UK to deploy 'up to 50' soldiers to battle IS in Libya: Report

middleeasteye.net, UK to deploy 'up to 50' soldiers to battle IS in Libya: Report, 16 May 2016 "The Mail also reported that Britain’s Royal Air Force has carried out “electronic warfare” against IS by jamming communications signals in the group’s Libyan stronghold of Sirte."

Islamic State in Libya: The power of propaganda

middleeasteye.net, Islamic State in Libya: The power of propaganda, 10 Jan 2016 "In Tripoli, the Special Deterrence Force has started to dismantle IS sleeper cells, making a number of arrests. In a recently released hour-long video about IS activity in the capital, seven men captured by the force confessed to being IS members and gave details about their operations in Tripoli during 2015, including attacks on a five-star hotel and diplomatic missions. One of the IS militants said these attacks were designed to gain media attention and further isolate Libya from the outside world".

G-A-B

NY Times, Now Able to Exhale, Libyan Rappers Find a Voice, 10 Jan 2012 only just picked this one up via last weekend's Observer NYT supplement. "A small crowd of boys huddled around the open door of a concrete shed turned recording studio to gawk at a trio of Libyan rappers in black baseball caps and oversize hoodies mixing tracks on a wide computer screen."
   

'The Life Cycle of a Refugee Camp Along the Tunisia-Libya Border'

Emily Parker, tunisia-live.net, The Life Cycle of a Refugee Camp Along the Tunisia-Libya Border, 5 Oct 2011 "Satellite dishes adorn dozens of tents, and one refugee that we encountered was checking his Facebook page using an “Internet Everywhere” USB key— apparently “everywhere” extends to refugee camps in the middle of the desert. "As we wandered among the rows of tents, melodies of Lady Gaga blasted from some and mixed with regional music booming from others."

Libya: 'Internet spy room'

Two pieces relating to Libya, which I have caught up on today:

Paul Sonne and Margaret Coker, Wall Street Journal, Firms Aided Libyan Spies: First Look Inside Security Unit Shows How Citizens Were Tracked, 30 Aug 2011 "The recently abandoned room is lined with posters and English-language training manuals stamped with the name Amesys, a unit of French technology firm Bull SA, which installed the monitoring center. A warning by the door bears the Amesys logo. The sign reads: "Help keep our classified business secret. Don't discuss classified information out of the HQ.""

There's also this: Peter Murray, Singularity Hub, Internet Spy Room Found In Tripoli – Packed With Western Technology, 12 Sep 2011 which contains some further links and comments.

op-ed: Political Repression 2.0

Evgeny Morozov, NYT, Political Repression 2.0, 8 Sep 2011 "Agents of the East German Stasi could only have dreamed of the sophisticated electronic equipment that powered Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s extensive spying apparatus, which the Libyan transitional government uncovered earlier this week. The monitoring of text messages, e-mails and online chats — no communications seemed beyond the reach of the eccentric colonel."

Libya net connection

BBC News, Libya starts to reconnect to internet, 22 Aug 2011 "Libya's internet connections appear to be slowly coming back online after a six-month blackout.

"The state-run internet service provider (ISP) carried a message on its website that said: "Libya, one tribe"."

Libya News Feeds

Select news feeds:

AlJazeera, Libya Live Blog

CNN Live Blog

alarabiya.net, Libya news

France24 Libya News

BBC News, Battle for Tripoli

LibyanYouthMovement [Twitter] and Libyan Youth Movement Facebook

Libyan Satellite TV Website Hacked

Mathaba, Libyan Satellite TV Website Hacked, 18 Jun 2011 "It is a common and frequent occurrence for Libyan government web sites to be defaced, taken over, hacked, or shut down since the war on Libya began over 3 months ago, making a mockery of western allied NATO countries claims to freedom of information." Opinion piece.

Social media influences documentary-makers

Meg Carter, Guardian, Social media influences documentary-makers, 6 Jun 2011

"With built-in video cameras now the norm for mobile phones, anyone can be a film-maker – a fact proven by the role social content played in TV news coverage of the recent uprisings in the Middle East. As the dust settles, however, social media is influencing documentary-makers, too."

Not sure the dust has settled yet, but it's an interesting article. Reference is made to #18DaysInEgypt and One Day on Earth.

Mohammed Nabbous

Guardian, Libyan net TV reporter shot dead, 19 Mar 2011 "Mohammed Nabbous, founder of the internet TV channel Libya AlHurra TV, was killed today in Benghazi while reporting on attacks by Colonel Gaddafi's forces."

Libya: propaganda issues

Derek Henry Flood, Asia Times Online, Rebels outgunned, overstretched, 12 Mar 2011

"Seeing the success of the rebels' highly effective marketing campaign with its slick stickers, billboards and retro flags from the pre-1969 rule of the Islamic Senussi movement, Gaddafi has his counter-narrative in full swing with multiple state television channels alternately showing kooky press conferences, fighters denouncing the rebels, and a ticker on television, conveniently in English and Italian, predicting an imminent scandal about to topple the government of French President Nicholas Sarkozy, who has recognized the rebel governing council in Benghazi."

"Libyan civil war sees Internet decline"

IT News Africa, Libyan civil war sees Internet decline, 11 Mar 2011 "As civil war appears to engulf Libya, access to the Internet by the country’s citizens continues to be problematic and nearly non-existent, analysts and observers have noted."

Libya update

تأهب بمصراتة وقصف للزاوية ولانوف aljazeera.net

Twitter #Libya

Including the following tweet:

Ibn Tarabulus, "Gaddafi wants to thank the international media & community for staying silent while he destroyed the city of Zawiyah #Libya #Gaddafi"

CNN, Defiant Gadhafi calls for countrymen to defend Libya, 9 Mar 2011

alarabiya.net, Libya govt forces pound revolutionaries east & west, 9 Mar 2011

and especially

Alex Crawford, Sky News, Special Report: Rebel-Held Town Under Siege, 9 Mar 2011

'What Libya Learned from Egypt'

James Cowie, renesys.com, What Libya Learned from Egypt, 5 Mar 2011 "Libya's nationwide Internet blackout is entering its second full day. From a technical standpoint, it's clear that this is a very different strategy than the one used by Egypt in the last days of the Mubarak regime. The ultimate outcome is probably going to be the same. Let's take a few minutes to compare the two, and think about the implications for future Internet engagements in the Jasmine Revolution."

Google Transparency, Libya

Google Transparency, Google Search (Unencrypted), Libya Traffic Divided by Worldwide Traffic and Normalized, 6 Mar 2011

Libya net cuts

The Register, Libya's internet goes dark as upheaval spreads, 4 Mar 2011 "According to figures supplied by Google's Transparency Report, traffic flowing between Libyan computers and YouTube began a precipitous drop starting at 5 am GMT on Thursday. Four hours later, traffic vanished altogether and had yet to recover at time of writing. Libyan traffic to GMail, Blogger, and other services showed a similar pattern."

also see Jonathan Terry, itnewsafrica.com Libya’s Internet still blocked, 7 Mar 2011 "Libya’s Internet, which had been returning to normal late last week, has once again been almost entirely shut down by the government, as violence continues across the North African country, a Google Transparency Report said over the weekend. As of Monday morning, there was only intermittent access and most Libyans could not log on to the Internet."

'In Search Of The Internet Kill Switch'

Jon Orlin, Techcrunch, In Search Of The Internet Kill Switch, 7 Mar 2011 "The complete internet shutdown this week in Libya involved a new way to turn off web access for an entire country. Earlier this year, the total internet blockade in Egypt backfired and emboldened the protesters. China is well known for blocking internet services, but it’s not just China. Of course, having the government turn off the internet could never happen in the United States. We couldn’t condemn the action in other countries while at the same time plan it here. No one would even suggest such a thing, right?

"Wrong."

Much of Libya Outside of Government Control

VOANews, Much of Libya Outside of Government Control, 27 Feb 2011: "A large crowd of mostly young protesters chanted 'Libya is free, Libya is free, Gadhafi get lost,' in the Western town of Misrata on a video posted on Facebook.  Misrata was the scene of bloody clashes several days ago between forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and residents of the city."

Libya update

aljazeera.net, Gaddafi loses more Libyan cities, 23 Feb 2011 "Protesters in Misurata said on Wednesday they had wrested the western city from government control. In a statement on the internet, army officers stationed in the city pledged "total support for the protesters"."