Cuba's Digital Revolution

The triumph of the Cuban Revolution gave the Communist Party a monopoly over both politics and the mass media. However with the subsequent global proliferation of new information and communication technologies Cuban citizens have become active participants in the worldwide digital revolution. While the Cuban internet has long been characterized by censorship high costs slow speeds and limited access this volume argues that since 2013 technological developments have allowed for a fundamental reconfiguration of the cultural economic social and political spheres of the Revolutionary project.The essays in this volume cover various transformations within this new digital revolution examining both government-enabled paid public web access as well as creative workarounds that Cubans have designed to independently produce distribute and access digital content. Contributors trace how media ventures entrepreneurship online marketing journalism and cultural e-zines have been developing on the island alongside global technological and geopolitical changes.As Cuba continues to expand internet access and as citizens challenge state policies on the speed breadth and freedom of that access Cuba''s Digital Revolution provides a fascinating example of the impact of technology in authoritarian states and transitional democracies. While the streets of Cuba may still belong to Castro''s Revolution this volume argues it is still unclear to whom Cuban cyberspace belongs.