Stories about Digital Activism from April, 2011
Ecuador: Twitter Campaign Gives President Correa ‘the Finger’
It started as a Twitter campaign, and now many Ecuadorians are posting photos of themselves showing the middle finger. Why? To ridicule the idea that you could be arrested for something as simple as raising a finger.
Italy: Initiative in Support of Ai Weiwei
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
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
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.”
Bahamas: Shark Tales
Bahama Pundit‘s Larry Smith shares some good and bad news about sharks.
Syria: A hero father
A Gay Girl in Damascus writes about how her father stood up for her, when officers came knocking on her door one night.
Peru: Second Electoral Round Kicks Off
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.
Russia: Photoblogger Defends His Constitutional Rights
Popular photoblogger Ilya Varlamov continues to fight the common and unconstitutional ban on taking pictures in supermarkets. He posted a photo essay on his misadventures in Evropeysky, a large supermarket in Moscow, where he was prevented from taking photos.
Latvia: National news agency website hacked
Juris Kaža of Telecoms in Latvia draws attention to a recent hacker attach on the Latvian news agency LETA, closing down the website for several hours.
Ukraine: Stories From the Charity Walk to Chornobyl
Liudmyla Bulychova guestblogs at UK Ambassador Leigh Turner's blog about Charity Walk to Chornobyl, which was held on April 22-23. More stories [en, fr] and photos – here.
Iran: Activist and blogger died in a car accident
Bahareh Alavi, 22 years old blogger and women's rights activist died in a car accident. She wrote for years in Dokhtare Khorshid blog. Several bloggers remembered her.
Iran: Students march for better conditions
Several hundred students marched and demonstrated in Amir Kabri University in Tehran for better conditions in recent days. Watch the film here.
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
“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.”
Cuba: The “Queen of Incredulity”
1Click2Cuba profiles Claudia Cadelo, “one of the best-known members of the Cuban blogging community.”
Russia: Bloggers Discuss Best Practices of Crowd Funding
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...
Russia: Eco-bloggers and Journalists Learn to Solve Environmental Problems
The first international forum of eco-bloggers and journalists took place in Moscow on April 18-19. The forum aimed to create an international community of people writing about environmental issues and deploy the power of new media to help overcome the challenges in the field.
Russia: Blogger Found Guilty in Harsh Criticizm of Bashkir Authorities
Alexander Izmailov was found gulty in posting 649 comments online criticizing the authorities and not shying away from curse words, Ufimskij Zhurnal reported. Izmailov also frequently produced photo collages making fun of the President of Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhimov who is notorious for limiting Internet freedom in the republic. Izmailov will...
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.
Syria: Defamation Campaign Against Human Rights Activist
From Syria, human rights activist Wissam Tarif tweets: “Sorry guys but I had problems with my twitter account, email, and website. And a defamation (hate) campaign in #Syria”
North Korea: Three Films Denouncing Kim Jong-il Regime
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...
