The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression and Media Censorship

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Author

  • Steven Gan, James Gomez, Uwe Johannen
Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression and Media Censorship aims to record political activism on the Internet and "take stock of some of the successes and failures of cyberactivists as they try to beat the various censorship regimes in Asia."

The sections of this 664-page book comprise of 'Political Frameworks & New Technology', 'Regulations and Control', 'One Party States', 'Alternative Media', 'Civil Society', 'Diaspora Communities', and 'Political Parties'.The book's 18 chapters provide an overview of current trends in democracy related new media research to country-specific case studies.

"The common thread running through the book is the organizing of civil society groups at the grassroots level, and how they are influencing certain segments of their respective countries, and even challenging state control and the monopoly of mainstream media."

Asian Cyberactivism strives to examine political organising online in Asia even as the technology and the rules change. Activists provide their perspectives on how new media relates to democracy, and showcase examples that could be emulated to further the cause of democracy.

"Expressions of free speech have blossomed with the advent of new communications technologies like the Internet, but with the Internet itself becoming a target for censorship, regulation and control, it remains to be seen if cyberactivists in Asia will be able to overcome or bypass them."

Click here to order the book online.

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Number of Pages
664