New communication technologies are celebrated for their potential to improve the accountability of humanitarian agencies. The response to Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 represents the most systematic implementation of “accountability to affected people” initiatives. Drawing on a year‐long ethnography of the Haiyan recovery and 139 interviews with humanitarian workers and affected people, the article reveals a narrow interpretation of accountability as feedback that is increasingly captured through mobile phones. We observe that the digitized collection of feedback is not fed back to disaster‐affected communities, but is directed to donors as evidence of “impact.” Rather than improving accountability to affected people, digitized feedback mechanisms sustained humanitarianism's power asymmetries.

Indigenous peoples in the Philippines have rarely been covered by the mainstream media, despite comprising 20 percent of the country’s total population. Lacking access to the media due to various constraints, they have had limited opportunities to create content themselves. But the emergence of the Internet, particularly blogs, is now providing members of indigenous communities with the much-needed space for self-expression. More particularly, several indigenous groups in North Luzon, collectively known as Igorots, are using blogs more extensively to re-construct and re-present their ethnic identity in cyberspace. For this paper, I shall describe how a group of Igorot bloggers protested about a controversial Igorot statue and how this eventually led to its removal.

This paper examines how diasporic indigenous peoples from north Luzon in the Philippines explore their identification through Bibaknets, an electronic mailing group (e-group). Collectively known as Igorots, members are using e-groups to redefine and reconstruct discourses about indigenous identities within the context of their diasporic lives. The interactions of the members on Bibaknets illustrate how translocality is embodied and mediated. Indigenous peoples' identifications transcend places or spaces as these are in turn constructed by them. In investigating the online interactions of diasporic Igorots, I will illustrate how Bibaknets as a virtual community itself serves as a translocal site. It is a space inhabited by members who live and work outside the confines of their villages, regions or nations, and consequently reconfigure new relations that bring about material consequences in the localities where they live.

Purpose Studies which look at disaster affected people’s use of communications technologies often fail to take into account people’s communication rights in their analyses, particularly their right to freedom of expression. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to this issue by exploring the link between freedom of expression, community participation and disaster risk reduction in the use of digital feedback channels offered by aid and government agencies in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. Design/methodology/approach Ethnographic fieldwork was undertaken in the Philippines between 2014 and 2015 in Tacloban City and Sabay Island, both in the Visayas, which have been affected by Typhoon Haiyan. A total of 101 in-depth interviews were conducted with affected people, local and national officials, community leaders, civil society groups, telecommunications companies and humanitarian agencies. Findings The interviews reveal that majority of disaster-affected Filipinos chose not to engage with formal feedback platforms offered by government and aid agencies out of fear of giving critical feedback to those in authority. They were concerned about the possibility of losing their entitlement to aid, of being reprimanded by government officers, and of the threat to their lives and of their loved ones if they expressed criticism to the government’s recovery efforts. Nonetheless, 15 per cent used backchannels while 10 per cent availed of the formal means to express their views about the recovery. Research limitations/implications The paper sought to draw links between people’s lack of engagement with the formal feedback mechanisms offered by government and aid agencies in the wake of Haiyan and the restrictive sociopolitical environment in the Philippines. Further research could be undertaken to examine how freedom of expression plays a role in disaster prevention and mitigation. Research into this area could potentially provide concrete steps to help prevent the occurrence of disasters and mitigate their impacts. Originality/value Freedom of expression and its place in disaster risk reduction is rarely explored in disaster studies. The paper addresses this oversight by examining the lack of engagement by communities affected by Haiyan with digital feedback channels provided by aid agencies and government. The findings suggest that despite the provisions for community participation in DRR under the Philippine Disaster Law, people are prevented to express criticism and dissent which puts into question the spirit and purpose of the law.