Stories about Digital Activism from July, 2010
Serbia: Bloggers Make Health Care Scandal A Personal Affair
It would seem that Serbia’s bloggers have officially joined the ranks of citizen journalism. This week, just some 48 hours after several Serbian bloggers united to demand the resignation of Serbia’s Minister of health, Tomica Milosavljevic, whom many hold responsible for the corrupt state of medical practice in public health...
Russia: New “One Day Rule” for Censoring Comments on Demand
Alexey Sidorenko analyses the new practice of comment removal on news media websites introduced by the Russian authorities. Although not direct and not efficient, it threatens to significantly limit online discussion.
Serbia: Bloggers Demand Health Minister's Resignation
A recent corruption scandal at the Oncology Institute in Belgrade has enraged the Serbian public and blogging community. Danica Radisic writes about the Resignation (Ostavka) blog initiative - and the expected resignation of the Serbian Health Minister.
MENA: CNN Journalist's Comment Sparks Controversy
The passing of Lebanese religious leader Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah was, for many, a major event. And yet, a passing remark on Twitter by an American CNN journalist of Lebanese background is causing a stir in the Twittersphere, blogosphere, and beyond.
Spain: Greenpeace modify logo at BP Headquarters
Wikiciudadania points us towards this video where Greenpeace climbers get to the BP headquarters in Madrid, climb to the top and drop down a banner on top of the BP logo, replacing the green symbol with a drippy black one.
Azerbaijan: Imprisoned video blogging youth activists remembered
Support Adnan and Emin remembers the plight of Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, two video blogging youth activists who were detained a year ago tomorrow in Baku, Azerbaijan. Eventually sentenced to 2 and 2.5 years in prison, Amnesty International considers the two men to be prisoners of conscience while other...
Malaysia: Blogging To Promote National Unity
The 1Malaysia Foundation recently unveiled a brand new website , Yayasan 1Malaysia, as a platform to generate conversations with young Malaysian netizens on national unity and other current issues.
Announcing Round Two of the Technology for Transparency Network
Transparency International's 2009 Global Corruption Barometer found that citizens around the world are increasingly worried about corruption in both the public and private sectors. People are often hesitant to speak out against corruption, and see traditional complaint mechanisms as ineffective. A growing number of citizens, however, are beginning to use...
Russia: Political Regime as a Model for Social Network
User art_of_press ironically compares [RUS] Facebook to its clone Vkontakte, Russia's most popular social network. His conclusion: Vkontakte's model reminds current political regime. Vkontakte changes Terms of Service without informing users, doesn't allow content from third-party sources, allows only pre-moderated applications, and tends to create an isolated “Internet inside the Internet”.
Costa Rica: Congress Approves US Military Presence to Battle Drug Trafficking
Under the premise of counteracting drug trafficking, the Costa Rican government has endorsed the arrival of a North American fleet to its shores. Costa Ricans turned to blogging and social networks to express their opinions on the matter; for now, most users seem to reject the measure, but those that are in favor of it are also making sure their voice is heard.
Kuwait: All About Mohammed Aljasem's Case
Kuwaiti journalist and blogger Mohammed Aljasem was released on bail after spending 48 days behind bars for allegedly defaming Kuwaiti Prime Minister Shaikh Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah. Supporters have set up this blog, in Arabic and English, to update readers on the case.
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Facebook war
Despite the potential for new and social media to bridge the information gap between Armenia and Azerbaijan, two countries locked into a bitter dispute over the territory of Nagorno Karbakakh, The Armenian Observer highlights yet another example of the arguably greater activity present in the use or manipulation of such...
Russia: Twitter talk of town
Svetlana Gladkova of Profy discusses whether a Novosibirsk politician and twitterer @sapelkin has had his Twitter account suspended for political reasons, account abuse or as an election campaign PR-stunt.
South Korea: Keyboard Warriors Against Young Women
Young women are struck down by harsh internet vigilantes in the South Korean internet space. Reasonable voices online, who analyze this phenomenon, say it is caused by the growing social power of women, while men are suffering under heaps of social and economic pressure.
Cuba: Fariñas in Danger
Cuban bloggers continue to highlight the case of hunger striker and prisoner Guillermo Fariñas.
Azerbaijan: Clinton meets bloggers
In Mutatione Fortitudo comments on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's meeting with youth activists and bloggers in the oil-rich authoritarian country. Although reportedly raising the issue of imprisoned video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli with the Azerbaijani authorities just days before the first anniversary of their...
Serbia: Expedition 206 in Belgrade
Reports on meeting, greeting and hanging out with the three members of Expedition 206 in Belgrade – at Belgraded and Life in Retro(bel)grade (here and here).
Slovenia: LGBT Rights and Politics
Sleeping With Pengovsky writes about homophobia in Slovenia and its political dimension.
Russia: More on LGBT Rights
A Good Treaty writes more on the Russian opposition's stance on LGBT rights (the previous post is here), reacting to Oleg Kozlovsky's statement in response to Sublime Oblivion‘s question about why he feels “the need to forcefully disassociate Solidarity [movement] from support for LGBT rights in Russia.” Austere Insomniac interprets...
Caucasus: Blogs & Bullets
Global Voices Caucasus Regional Editor Onnik Krikorian will take part in a panel at a public conference, Blogs and Bullets: Evaluating the Impact of New Media on Conflict, at the U.S. Institute of Peace on 8 July. Co-sponsored by the George Washington University Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication,...
Japan: Tech-savvy freelancers break down the monopoly in information
While in many countries around the world ordinary citizens learn to take advantage of the new technologies to make their voices heard, in Japan it's the free-lance journalists who take up the battle against establishment media from which they are determined to remain apart.
