· April, 2011

Stories about Digital Activism from April, 2011

Italy: Initiative in Support of Ai Weiwei

  30 April 2011

While the event itself initially seemed to have passed without comment [it] by traditional media and bloggers in Italy, something is finally happening [it] to call for the release of the Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei [it], who has been presumed imprisoned by the Chinese authorities since April 3. The Pulitzer Association has issued an appeal [it]...

Barbados: Barrow's Beach

  29 April 2011

Mullins Bay Blog wonders how one of the country's national heroes “would…have graded his heirs and successors, …who sat idly by and did nothing as the sand disappeared and coconut trees were unearthed and toppled at Kings Beach.”

Cuba: Ferrer Held

  28 April 2011

According to Uncommon Sense and Babalu, Dr. Darsi Ferrer and other activists were arrested today “during a protest in which they were calling for the Castro dictatorship to allow Cubans to travel freely, among other demands.”

Peru: Second Electoral Round Kicks Off

  28 April 2011

A few weeks before the second round of elections in Peru, the choice between candidates Ollanta Humala and Keiko Fujimori, the growing polarisation in Peruvian society, and ultimately from the electorate, is as notable in the press as it is on social networks.

Egypt: Gigi Ibrahim on The Daily Show

The appearance of Egyptian political activist Gigi Ibrahim on The Daily Show brought a wave of support and protests from fellow tweeps, who covered the Egyptian revolution. Gigi spoke about the Egyptian revolution and how she was introduced to politics, mocking hypocritical US foreign policy towards the Middle Eastern uprisings and how Egyptians and Arabs are perceived in the media. Here are some reactions from Twitter.

Cuba: Right to the Internet

  27 April 2011

“Any ‘supposition’ about what a farmer should do on Google, or in the furrow, is called control over the free actions of another, personal choice and individual freedom”: Octavo Cerco wonders “why it’s a problem to assume access to the Internet as a 21st Century human right.”

Russia: Bloggers Discuss Best Practices of Crowd Funding

RuNet Echo  27 April 2011

Anton Nossik publishes [ru] 5 rules of successful crowd funding: 1.it should have an aim, 2. it should be transparent, 3. it should be tested before launch, 4. it should also facilitate non-financial help, 5. initiators should disclose their own efforts of improving the project they collect money for. Oleg Kozlovsky...

Palestine: Survey for Netizens

A survey (Ar) is available for Palestinian netizen to update their information, for the Amin Media Network. Questions on the survey include: location; age; blogging language; and favourite citizen media platform.

North Korea: Three Films Denouncing Kim Jong-il Regime

  26 April 2011

Three films which give a rare glimpse inside the North Korea have been introduced during the North Korea Freedom Week, an annual event jointly held in Seoul and Washington hosting lectures and film screenings focusing human rights abuses in the North. Mike Paarlberg posted a detailed introduction to the films in...