Absurdity, Allegory and China

Mark this one on your calendar: Authority, Meet Technology, “…a Slate/New America Foundation event about China, Google, and Internet freedom.”

How will the China-Google skirmish shake out? What lessons or cautionary tales does China’s experience offer repressive governments and their tech-savvy opponents in places like Iran and Cuba? What, if anything, should the Obama administration do to keep the Web free, worldwide? On Thursday, Jan. 21, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to outline the administration’s plans in a major address on Internet freedom.

On the eve of Clinton’s speech, Open Society Institute fellow Rebecca MacKinnon, Foreign Policy contributing editor Evgeny Morozov, Columbia Law School professor and Slate contributor Tim Wu, and Clinton’s senior adviser for innovation, Alec Ross, will discuss the issues. Atlantic Monthly correspondent and New America board member James Fallows will moderate.

In China this will be streamed at 10:30 PM tonight (Wednesday) here. Should be a lively discussion. I am hoping that the connection speed here in Tianjin will be enough to tune in live, though I am not hopeful.

I also hope that someone will address the possibility of a confrontational U.S. pavilion at the upcoming Shanghai World Expo.