· September, 2010

Stories about Digital Activism from September, 2010

China: Tibetan writer awaiting trial

  27 September 2010

An update in the case of imprisoned writer Tagyal and the latest hit single from hip-hop group Green Dragon are among the stories in Dechen Pamba's roundup of the Tibetan blogging scene at High Peaks Pure Earth.

Saudi Arabia: Licence to Blog!

  26 September 2010

Saudi Arabia first announced plans to have all web publishers and online media, including blogs and forums, to be registered with the government. The following day, it backed down following a storm of protests, saying that only electronic newspapers were expected to register. Saudi netizens have their say.

Madagascar, rosewood trafficking: an investigator arrested

  24 September 2010

The site Mongabay [in English] and the blog MyDago [in French] reported on September 17 that “a foreign journalist”, whose identity was not revealed, was arrested on September 5 in Maroantsetra in eastern Madagascar while investigating the smuggling of rosewood [in French].

Brazil: Monitoring the Reform of a Park in Sao Paulo

  24 September 2010

Though September 21 is a national day to celebrate trees in Brazil, SOS Parque Água Branca [SOS White Water Park, pt] blog called it the “Day of the Dead Tree” this year, criticizing the implementation of a reform project to this green area in the city of Sao Paulo where...

Peru: Superficial Solutions As District Elections Approach

  24 September 2010

Gabriela García Calderón shares photos [es] of a recently fixed street in the Miraflores district in Lima, coinciding with mayoral and district elections. But the images that follow prove that only a few meters away the streets have holes that make it dangerous for anyone to pass through, especially those...

Vietnam: ‘No Firewall’ website

  23 September 2010

Pro-democracy group Viet Tan has launched the No Firewall website which aims to “assist Vietnamese internet users learn about circumvention techniques and digital security.” The Vietnam government has been accused of intensifying its internet surveillance activities to restrict dissent in the country

Azerbaijan: Bloqosfer 2010

  22 September 2010

Bloqosfer 2010, an event bloggers in Azerbaijan had been looking forward to for about two months, was held on 10-12 September in the resort town of Nabran. Over 100 established bloggers took their place beside emerging ones, new media specialists and Internet experts, business stakeholders, and representatives from civil society as well as the authorities.

Venezuela: Web Videos Encouraging Citizens to Vote

  22 September 2010

Venezuelans will be voting on September 26th to renew the whole body of the National Assembly, the unicameral legislative body which substituted the Congress, and online, dozens of people are making and remixing videos urging citizens to vote.

Serbia: Minister Takes e-Government from Virtual to Real

  22 September 2010

The Serbian online community has been a-flutter this evening after what seems to have been a small, laid-back, yet groundbreaking event earlier today in Belgrade: a meeting with Jasna Matic, the Serbian Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society, organized mostly through Twitter and Facebook.

Egypt/Syria: Free Tal

  21 September 2010

Egyptian Zeinobia reports on a protest held by Egyptian activists in front of the Syrian Embassy in Cairo in solidarity with arrested 19-year-old Syrian blogger Tal Mallohi. More information is available here and here.

China: Yihuang Self-Immolation Incident and the Power of Microblogging

  21 September 2010

Chinese online public opinion has once again changed the course of an event, this time regarding a forced demolition and consequent self-immolation protest in Yihuang county, Jiangxi. On September 10, the Zhong family were confronted by 40 local police officers and urban administrators seeking to carry out the forced demolition...

Colombia: Virtual Gifts for Medellín on its 335 Birthday

  21 September 2010

On November 2 the city of Medellín will celebrate 335 years of its founding. The account @cumplemedellin was created on Twitter so that its citizens can tweet the symbolic present they want to give their city on this occasion. What would you give your city on its "birthday"? Find out what citizens of Medellín are tweeting almost a month before the date.