Foreign policy was once the bastion of the elites. In military, diplomatic and humanitarian affairs, nation-states and the small group of individuals and institutions that governed their actions used primarily kinetic and broadcast channels to influence the actions of others. Control was largely exerted through hierarchical structures, and collective action through industrial organizations. Digital technology has radically shifted this reality by flattening the operating environment in which global affairs is conducted.

The debate about diplomacy in the digital age has been recklessly profligate with terminology. Terms such as e-diplomacy, cyber diplomacy or digital diplomacy have been used almost interchangeably, with each author sticking to his/her favorite. This not only wastes three perfectly good terms where one could do (denying us the other two for other purposes). It also conceals considerable confusion about the relationship between diplomacy and the digital world.

Twitter’s #PositionOfStrength, a women’s empowerment initiative launched on Friday across India to help female Internet users bridge the gender equality gap online, using online platforms to expand their reach and influence. It was previously run in Australia and India, but this is the first time the campaign arrives in Asia.

Google’s new chief executive [...] Sundar Pichai makes his first trip as CEO to the European Union capital Thursday for the high-stakes visit with the competition commissioner who wields scepter-like power over the company’s future on the Continent.

In a setback for Facebook, Indian regulators have banned free mobile data programs that favor some Internet services over others. The regulations, issued Monday after months of intense public debate over how to extend the Internet to India’s poorest citizens, effectively block Facebook’s controversial Free Basics program in India. 

Representatives from major tech firms Google, Facebook and Twitter have denied their digital platforms are "instrumental" in spreading terrorist ideology across the internet and stressed a firm commitment to combating online crime. 

On February 2, the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will host the finalists for the “Peer to Peer [P2P]: Challenging Extremism” initiative. The initiative is an innovative partnership between the U.S. government and universities around the world. 

Within the quietly thriving gay scene in India’s entertainment and financial capital, one thing appears to be common. “Everybody from the gay community is using Grindr,” Inder Vhatwar, a Mumbai fashion entrepreneur, said of the dating app geared toward gay men.