Stories about Freedom of Speech from November, 2007
Syria: Even Amazon is Blocked
Egyptian blogger Zeinobis lists some of the sites blocked in Syria – which include Amazon, hotmail, Skype, blogger and Facebook.
Egypt: Activist's Yahoo Account Suspended
Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas, whose YouTube account has recently been suspended, suffers a new blow (Ar) – this time from Yahoo – which has since disabled his Yahoo email account.
Egypt: Seven Years for Murder
Egyptian bloggers this week rejoice over the imprisonment of corrupt police officers, who tortured a carpenter to death. The celebration is all the more special, following the sentencing of men in uniform who tortured Emad Al Kabir. In this post, bloggers remind us that their happiness is short-lived, as abuse is rife and freedom of expression continues to be curtailed.
China: Fake Confession on Fake Tiger
Joel Martinsen from Danwei summarizes the official responses to the fake tiger issue and netizens’ spoofing of the responses.
China: Editor's House Raided by Police
According to Zhen Jin-yan, the Shanghai police searched Zhai Minglei's (Chief Editor of Minjian) home yesterday and confiscated 41 copies of Minjian and his computer's hard disk under the charge of illegal publishing.
Russia: “Enemies of Russia”=”Enemies of the People”?
Window on Eurasia writes: “Russian President Vladimir Putin’s characterization of his political opponents and those standing behind them as ‘the enemies of Russia’ has sparked a discussion among his supporters about the relationship of that term to Stalin’s notorious one, ‘the enemies of the people.’ Pavel Danilin, editor of the...
Russia: Video Interview With Ludmila Alekseeva
Robert Amsterdam posts a YouTube interview with human rights activist Ludmila Alekseeva (in Russian, with English subtitles).
Russia: ‘Civilized’ Falsifying
TOL's Elections in Russia cites a Russian blogger's post on ways “to falsify the elections in a more ‘civilized’ manner.”
Russia: Minor Attacks on the Opposition
De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis posts another pre-election update that covers some virtual and real-life attacks on the opposition.
China: Taxing Post-graduate Student
Pbzhai writes a story he heard from his university [zh]. A post-graduate student wrote to the Nanjing city mayor and asked why the post-graduate students had to be taxed even if they got only RMB200 (US$26) per month subsidy? In a recent party meeting, teachers were asked to teach their...
Czech Republic: Discussion of Actress’ Son's Death Banned
When a Czech actress’ infant son died, a number of Czech newspapers closed down discussions of this story on their sites, a step the Czech Daily Word disapproves of: “Being offensive is not illegal.”
Belarus: Rock Music and the Regime
Lukashenko's regime makes Belarusian “half-prohibited” rock musicians an offer they can't refuse; TOL's Belarus writes about Belarusian bloggers’ reactions.
Russia: Double Standards
Sean's Russia Blog writes about double standards in coverage and reactions to the Russian election in the West: “To think President Bush had to nerve to throw his two cents in. […] You gotta be kidding me. I don’t recall any statement when the NYPD locked up 1000 people protesting...
Russia: Pre-Election Update
De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis posts another entry on the pre-election situation in Russia. Here's one of the highlights: “Kasparov's movement United Civilian Front (OGF) started a picket at the doors of the police department demanding to liberate Kasparov. The picket where only one person participates need not be preliminary...
Uzbekistan: Stop Deportation of Asylum Seeker!
“Until this day I believed in freedom of media and its role in civil liberties in this country [Great Britain]. But information I have read today slightly changed my mind”, Craig Murray says. Such was a reaction of bloggers all over the world to the decision of the British court...
Bolivia: Writing For Indymedia
Mario Duran of Palabras Libres [es] writes about a correspondence exchange with member of Indymedia Bolivia regarding articles that Duran contributed that may not be in agreement with the positions of the collaborative website. Duran wonders if it was a case of censorship.
Egypt: YouTube Disables Activist's Account
A storm is brewing in the Egyptian blogosphere after video hosting site You Tube removed several videos featuring policemen torturing victims from their site. "This is by far the biggest blow to the anti-torture movement in Egypt," writes Wael Abbas, an award winning blogger, whose videos capturing the torture of victims at the hands of police were removed from You Tube. What are the other bloggers saying?
Russia: Muslims on the Web
Window on Eurasia writes about Russia's Muslims’ internet presence.
Russia: Kasparov's Hunger Strike
Garry Kasparov is in jail and on “forced hunger strike” – and Robert Amsterdam believes that the ongoing crackdown on the opposition “reveals tremendous insecurities related to an unsustainable state model.”
Poland: Kapuściński's Translators
Our Man in Gdansk writes about a collection of stories by translators of Ryszard Kapuściński: “It was to have been birthday present, but Kapuściński died before it appeared. The contributions vary widely in subject matter, some not referring at all to translation making it less than essential reading for the...
Poland: Satire and Chastity
The beatroot writes about the recent Spanish royalty cartoon scandal and the Polish google bomber's case – as well as the church's initiative to make “chastity trendy” in Poland.
