A congressional debate over how best to promote Internet freedom abroad is about to run into budget politics. A little-known provision in both Senate and House stopgap plans would strip the State Department of some of its funding for technology that breaks through Internet censors.

While the use of the Internet to reach out to people and communicate a brand’s message to the audience effectively is starting to gain traction and become the norm in India, the effective use of the digital medium by the government, which could create transparency and empower the citizenry, is not something which has seen large scale deployment in India yet.

In Tunisia, the self-immolation of street vendor Muhammad Bouazizi, protesting harassment by local authorities, led to demonstrations that toppled the regime. In Egypt, it was photos posted online of Khaled Said, who had been beaten to death by corrupt police officers. In both cases, Facebook pages drew attention to the cases, and Twitter posts helped organize protests.

Israel's Minister of Public Diplomacy, Yuli Edelstein, recorded a special message for YOU, Israel's Online Ambassadors. In this video, the Minister gives us a few tips of how to best represent Israel in our online activism.

As protests and unrest continue to destabilize the Middle East and North Africa, the effects of these popular revolutions have predictably affected Internet access in these countries. Below is a list of recent filtering measures implemented by governments who continue to face opposition from their citizens.

Teachers and learners of English can now access a new resource to help build vocabulary and improve language skills thanks to the British Council’s latest Facebook app. Pic-Your-Wits is an interactive English vocabulary game with pixelated pictures for learners to guess the words and beat the clock. It is available on Facebook today for free.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech on Internet freedom on February 15 has been criticized by the Chinese media as hypocritical. However, I think it should be seen as a wake-up call for Chinese policymakers to prepare a Web-based public diplomacy with the US.

The voanews.com website was back to normal when I checked. Using Google cache, I found the hacked version, work of the "Iranian Cyber Army," which apparently went after all VOA sites.