Stories about Digital Activism from July, 2008
Macedonia: More on Discrimination Against Gamers
Filip Stojanovski of Razvigor :-) thinks discrimination against Macedonian gamers is part of a bigger problem: “[…] Regardless if a person considers oneself a gamer or not, I think they should become concerned by the pattern of discrimination labeling group by group as abnormal, wasteful, and dangerous even. And this...
Serbia: New Instructions and Law Regulations on Online Privacy
On July 21, Serbia’s Republican Agency for Telecommunications posted a Document of Instructions for Technical Requirements for Subsystems, Devices, Hardware and Installation of Internet Networks on their official web site. This news didn’t go unnoticed yesterday in Serbian blogosphere and internet community, as many bloggers expressed various opinions as well as disapproval because of the potential abuse of users’ privacy.
USA: Longest Walk 2 for Native Americans rights
An 8,000-Mile Walk for Native American Rights, Environmental Protection, and to Stop Global Warming reached its destination in Washington, DC. A successful example of community-building and citizen media usage - including first-hand reports and poignant comments.
Barbados, Anguilla: Integrity Legislation
“One of the major complaints against the new David Thompson administration in Barbados has been that, although it won power mainly by promising to do something about the entrenched corruption in the previous Owen Arthur administration, it had appeared to have forgotten the issue”: Corruption-free Anguilla reports that new integrity...
Cuba: July 26
Raul Castro is scheduled to address his fellow Cubans this weekend and speculation is rife about what he might say. Child of the Revolution: “I hope Castro II announces for instance, that free and fair multi-party elections will be held in Cuba within the next 12 months.” Generation Y: “The...
Armenia: Bloggers Attend Presidential Press Conference
On 21 July at a news conference held at the presidential palace to mark the 100th day of the new president's term in office, two bloggers were invited to attend alongside 38 journalists. Although the bloggers involved argue that the event was important and unprecedented, not everyone agrees.
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Track & Field
Raw Politics…Jamaica Style! writes a detailed post about the Track and Field component of the upcoming Olympic Games.
Cuba: Glorious Future?
Both Child of the Revolution and Ninety miles away…in another country take issue with a series of articles in the Christian Science Monitor speculating about Cuba's economic future: “It is particularly galling that the resourcefulness they all laud as the sign of a changing Cuba is a harsh expedient forced...
Haiti: Political Persecution
HaitiAnalysis.com reports that The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has denounced “the political persecution that Yvon Neptune, a former Prime Minister of Haiti, has endured at the hands of the Haitian government for the past four years.”
Russia: Gulag Online
Robert Amsterdam draws attention to an online exhibition on the Soviet Gulag system – created by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University in cooperation with Russian human rights organization “Memorial” – and posts a video depicting how arrests were made during the Stalinist era.
Armenia: Divided Blogosphere
Following news that two bloggers were allowed to attend a presidential press conference, Unzipped comments on the event and says that the unprecedented event was actually a disservice to the local blogging community. The pro-opposition Nazarian accuses the bloggers of serving the government.
Cuba, U.S.A.: Sharpton Calls for Prisoners’ Release
“When it comes to Cuban political prisoners, any publicity is good publicity”: Uncommon Sense and Balablu Blog draw attention to Reverend Al Sharpton's “call for the release of Cuba's prisoners of conscience.”
Guyana: Disturbing Legislation
Living Guyana draws attention to “a worrying piece of legislation that was sneaked into Parliament” that would give great power to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Barbados: Honest Politicians?
“There is a need for present day politicians to reclaim the trust of the people”: Barbados Underground wonders whether “it might be ‘moral character’ we need – in politics – even more than Integrity Legislation.”
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Obama the Hero?
“As the days, weeks, and months have gone by, it has become increasingly clear that Barack Hussein Obama…has been stepping into this role of the ‘selfless superhero'”: Jamaican Geoffrey Philp says time will tell if the Democratic US Presidential candidate can fulfill the “mythical role” that has been hoisted upon...
Japan: LGBT Youth Exchange Project
LGBT Youth Exchange [jp] is a joint project by the Center for Gender Studies at International Christian University in Tokyo and Youth and Play Services of the city council of Bristol to bring LGBT youth from England and Japan together. This year, young people from Bristol are invited to come...
Russia: Should Internet Be Subjected to Mass Media Laws?
Russian Cyberspace accounts for continued discussions in Russia on whether to define the Internet as mass media and thus subject it to the same legislative framework as traditional mass media.
Barbados, Cuba, U.S.A.: The Times Rejects Mc Cain
Caribbean blogs are irate over The New York Times‘ rejection of John Mc Cain's rebuttal to Barack Obama's recent editorial on Iraq: Babalu Blog: “Who the hell gave them the power to think they speak on behalf of my best interests?” Barbados Free Press: “As much as we support Obama,...
Armenia: Bloggers Attend Presidential Press Conference
Real Armenia reports that two local bloggers, Akanumatata_Ser [RU] and Pigh [RU], were allowed to attend a presidential press conference to ask questions collected online. The blog says congratulates the two bloggers and says that bloggers might now be considered equal to local journalists.
Bahamas: Condom Culture
“The Bahamas has been negatively impacted by the scourge of the HIV/AIDS virus and other STDs via unprotected sex, with a growing number of teenagers being among the infected”: Adrian Gibson at WeblogBahamas makes a case for having condoms available in schools.
Cuba: Cyber-Citizens?
“Never having become citizens in the real world, it is hard for us to behave as citizens on the web”: Yoani Sanchez at Generation Y shares her thoughts about the virtual Cuba.
