Stories about Digital Activism from June, 2010
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Conflict Voices
In the 16 years since a ceasefire agreement put the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh on hold, successive attempts to broker a final peace have faltered. Could blogs and other online tools now offer alternative voices the opportunity to have their opinions on the conflict heard?
Iran: To Demonstrate or Not, on Anniversary of Election
On the anniversary of the contested Iranian election on June 12 the question circulating online is: whether to face authorities and demonstrate or not.
Bulgaria: Sofia Pride 2010
How to Marry a Bulgarian writes about the upcoming Sofia Pride 2010 (BUL, ENG), the third gay pride parade to be held in Bulgaria's capital.
Belarus: 200 Meters of Gay Pride in Minsk
“Insider’s view from Belarusian Gay Pride March” – at Belarus Digest: “Two nights in the police department seemed an eternity for us. So now when I’m free I can’t keep it to myself. I don’t appear to have any freedom of speech in my country, but I have the freedom...
Russia: Networks of Paid Bloggers Exposed
In Russia, networks of paid bloggers sometimes turn to advocating certain political views or to promoting the official political agenda. A recent investigation by LJ user dobrokhotov sheds some light on this "grey zone" of RuNet.
Egypt: Khaled Said – An Emergency Murder by An Emergency Law
Khaled Said, a 28-year-old Egyptian from the coastal city of Alexandria, was allegedly tortured to death at the hands of two officers who wanted to search him under the emergency law. The story goes: he asked for a reason or a warrant - they killed him.
Haiti: Grass Roots
“Mainstream media sources in the United States have rarely mentioned this type of local organizing initiated by activists and every day Haitians”: Tande blogs about a few grassroots organisations doing important work in Haiti.
Bolivia: The Cost of Internet Domains
In Bolivia, the cost to obtain a country-specific internet domain has been seen as too expensive. Some bloggers and twitterers have expressed their concern on the Facebook page of the state institution administering the domains, and carried over their campaign to their blogs and Twitter accounts.
Cuba: Slow Going
While the Cuban government and the Catholic Church engage in talks, Without Evasion says any developments “are absolutely insufficient and extremely slow with respect to the ultimate objective of the civic resistance of The Ladies in White and Guillermo Fariñas: their definitive liberation.”
Haiti: Farmers’ Rights
The Haitian Blogger republishes a Facebook report that supports Haitian farmers “in their epic fight against the Monsanto multinational corporation.”
Bahamas: Cleaning Up the Spill
“There is oil in the water, disaster in the air”: Womanish Words wants to know what we're going to do about the oil spill in the Gulf.
Pakistan: Bloggers Reject Religious Hatred
93 innocent lives were lost when the Ahmadiyya religious community was attacked in Lahore around a week ago. Pakistani bloggers, netizens and activists have denounced the attacks in strong words.
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Finding mutual ground online
As Global Voices looks back at the success of a Rising Voices project, Ceasefire Liberia, a citizen media site dealing with conflict and reconciliation, activity in the same area is starting to be noticed in the Caucasus. New and existing projects working towards establishing dialog and eventual peace in the region are starting to use new and social media in their activities.
Trinidad & Tobago: Setting Precedents
“There were some precedents set by the last PNM, which were so shocking, even by our elastic standards, that they must be highlighted, so we can ensure they are never repeated”: Afra Raymond thinks now is as good a time as any to remind Trinidad and Tobago's new government about...
Azerbaijan: Baku concerned with social media
With progressive, alternative voices finding a new outlet via new and social media in Azerbaijan, and the first case of imprisoning blogging activists in the region occurring there last year, news reports now warn that possible new legislation might yet seek to silence others. On a related note, In Mutatione...
Russia: Protest Against Building in the Historical Center of Moscow
Bloggers post photos [RUS] and footage [RUS] of the protests against a building site next to the Church of the Resurrection in Kadashi that is located in the historical district of Moscow [EN]. Moscow authorities deny both the problem and the conflict, while conventional media simply ignore them.
Malaysia: Petrol station blamed over girl's death
A girl was trapped in a burning car in Malaysia. A bystander rushes to a nearby gas station to borrow or buy a fire extinguisher but was refused. The girl's death was blamed on the gas station. A boycott campaign was launched. Bloggers react
Global: Rachel Corrie “Immortalized” With Ship's Mission
A humanitarian aid ship called the MV Rachel Corrie (named after a young American peace activist who was killed by a bulldozer Gaza in 2003) set sail for Gaza from Ireland carrying 11 passengers and 9 crew members from 5 countries, but was soon intercepted.
Israel: Flotilla Videos Gone Viral
An Israeli video called "Flotilla Choir: We Con the World" has gone viral on Facebook in the last 24 hours. While it shows no compunction about the violence involved in the flotilla incident, it aggressively illustrates the widely held Israeli belief that Hamas is responsible for the poor state of well-being of the people of Gaza.
Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Gulf Spill
Labrish Jamaica wonders whether the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will affect the Caribbean, while the incident has made Trinidad and Tobago's This Beach Called Life “think about our very own offshore drilling efforts”.
Iran: A blog for Derakhshan
Hossein Derakhshan‘s family has launched a blog for this jailed blogger. Family says that Hossein is leading prayer meetings. They also say Hussein wanted to serve his country.
