· June, 2013

Stories about Digital Activism from June, 2013

Japan's Most Evil Corporations

A committee of labor activists and journalists have announced the nominees for Japan's most evil corporation in 2013 [ja]. Eight corporations and organizations that lost their employees to overwork and suicide...

30 June 2013

‘Code For Japan’ in the Works

Among others, Haruyuki Seki, a software developer at Georepublic Japan[ja] and social media consultant Hiroyasu Ichikawa are currently working toward the launch of Code For Japan [ja], an organization that aims to...

30 June 2013

Father of China's Great Firewall to Quit His Job as University President

Fang Binxing, an information security expert nicknamed the “father of China’s Great Fire Wall”, has resigned as president of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. His abrupt decision to step down--made during a university commencement speech --has ignited uproar online and touched a nerve with China’s Internet-savvy community.

28 June 2013

Japanese Official Suspended Over Twitter Comment

A Japanese reconstruction official in charge of helping victims of the 2011 post-tsunami meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant has been taken off duty after sharp-eyed journalists unearthed tweets he wrote insulting area activists.

26 June 2013

New Regulations for Skype and Viber in Bahrain

“Security considerations” are being cited as reasons behind new regulations which could put an end to the use of popular services such as Skype, WhatsApp, Viber and Tango in Bahrain. A government official says a study is being conducted to regulate Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications - popular services, whose use is costing telecommunication companies.

25 June 2013

Hacker Attacks on South and North Korea

Hacker collective Anonymous previously announced they will attack North Korean sites on June 25. But it took an unexpected turn as several major South Korean sites, including the website of...

25 June 2013

Mozambique's First Civic Hackathons

Mozambique's Ministry of Science and Technology is sponsoring the country's first civic hackathons, with the support of Sweden and Finland. The second, slated for the end of June, will focus...

25 June 2013

South Koreans Protest Electioneering

College students and civic groups took action against the National Intelligence Service (NIS)'s illegal interference with the lastest presidential election. Major universities in South Korea have released statements condemning the secret agency,...

21 June 2013

New Law in Slovakia Would Require Citizens to Report Long Stays Abroad

Slovakia's president has vetoed a controversial new law that would require citizens who plan on leaving the country for more than 90 days to inform the nearest Ministry of Interior office of their intended whereabouts during that time. The legislation has prompted highly visible anger from Slovaks on blogs and social media.

21 June 2013

Brazilians Poke Fun at Intelligence Agency Spooks

In the face of protests that have swiped across Brazil, the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) were summoned by the government to monitor protesters through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even WhatsApp. Brazilian netizens are in fits of giggles at the news.

21 June 2013

Thousands Are Joining Bosnia's ‘Babylution’

The death of a baby girl has people in Bosnia-Herzegovina crossing the country's deep ethnic divides by the thousands to protest together against the government's failure to remedy a lapse in the law that is preventing newborns from being given an identity number and, by extension, travel papers and healthcare.

20 June 2013

A Year of Demanding Justice in Paraguay: What Happened in Curuguaty?

A year after a clash that resulted in the death of 11 farm workers and 6 police officers in Curuguaty, Paraguay, organizations that defend human rights and farm workers point out that the criminal case investigating the incident is partial and that there were several human rights violations during the proceedings, such as executions and subjecting the farm workers to torture as acts of revenge.

20 June 2013