.5 million mobile connections among its 26 million people. SMS are being sent to voters by other members throughout the country," Sikha said."

Mobile phones make politics more accessible for ordinary Chinese

During this year's annual full sessions of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, mobile phones have played a role in promoting "democracy with Chinese characteristics," reports Xinhuanet.

"For several consecutive days, we were seeing a dozen mobile phone messages coming in every second through our platform," said Ms. Xu, a staff with China Mobile who asked to be identified only by her surname. "Surprisingly, all the questions were addressed to Premier Wen Jiabao."

By Tuesday, a campaign called "Ask the Premier," jointly launched by Xinhuanet.com and China Mobile for their 100 million plus mobile phone users, had collected over 250,000 short messages, a substantial portion of which were from blue-collars, farmers, and students.

The Chinese government encourages grass-root citizens to "orderly participate in politics" to expand democracy, according to Beijing-based political observer."

"Don't shop!" Alert: Fighting inflation by SMS

A chain text message bombarded Kuwaiti mobile phones, calling on Kuwaiti youths to "boycott coffee shops, malls, shopping complexes, restaurants and even co-ops to fight price inflation on March 6".

The same message was forwarded as an email to dozens of people around the state. The author of the email message wrote: "Let us all see the result if we stay home for one weekend. Let's see what business owners will do if they don't get any customers for a single day."

Basic foodstuffs prices continue to surge, registering a more than 40 percent hike in the last three months. Official inflation hit a record annual rate of 7.3 percent this past fall.

[via The Kuwait Times]

Chinese Politican Calls for a Ban on Text Voting

A Chinese politician, Zhao Linzhong has called for SMS voting to be banned as it "breeds corruption". He said that such activities are serious in nature and affect the morality of the people.

"In some places voting through text messages is even used to choose local famous brands or model workers," Zhao Linzhong, a deputy to the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC), the national legislature of China has said.

Some candidates hire people to vote that help the richer win and deprive the poor of a chance to get elected, Zhao added.

Some local government offices are also involved in some contests that require voting by text messages. Those eager to win could lavish public money, while corruption could occur among organisers of the voting, the politican stressed."

[via Cellular News]

Kenyan dilemma over post-election hate speech

Legalbrief Today reports that a list of more than 1 700 contacts of individuals who created or forwarded text messages to incite ethnic violence in Kenya has been compiled and is awaiting government action.

"The Nation notes that the list of individuals who have been tracked through their phone numbers is with Information and Communications Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo. But as the government prepares to crack down following post-election violence, a familiar problem has emerged: there is no law governing hate speech over mobile phones, radio and television.

... The commission has been monitoring SMSs for hate speech since the 2005 constitutional referendum, and has a dossier of hundreds of them from the most recent poll."

Efe offers Spanish election coverage via cell phones

EFE, Spain's international news agency, launched a special news service Friday covering Spain's general elections over cell phones that are equipped to access the Internet.

"Customers of Movistar, Vodafone and Orange will be able to get the most important news about the electoral campaign, with statements by the principal candidates, platforms of the different parties and anecdotes of the day."

[via Trading Markets]

Ex-councilman pushes for message ban in meetings

Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports that a councilman called on the city's elected officials Tuesday to stop using e-mail and text messaging during public meetings unless they are willing to disclose details of the messages.

"David Keller said private notes sent during deliberations -- possibly from lobbyists, residents or council members themselves -- violate open-meeting laws and threaten the integrity of the decision-making process.

"The whole purpose in having public meetings and discussions is that the public sees what's on the table," said Keller, who left office in 2000. "The only way for the council to have a clear sense of what's going on is to just ban it."

A Petaluma council committee is scheduled to take up the issue later this month."

Text messages used as tool of hate in Kenya

"If your neighbor is a Kikuyu, just kick him or her out of that house. No one is going to ask you anything," the hate message read on 27-year old Kenyan Joyce Mandela's mobile phone.

"You don't know who is sending them, you don't know how they got your number," said Mandela.

Since December's disputed elections, ethnic clashes involving the Kikuyu, Luo, Luhya and Kalenjin tribes -- among others -- have rocked Kenya, claiming about 1,000 lives and displacing another 300,000 people.

... The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights charged that text messages were among the means used to encourage Kenyans to participate in tribal attacks, along with inflammatory statements and songs broadcast on radio stations and at party rallies, leaflets and even bribes.

The Kenyan government recently said it was working with leading mobile operators to monitor voice and text messages on mobile phones - and potentially catch offenders.

Many in Mathare Chief Camp, huddled in tents with wool blankets, said they have been too afraid to pass on any of the SMS messages."

[via AFP]

Russian presidential election results to be available through SMS

The information on the ballot and presidential election results in Russia will be available through SMS by sending request to number 5503, RBC reports via CNews.

"Beginning from 9 p.m. Moscow time March 2nd, preliminary information regarding the number of votes collected by each candidate will be available. One can receive such information sending request to number 5503, which is common for all operators’, - the press service of the RF Central Election Commission reports."

The Text President?

How text messaging may push the Obama campaign over the top. From ABC news.

"The Illinois senator's campaign has been making use of a range of technologies -- from ringtones to SMS -- to inspire Obama-mania. And it's working. Obama's recent parade of victories in the primaries has given him a slight lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"They've been using [texting] to get out the vote, which is incredibly smart because it gives people a way to take immediate political action," says Julie Germany, director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet. "It's just what mobile technology is suited for."

The Illinois senator is not the only candidate whose campaign is using online technology and mobile phones, but his has been one of the most effective in its embrace of new tech strategies.

On Tuesday, for example, Obama supporters who signed up with the candidate received a text message reminding them to vote. The text message included a phone number to help them find their polling station, a key feature that helped get out the vote.

[via Fierce Mobile Content]

Obama Asks Radio Listeners To Send Text Messages

Barack Obama is reaching out to potential voters in the same demographic with a different message: "Text HOPE." The Wall Street Journal reports.

... "The Obama campaign is using the new medium of text message as way to establish more conventional contact with would-be voters. After texting "HOPE" to the campaign, respondents receive a follow-up message seeking their ZIP Code, which is then used to send local information to potential voters.

In Idaho, those responding to the text-message radio ads are invited to twice-weekly training sessions held at a field office in Boise. There, potential voters are put through the rigors of a mock caucus -- but are not prodded to support anyone in particular.

The strategy, at bottom, is to increase the number of people who turn up to vote. "We think a larger turnout helps us," says Mr. Vietor, the Obama spokesman.

Will text messages work as a means to turn out young voters? A study by researchers at the University of Michigan and Princeton University, using data from the 2006 election, found that text messages to newly registered voters increased the likelihood of voting by 4.2 percentage points."

Sri Lanka blocks SMS on independence day

Sri Lanka's telecom networks Monday blocked text messaging on mobile phones as part of security measures for the island's independence day celebrations, the phone operators said.

"The main mobile service provider Dialog, in a message to its subscribers, said SMS (short message services) would not be available for 12 hours, the duration of independence day festivities.

Officials said Sri Lanka's telecom regulator had ordered the suspension of SMS messages, fearing Tamil Tiger rebels could use them to scare people into staying away from celebrations."

[via the AFP]

‘George Bush Lie Detector’ for cell phones

I only picked up on this this morning - via SMS Text News so it's too late to try it out, but it was an innovative idea - funded by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

During last night's State of the Union adress, you could have turned your cell phone into a Bush Lie Detector by signing up for live fact checks.

By texting "facts" to shortdoce 30644, whenever the President told a lie during the State of the Union, you could have receiveed a text with the truth.

In their own words:

"In his final State of the Union address, he will lie and deny, wrap himself in the heroism of better, braver men and women who wear the uniform, and try to tell us the economy is strong and the occupation is a success.

While we focus on a better future, we can't let him rewrite history."

Mobile phones and the Albanian Youth Movement

The FT on how mobile phones help keep an Albanian youth movement in the picture.

Quoting Erion Veliaj, one of the young activists behind Mjaft!, an Albanian youth movement whose name translates as “Enough!”:

Veliaj believes technology is a powerful tool in prompting political, social and environmental change. “It changed our world here in Albania,” he says. “Increased internet access, mobile connectivity, speedy information and ways to network via technology have contributed to getting a rather apathetic public in 2003 into a vibrant community of genuine interest groups fighting around a cause, making their stories heard, and inviting others to join in.”

Text Messaging Young Supporters Is Effective

A study released recently showed that young people are 4.2 percent more likely to vote if they receive a text message reminding them to show up to the polls.

The study was conducted as part of the nonprofit The Student PIRGs' New Voters Project to demonstrate the effectiveness of using text messages to mobilize young voters. Study partners include wireless phone company Working Assets and researchers from the University of Michigan and Princeton University.

[via TheNonProfitTimes]

Philippine SMS Tax Scrapped

A texters SMS revolt led by Consumer group TXTPower has forced the Philippine government to abandon plans to impose a tax on text messages, reports 160characters.org. As oil prices have risen steeply recently, the SMS tax proposal came as the government looks for alternative candidates to tax.

The Philippines has been considering Taxing text messages as of 2004 (related links).

TEDsters build site to track Kenyan violence

Five people who met at TEDGlobal Africa have joined to build Ushahidi.com, a website that gives Kenyans a way to report incidents of violence in this post-election crisis -- over the web or by SMS. The idea was inspired by blogger Ory Okolloh, who wrote:

For the reconciliation process to occur at the local level, the truth of what happened will first have to come out.

The site offers a map-based way to see where violence is taking place, and collects eyewitness accounts and photographs -- important during this crisis, and crucial in the aftermath.

[via TEDBlog]

Philippines Minister Proposes a Tax on SMS Messages

The Philippines Trade Secretary, Peter Favila has proposed adding a tax on SMS text messages to help offset income losses from proposals to end the 12% sales tax on oil products, reports Cellular News.

"However, from the tone of the interview, it seems that part of the motivation is less fiscal and more about his "moral" views on the country's considerable SMS culture."

Favila told GMANews in an interview that imposing a tax on short messaging system (SMS) could make Filipinos shift their focus on endeavors that are more productive. "Texting is also a source of negative reason...(and) it makes people more cynical," he said in an ambush interview shortly after the weekly press conference of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

The Philippines has been considering Taxing text messages as of 2004 (related links).

Kenya Tests New Style of Politicking

With Kenya's presidential election drawing near, campaigns here are for the first time making widespread use of opinion polls, text messaging, teleprompters, spin doctors, $15,000-a-plate fundraisers and even high-powered foreign political consultants.

"Let's reason together," the ad read, beneath a homely photo of Kibaki in a plaid shirt, reading a book to two children. "SMS me your views -- my number is 2345."

While massive rallies remain the staple of electoral politics here, the new style of campaigning is being driven by such factors as the proliferation of cellphones and Internet connections and the flow of information from abroad.

Full article in The Washington Post.

Text Message Revolution didn't happen

When several Filipino military officers last month attempted to overthrow the government by taking over a hotel in Manila's business district, Marguerite Reardon of ZDNet expected to witness firsthand the power of the Philippines' famed text-messaging brigades.

But she was wrong. No one showed up.

What happened? Had no one gotten the text messages? Were the two biggest telecom providers, Smart Communications and Globe, experiencing an SMS outage? Had the government blocked the messages from being delivered?

None of the above. The people leading the coup last month seemed to have made a big mistake: they did it during working hours. People were too busy and couldn't face the notorious Manila Traffic". In French we call this "un coup raté".

To Politicians: u get more votes with txt

The AFP outlines how the US presidential candidates are harnessing the power of text messaging to rally young voters and how it's been done in other countries.

Much of the above has been covered in this blog before over the years (under the category SMS and Politics), but what caught my attention:

-- Obama appeared to have an early edge in using mobile technology, with a snappier code -- 62262 spells Obama, for example -- and with mobile content and "wallpaper" for phones.

-- So far Republican candidates have yet to use mobile messaging, but some activist groups, including environmentalists and organizations on both sides of the abortion debate, have used SMS to help get out the vote.

-- Mobile phone users can text for updates to Obama (62262), Clinton (77007) or Edwards (30644).

Teen charged over Cronulla riot text message

A Sydney teenager has been charged with sending a text message allegedly inciting others to take part in a riot at Cronulla. abc.com.au reports.

"Police say say the SMS encouraged the two to meet at the beach on an undisclosed day and join in violence.

The boy was arrested on Wednesday after extensive investigations by Sutherland and Miranda police.

The teenager been charged with inciting to crimes."

Warning. Don’t spread rumours via SMS,

In Malaysia, those spreading rumours via SMS on racial clashes can be detained under the Internal Security Act.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, who issued the warning, said police were aware of unscrupulous persons spreading rumours via SMS to incite racial clashes.

He said there were such messages being circulated predicting racial clashes in Kampung Baru. "

[via The Malaysia Star]