· February, 2013

Below are posts about citizen media in English. Don't miss Global Voices, where Global Voices posts are translated into English! Read about our Lingua project to learn more about how Global Voices content is being translated into other languages.

Stories about English from February, 2013

Christian Protests Target Puerto Rico's Rising LGBTQ Rights

  28 February 2013

In the past few weeks various key events have occurred with respect to LGBTQ rights, the most prominent of which may be a demonstration organized by conservative Christian groups called "Puerto Rico Rises Up" to protest against proposed amendments that would extend legal protection to same sex couples in cases of domestic violence.

Russia's Feds Now Using Bloggers to Investigate Bloggers

RuNet Echo  28 February 2013

Last week, blogger and corruption fighter Alexey Navalny was on top of the world, after he published information that led to the eventual resignation of a Duma deputy. The Russian Internet, however, is a fickle mistress. Today, Navalny is himself the victim of bloggers, thanks to the Federal Investigative Committee.

Latin America Turns to iPhone App to Take Hammerhead Sharks Off the Chopping Block

  28 February 2013

Countries across Latin America are on a mission to get hammerheads onto the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) list for protection. They’re armed with a new iPhone app that promises to make fin identification quick and easy. Listing the sharks would help fund financially strapped programs in Latin America and restrict global trade.

Squatters Call Venezuela's Highrises Home

  28 February 2013

In Margarita Island, there’s Corocoro, an unfinished apartment block which was under the control of FOGADE (the State’s entity in charge of taking over assets from failed banks) until June 2009 when it was invaded. Right now, there are a thousand people living there. In Caracas Chronicles, Gustavo Hernandez Acevedo...

Misogyny Still a Problem in Bangladesh

  28 February 2013

Dibarah shares her experience of being back home in Bangladesh after studying abroad for 3 years. She criticizes the prevailing misogyny and public sexual harassment that women have to face everyday. Rather than being pessimistic, she decides to try to improve the situation “by staying defiant of misogyny.”

What India Can Learn From #Shahbag

  27 February 2013

Sandip Roy writes why India should be paying attention to its neighbors #Shahbag uprising as there is a conversation happening there which matters to everyone in South Asia.

Turkish Women Speak Up: My Body, My Decision

  27 February 2013

Turkish women protested, and protected their rights by saying 'my body, my decision.' But it seems like they still have a long way to go and fight until it is 100% their decision what to do on their body or their life. Baran Mavzer tells us why Turkish women, though in a better position than many across the Muslim world, have a long struggle ahead of them to obtain and maintain their legal and human rights.

Pakistan's Darkest Night On Social Media

  27 February 2013

A massive power breakdown rocked Pakistan at 11:45 pm on Sunday, 24 February 2013, plunging 70 percent of the country into darkness for 14 hours. People turned to humor on social media to make life easy during the blackout.

Ghana: Vote for African Women's Development Fund Blog

  27 February 2013

Vote for African Women's Development Fund blog which has been nominated in the first ever Blogging Ghana awards: “I’m really pleased that AWDF’s blog has been nominated in the category of ‘best organisational blog’. Many thanks to all of the AWDF staff that have contributed to this blog. I plan...

Monitoring Dangerous Speech in Kenya

  27 February 2013

Umati is a project that seeks to monitor and report the role of new media on an election: “Our Kenya-based project has citizens at its core and uses relevant technologies to collect,organize, analyze, and disseminate the information collected.”

The Land Problem in Kenya

  27 February 2013

Chrenyan discusses the land problem, which has become an election issue in Kenya: “It is a historical injustice for the Kenyatta family to own (it is said) half a million acres of land, all over this country (including thousands of acres in Coast Province). The defence that this land was...

First Crowdsourced News Site in Myanmar

  27 February 2013

A group of young programmers in Myanmar launched the country's first ever crowdsourced news site called “Buzz in Myanmar“. With the slogan “News for people, by people”, netizens are allowed and encouraged to submit neighborhood and other local news.

Being Fat, Talking Fat in South Korea

  26 February 2013

Many reports have been made about South Koreans’ obsessions with body image, some with shallow understanding of Korean culture. Youtube user durkeeinkorea in this video shares his experience in Korea where people are very ‘open about talking others weight’ and ‘calling someone fat’ in public happens frequently, with no harms intended. 

Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood or the CIA?

  26 February 2013

The Muslim Brotherhood will soon confuse the world, if it decides to go ahead with a name change. Egyptian Bassem Sabry explains: @Bassem_Sabry: My friend @HaniSabra has just noticed the new name being considered by the MB, “The Comprehensive Islamic Authority,” has the acronym “CIA.”

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