Stories about Digital Activism from February, 2010
Ukraine, Russia: The Plight of Chekhov's Yalta Museum
Rosamund Bartlett, Anton Chekhov's English biographer and director of the Anton Chekhov Foundation, writes about the plight of Chekhov's house-museum in Yalta, Crimea, at OpenDemocracy.net.
Russia: Sakha (Yakut) Language on the Internet
AskYakutia.com posts a Q&A item on the Sakha Wikipedia and the use of the Sakha (Yakut) language on the Internet.
Azerbaijan: In this part of the world
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines comments on the lack of democracy in the Caucasus in general. However, the blog says, some progressive youth are struggling to effect change and are the key to the future as they are the future.
Latvia: “Cyber-Security ‘Killer Incident'”
Telecoms in Latvia reports that in order to “expose government waste, unjust wage differentials and possible corruption by analyzing data filed by state agencies and public sector,” individuals calling themselves “the Fourth Awakening People's Army” have obtained some “7.4 million records from a database linked to the web-based service for...
Bulgaria: “The Bulgarian Guantanamo”
Maya Markova of Maya's Corner posts videos and translates parts of the documentary The Bulgarian Guanatanamo, by Bulgarian journalist Ivan Kulekov. (An earlier GV roundup item on this issue is here.)
Belarus: State TV Accused of “Ripping a Whole Sitcom”
Belarus Digest reports that while the Belarusian government explains the recently-introduced internet regulations by the need to fight copyright law violations, the state-run TV is now being accused of “ripping a whole sitcom”: “In the CBS original, shown on E4 in Britain, the main character are called Sheldon, Leonard, Howard,...
Iran: Cyber Islamic Militarism on the March
The internet is usually touted as a space for dialogue and peaceful exchange, but in the case of Iran, the political conflict has also morphed into new forms of online "warfare" where the most powerful weapons are those that silence free speech.
Ada Lovelace Day 2010
Ada Lovelace Day is an international initiative striving to increase content about achievements of women in technology and science, named after the world's first programmer Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852), Lord Byron‘s daughter, also famous as a character in the seminal steampunk novel The Difference Engine by Gibson...
Haiti: Reading the Reports
Repeating Islands republishes segments of a report on HIV infections in Haiti, while Haiti Vox links to a story on “who's getting the first Haiti contracts”, saying: “It's important for us to widely circulate this information, and to HELP Haitian groups who may want to apply…it's also important for Haiti...
Haiti: Moving On
“The men and women of Haiti are strong and ready to show the world that they can rebuild their country”: Wadner Pierre says that Haitians are ready to move on post-earthquake.
Azerbaijan: Breaking down stereotypes
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines blogger Arzu Geybullayeva comments on her audio interview conducted over Skype with Global Voices Online's Caucasus editor for Transitions Online. The blog says that communication is possible, living together is possible, breaking down existing barriers is possible and [that] this a message [it] would give...
Bahamas, Haiti: Migration Debate
“The level of ignorance, fear and hate-mongering surrounding the Haitian migration to the Bahamas is astounding – especially when one considers the fact that Africans living in Haiti achieved the first successful slave revolt in history against one of the world's most advanced nations”: Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit weighs...
Cuba: Educational Autonomy
“In these two years since Raul Castro came to power, expulsions for ideological reasons have continued – and are on an upward course – in the centers of higher education”: Generation Y blogs about evictions in Cuban universities.
Russia: Bloggers Discuss Utilization of Old Books
Libraries are throwing away old books due to old age and lack of readership, literary critic Alexander Zhitinski reported [RUS]. A library in Saint-Petersburg had to throw away all the books published before 1999. Mistreatment of books provoked a heated discussion online [RUS] while mainstream media ignored the subject.
Russia: Human Rights Activists’ Blogs
A list of links to Russian human rights activists’ blogs (RUS) – at Human Rights in Russia (hro.org).
Trinidad & Tobago: Saving Carnival
B.C. Pires links to a column by Mark Lyndersay, which, “if listened to, could rescue Trinidad Carnival for photographers; or at least stave off the death of yet another of its vital organs”, while other Trinidadian bloggers comment on the government's decision “to award sole rights to distribute coverage of...
Haiti: A Month Later
“The time has come for each Haitian wherever you are, and whoever you are to take a stand, and say ‘NO’ to the bureaucracy that worsens the situation in Haiti right now”: A month after the earthquake in Haiti, Wadner Pierre posts his impressions.
China: The Party’s Policies are yakexi
C. Custer from ChinaGeeks blogs about a new buzz word, yakexi, in Chinese Internet community. It is an Uyghur word for good and recently used to praise Chinese policies in the Spring Gala. But the word has been re-iterated to mock at the political propaganda.
“SOS Internet Indonesia”
The Indonesian government plans to create a team which will regulate internet content in the country. The plan is to censor pornography, gambling, racism and other immoral content in cyberspace. But netizens are afraid that it might also stifle freedom of expression
Russia: When Politicians Go Online
When more and more Russian politicians become bloggers and seek the help of PR firms to develop and manage their blogs, people wonder about the future of the Russian blogosphere as an independent information platform and valuable public sphere.
Citizen Video wins George Polk Journalism Award
The citizen video recording the death of Neda, an Iranian woman during the presidential election protests in Iran has won the George Polk Award in Journalism. This amateur and anonymous video spread throughout the world and became a symbol of the Iranian Resistance and citizen journalism.
