Stories about Citizen Media from June, 2020
Police killings spark protests in Trinidad's capital
Following the killing of three men by police on June 27, residents of communities in Trinidad on blocked roads, burned debris and processed through the streets chanting "Don't shoot!"
Mexican feminists and workers’ rights defenders faced wave of arrests in June
Various threats, arrests, and detentions happened in under 15 days.
In Brazil, COVID-19 death rate for black community is higher than for other populations
A study by Agência Pública shows that deaths and hospitalizations among black people with COVID-19 rose at a faster rate than among white people in Brazil.
Students arrested for demanding internet facilities in Balochistan
A number of students were manhandled, baton-charged and arrested in Quetta, Balochistan, for protesting against non-availability of internet after their classes shifted online due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Protest art in the streets of Tripoli: An interview with Lebanese artist Batool Jacob
Batool Jacob paints on topics related to the Lebanese protests through a feminist and libertarian lens.
June 2020, a month of #BLM in Japan
Black Lives Matter rallies and marches were held in cities across Japan throughout June, part of a global display of solidarity with demonstrators in the United States and other countries.
Taking down statues: France confronts its colonial and slave trade past
Amid global action against racism, France has been divided for several weeks over what to do about statues of historical figures that are connected to slavery and colonialism.
Kyrgyzstan's journalists fear yet another hurdle to freedom of speech
Kyrgyzstan's parliament has passed a law against "manipulating information." Given their recent experiences, it's no surprise that the country's journalists worry what it might mean for freedom of speech.
Thailand's ‘youthquake': Activism in the time of COVID-19
Pro-democracy flash mob protests rocked Thailand in January and February. COVID-19 has shifted acts of resistance to cyberspace.
WHO urges Pakistan to reimpose lockdown after surge in cases
Pakistan has implemented new lockdown restrictions after a letter from the WHO urged the country to improve testing and control outbreak numbers.
Sri Lanka prepares for twice-delayed poll amid militarized COVID-19 response
"The government will not hesitate to arrest opposition activists and voters for violating this or that anti-virus rule while giving a free pass to its own supporters."
The Kano COVID-19 deaths: Forced relocations and disinformation creates widespread confusion (Part II)
Forced relocations of children contributed to the possible spread of COVID-19 and online disinformation along ethnoreligious lines added to the general confusion surrounding mass deaths in Kano State, Nigeria.
The Kano COVID-19 deaths: Stories untold (Part I)
Our research reconstructed the failure of authorities to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Kano, which resulted in hundreds of deaths despite persistent mass media and social media documentation.
No medicine, no healing: Sudan’s pharmaceutical crisis
Since 2016, medicine prices in Sudan have risen exponentially. To make matters worse, the government’s central bank lacks the foreign currency necessary to import essential drugs from abroad.
A new game plays with ideas about how disinformation works in East Africa
"Chose Your Own Fake News" is an online game that teaches new internet users how to be more discerning about the information they receive and encounter in digital spaces.
COVID-19 is rapidly exhausting Bangladesh healthcare system amidst alarming rise of infected people
As Bangladesh tries to figure out which lockdown measure is the answer, public healthcare systems are failing largely, resulting in no signs of the COVID-19 contraction curve plateauing.
French police arrest Félicien Kabuga, alleged financier of genocide in Rwanda
After 26 years on the run, Rwanda genocide suspect Félicien Kabuga was arrested in a Parisian suburb on May 16 and transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on June 3.
Afghan migrants continue to die in the hands of Iranian authorities
While millions of Afghans have found refuge in neighboring Iran, some of them also die in the hands of Iranian authorities as they cross the country to reach Europe.
Post-crisis hackathon: Ecuadorian NGOs crowdsource for a world after COVID-19
More than 550 people registered for a hackathon to find solutions for Ecuador's post-COVID-19 future.
Amid Black Lives Matter protests, fresh calls to remove statuary that hijacks the Caribbean's historical narrative
BLM protests have inspired the denigration and defacement of symbols of black oppression. The Caribbean, with its long history of occupation, has its own symbols of oppression to reconsider.
Information warfare: COVID-19’s other battleground in the Middle East
As leaders vie to frame narratives and control public opinion on COVID-19, social media is a battlefield where influencers, trolls, bots, and commenter armies fight for influence and power.
