Stories about Freedom of Speech from April, 2008
Soviet History: Samizdat Anniversary
Window on Eurasia writes about the 40th anniversary of the launch of the Soviet samizdat publication, the Chronicle of Current Events.
Estonia, Russia: Bronze Soldier Crisis Anniversary
Vilhelm Konnander posts an extensive analysis of the issues surrounding the first anniversary of the Estonian Bronze Soldier crisis.
Brazil: WordPress attorney blogs about the blocking
Marcel Leonardi [pt], the Brazilian attorney who is representing WordPress in the case of a possible ban on the platform in the country, blogs: “In the motion filled by the Automattic Inc. [on Monday], among other pieces of information, it has been highlighted the tremendous damage that the blanket ban...
Cuba: Las Damas de Blanco
It has been the most discussed topic in the Cuban blogosphere over the last week: the arrest of Las Damas de Blanco as they staged a peaceful demonstration for the release of their husbands, jailed by the Castro regime.
Special report on Vietnam censored
Saigon Blues writes that the current issue of The Economist which has a special report on Vietnam has been subjected to censorship in Vietnam.
Thailand: Boycott Tesco Lotus campaign
British company Tesco Lotus has sued three Thai journalists in just one month for writing about the “aggressive” operations of the global retailer in Thailand. As a protest, Fable supports a worldwide boycott campaign of Tesco Lotus.
Hong Kong and China: 5 Posters On Beijing Olympics
5 protest posters have been circulated via e-mails and twitter among friends. 1. Olympic workers; 2. Olympic silencing; 3. Olympics and June 4; 4. Olympic GFW; 5. Olympic erection.
Europe: RFL/RL Hacked
James of Robert Amsterdam's blog reports on the hack attack on Radio Free Europe's sites.
Egypt: When Religion Sleeps With Politics
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia attacks Pope Shenouda III in this post for his recent Easter speech in which she claims he said people using Facebook will "roast in hell," reports Gr33nData from Cairo.
Ukraine: Chernobyl
Belatedly, a link to Ukrainiana‘s extensive post on the 22nd anniversary of Chernobyl.
Poland: Tolerance March
The beatroot writes about this year's Tolerance March in Krakow.
Hungary: “Goy Bikers”
Hungarian Spectrum writes about “Goy Bikers” and the “resurgence of neo-nazi activism.”
Uganda: Mwenda, 3 others arrested in newspaper raid
(UPDATE: Andrew Mwenda has been freed on bond, see his letter to supporters on the TED blog.) Bloggers and independent media outlets in Uganda are reporting that three journalists and a photographer at The Independent, an opposition newspaper based in Kampala, have been arrested and that the paper's offices have...
Venezuela: Update on the Simpsons Controversy
Luis Carlos Díaz of Periodismo de Paz [es] provides an update on the controversy involving the Simpsons in Venezuela. Turns out that the show will be moved to “supervised” prime time slot in the evening, but would allow for more children to see it because most are in school during...
China: Carrefour Boycott Censored by GFW
Dupola reported that “Carrefour” becomes a “sensitive word” in GFW filter and Caodan reported that they got a notice to clear all discussion regarding Carrefour boycott [zh].
Hong Kong: Net Respect Project
Charles Mok the Hong Kong Chapter of Net Respect for promoting user’s code of ethics.
Hong Kong: Shame
Danish artist Jens Galschiot has been denied for entering Hong Kong as he is planning to attend a peaceful demonstration during the Olympic Torch relay. Galschiot has made a sculpture called “pillar of shame” after the June 4 incident. Kursk criticized that the HK government added one more shame to...
Japan: Nagano red for Olympic torch relay
The Japanese leg of the Olympic torch relay came to an end on Saturday without serious incident, but many Japanese bloggers who attended the event were left with lasting -- and often bitter -- impressions. With all the red flags, many bloggers pointed out how Nagano, for one day, seemed to transform into China.
Cambodia: Where is social justice?
Carrie Martin asks: Where is justice in Cambodia?
Lebanon: “Embarrassed Arabic Language”
“Arabic is an embarrassed language. Not embarrassing, but embarrassed,” comments Tantalus about how cryptic some Arabic writers become in order to avoid taboo words.
Slovakia, Romania: Media Freedom
Edward Lucas of the Economist re-posts his piece on the “shrinking” of “media freedom” in Slovakia and Romania.
