1The last decade, like the previous ones, was marked by significant media coverage of many conflicts and crises around the world. Apart from the eternal Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the attacks of 11 September 2001, the wars in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq and Sudan, the situation in Colombia, the Arab Spring, terrorist attacks in Lebanon, Mali, Nigeria or Tunisia, and recently in Belgium, France, Great Britain and Iran, featured prominently in international news. The new interventionist policy in some states, under the aegis of the UN (Ivory Coast, Libya, Syria) has also been interpreted in several ways.

2These episodes show us that the most modern information and digital technologies have been unable to prevent or to mitigate terror, or even to report it in an objective way. Thus, by focusing on the contribution of digital technologies to the dissemination of information in times of crisis and conflict in the world, this special issue of Communication Technology and Development aims to deepen, among others, themes such as media coverage of conflicts and crises in the digital age, cyberactivism and social movements, and the impact of information and communication technologies in times of crisis.

3Frederico Vieira and Angelina Cristina Salgueiros Marques wrote an article entitled Hate speech on the Internet : Between the Violence of Biopolitical Framing and the Ethical Language of the Face. The main objective of this article is a brief communication analysis of the violent tensions created by the hate speech addressed to the Brazilian’s "Nordestinos" on the Tumblr website on the occasion of President Dilma Roussef ´s re-election , in 2014. In the article Information in Times of Conflict or Crisis : From Mass Media to Social Media, Jean-Jacques Bogui and Christian Agbobli are interested in the influence of the use of digital social media on the flow of information in times of conflicts or crisis and the consequences of this new situation on the behavior of Political and public authorities.

4In an another article entitled The cover of the “Brussels Lockdown” and the Brussels attacks by Belgian French-speaking news websites : a “Web” First” device, Quentin Jardon, Sandrine Powerful Baeyens and Lara Van Dievoet are looking at the role of this medium in the the Lockdown and the attacks in Brussels by the traditional French-speaking Belgian editorial offices on the organizational level and on the production of content. The article are based on semi-directive interviews of nine web editors. Kondi Napo Sonhaye wrote the article entitled Evaluation of the use of VSAT in electoral processes in Togo (2010 &2015) and in some African countries : Burkina Faso (2012) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (2011). He presents the results of an evaluative study of the VSAT system used during the Elections in Burkina Faso, Togo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the transmission of and rapid "transport" of data and information. The implementation of this digital device aims to limit fraud and ensure transparency in order to avoid post-electoral periods so frequent in these African countries. Mohamed Anouar Lahouij in an article entitled Tunisian Reputation and Tourism Image in the Face of Terrorist Propaganda studies the impact ff the terrorist propaganda of Daech on the Tunisian tourist industry which is in crisis.

5In the article The Use of Technologies by Youth in Times of Crisis : The Case of the Conflict in Mango, Namoin Yao is interested in how people have interacted with digital tools (Internet and mobile telephony) during a social conflict that took place in 2015 in the Mango, Togo. It is particularly concerned with the purposes and impact of these uses in the resolution of this crisis. João José Azevedo Curvello and Tatiana Rodrigues Mateus in their article entitled Communication, Connectivity and Dissent in Social Movements : An Analysis of "Los Indignados" aim to reflect on the dynamics of communication in a context of dissemination, especially during the Spanish demonstrations of 2011. Digital Creativity In Conflict Situation : The Venezuelan Case is the title of the article drafted by Franck Debos and Maria Daniella Lancini. In this article, the authors are interested in the creativity of the Venezuelan opponents by using digital social networks during the violent conflict between the President Maduro since his contested election. In the article Media Technologies in the Treatment of The Grand Bassam Crises In Côte d’Ivoire, Jules Évariste Agnigni Toa analyzes the impact of digital technologies in the media treatment of the terrorist attack orchestrated by the jihadists of the AQIM on 13 March 2016 in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast. Finally, Jean-Marie Stratigos closes this file with an article entitled A Battle Over Numbers, a Battle Over Words ; Tensions Around the Construction of a Crisis. The purpose of this article is to highlight tensions and competitions that existed during the hurricane season in Madagascar between different members of the humanitarian configuration and the importance of information technology and communication technology in this competition. The collection, management, formatting and dissemination of these tensions and competitions. are presented by the author.

6In the doctoral researches section Bader Ben Mansour offers us a contribution : The Role of ICTs in the Tunisian and Egyptian Protest Movements : a Literature Review. He is interested in the role of social media during popular uprisings Tunisia and Egypt through an analysis of various works carried out on the subject. In the article Diversity of Information Sources and Decision-Making in Time of Crisis, Fleur Nadine N’djock aims to show that the stakes of the communication of information in time is mostly related to the issues of the decision-making process. Finally, the study by Cheolki Yoon entitled The Internalization of International Conflicts at the National Level : The case of InterKorean Conflicts and Related Issues around the Online Space. The author analyzes the internalization of the conflict, between the two Koreas, through the use of the Web.

7In a section off dossier Ndiaga Loum proposes an heuristic reflection on epistemological issues around international communication entitled Epistemological Questions about an "interdiscipline" International Communication in the Global Universe of Social Sciences. In the penultimate section of this issue Farah Bérubé and Caterine Bourassa propose a Presentation of GERACII - Research Group on International and Intercultural Communication, a research group of the University of Québec at Montréal.

8Finally, in the reading section that closes this issue, Marianne Théberge-Guyon proposes an analysis of media literacy in the digital age : Media Education in the Digital Age : Between foundation and Renewal Les Presses of the University of Montréal, ,2016, by Normand Landry and Anne-Sophie Letellier Dir.