· February, 2012

Stories about Digital Activism from February, 2012

Trinidad & Tobago: Battle with Media

Afra Raymond outlines what he believes is a “sinister pattern” towards the media in Trinidad & Tobago, since the People's Partnership has been in government. According to Raymond, who elaborated...

29 February 2012

Jamaica: Inmate Beatings

Following reports that several high-profile inmates are being beaten, Active Voice wants to know “what’s going down at the Horizon Adult Remand Centre”, which seems to be “a virtual Guantanamo...

28 February 2012

Pakistan: Fighting the Great Firewall

The recent blow to the internet freedom in Pakistan has been the announcement of a request for proposal (RFP) for national “URL filtering and blocking system” by the ICT R&D Fund under the Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT). The $10 million system is required to be able to ”handle a block list of up to 50 million URLs".

28 February 2012

Bahrain: #Hungry4BH Trends Worldwide

Bahraini netizens, backed by the international community, helped raise the voices of detained political activists on hunger strike, by making their plight a trending topic on Twitter. Mona Kareem reports on the efforts of activists online and on the ground in Bahrain.

27 February 2012

Cuba: Working for “The Enemy”?

Havana Times reports that “the leading Cuban government website…unleashed a front page attack on blogger Yoani Sanchez…with an article accusing her of working for the enemy (USA) for pay”; Sanchez...

27 February 2012

Portugal: Web Users Debate Portuguese Private Copying Bill

Currently being debated in the Portuguese Parliament is a new bill (PL118) which proposes a tax on any equipment or software capable of recording, copying or storing analogue or digital content, in the name of author's rights. The online community has wasted no time in wading in on the debate, with the hashtag #PL118 duly trending on Twitter.

27 February 2012

Russia: The “Big White Circle” Protest in Moscow

RuNet Echo

On Sunday, Feb. 26, thousands of people gathered in central Moscow for the Big White Circle protest, forming a human chain along most of the length of the Russian capital's 15.6-kilometer/9.7-mile Garden Ring, protesting against corruption and demanding a fair presidential election, which is to take place in one week, on March 4.

27 February 2012

Australia: Political Paralysis Before Leadership Vote

Australia’s governing party will decide between the leadership of the country's current Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the one she deposed in 2010, Kevin Rudd. After months of speculation, Australian Labor Party parliamentarians will vote after a very self-destructive confrontation this week. Twitter is aflutter.

25 February 2012

Russia: Bloggers’ Photo Reports and Reflections on Pro-Putin Rally in Moscow

RuNet Echo

On Thursday, February 23, ten days before the March 4 presidential election, the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin addressed thousands of people at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. A number of Moscow-based bloggers attended the event, too. Below is a selection of their photo reports and observations, along with some of the remarks from their audiences.

25 February 2012

Cuba: Prisoners’ Rights

Uncommon Sense republishes a statement by Amnesty International about “former prisoner of conscience Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia [whose] whereabouts are unknown following his alleged arrest in central Havana, Cuba, on...

24 February 2012

Puerto Rico: Blogosphere Denounces Proposed Cybergag

The Puerto Rican blogosphere reacted to a measure undertaken by the mayor of the city of Mayagüez, José Guillermo Rodríguez, that would have been used to investigate and prosecute people who criticize his administration on social networks. Even though the Mayor has since decided not to enforce the resolution, he warned that more regulations will come soon.

24 February 2012

Cameroon : Say No To Tribalism

Princess Akeelah talks on her blog [fr] about an online campaign launched to fight against Tribalism in Cameroon. In a country where it is estimated that 280 different ethnic groups...

24 February 2012