Stories about Citizen Media from October, 2020
Internet throttling, SMS blocking in days leading up to election in Tanzania
With just 24 hours before election day, internet users in Tanzania and Zanzibar, have reported widespread limited access to internet services including social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter.
How Facebook derailed Nigeria’s #EndSARS movement
Online free speech advocates insist that Facebook’s flagging of #EndSARS content was neither a “mistake” nor a “bug,” but rather due to sparse investment in content moderation.
President Buhari’s contempt for Nigerian youth-led #EndSARS movement
President Buhari emphasized state power over the human rights demands of citizens. “As far as Buhari was concerned, the youths who were killed at Lekki did not count for anything.”
Pakistan lifts ban on TikTok with conditions
Pakistani social media users strongly reacted to the ban on TikTok and criticized the telecom regulator.
Dancehall star Buju Banton’s rejection of mask-wearing stymies Jamaican government’s efforts to stem ‘COVID-19 fatigue’
"Please do not listen to Buju Banton [...] in this case, he is 110% wrong. Wear your mask, wash your hands and socially distance."
In Haiti, homophobic movements use anti-colonial rhetoric against LGBTQI+ communities
Attempts to increase visibility of the LGBTQI+ community in Haiti are being stifled
Nigerian military opens fire on peaceful protesters in Lagos
Nigerian security officials opened fire on protesters in Lekki, Lagos, reportedly killing at least three people. Civil society groups say the government has "declared a war on the people."
#EndSARS protest movement at a crossroads as government evades the issue
The Nigerian government has shown zero commitment to protesters’ demands for police reform but wallows in self-deluding verbal platitudes that are as ineffectual as they are dishonest.
Ending police brutality in Nigeria: A festival of lights to honor the dead
Protesters from the #EndSARS movement agreed to hold a festival of lights on Friday night in honor of heroes who lost their lives due to police brutality.
Devastating fires rage in Argentina as economic interests become key suspect
"The country burns because of agribusiness and real estate speculation. Where there was fire, today there are soybeans and machines ready for construction."
‘A Fearless Song': Guatemalan women protest violence against women through music
"We sing without fear, we ask for justice; we shout for every disappeared woman"
New book tells stories of suffering and resistance from Iran’s female prisons
In "White Torture," Narges Mohammadi interviews 12 female political prisoners—and shares her own experiences in an Iranian jail, where she spent eight and a half years.
The struggle to end Nigeria's brutal SARS police unit continues
The question of control over SARS has not been adequately answered. The constitution vested control of the police to the presidency under the police chief. But that chain-of-command has broken.
Caribbean alphabet series provides lots of laughs on TikTok
Laughter has become a critical coping mechanism in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but in an era of social media "influencers," can anyone lay claim to originality?
‘Lazy’ Nigerian youth mobilize #EndSARS protest from social media to the streets
Described as ‘lazy’ by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, with a significant number unemployed, stereotyped as ‘unserious’, these digitally savvy youth have proved critics wrong.
A Kashmiri medical student paints on leaves to beat COVID-19 stress
Tabish Aijaz, a young medical student from Anantnag district in Kashmir, is using her natural ability to paint to beat the stress caused by exams and the COVID 19 pandemic.
The Mexican indigenous artists who are defying labels and stereotypes
"For us, the International Day of Indigenous Peoples is not a celebration of labels, customs or exoticisms, it is a day that must acknowledge the systematic attempt to erase us."
Facebook denies accusations of fuelling hate speech and pro-BJP bias in India
On September 16, Facebook India’s chief issued a statement denying accusations that the social media giant is making profits by giving a platform to hate speech in India.
Trinidad & Tobago loses a fount of cultural knowledge with the passing of comedian Dennis ‘Sprangalang’ Hall
"He was our identity, he was a creole griot. A historical raconteur who spoke the nation language in a way that was universal. A comedian who made us think."
Child activist Licypriya Kangujam leads India's movement against climate change
A young girl hailing from Manipur, India, is making a bid to save planet Earth by spreading awareness and calling for collective accountability.
Policing the digital frontiers: Is India weaponizing technology to silence civil society?
In the world's largest democracy, the targeting of human rights defenders through spyware poses a threat to fundamental rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression and privacy.
