· July, 2008

Stories about Freedom of Speech from July, 2008

China: VPN to beat Olympic internet censorship

  31 July 2008

Via PandaPassport‘s Rick Martin on Facebook: “For anyone inside China, this is a great way to be able to view whatever content you like. Just a quick software install and you're ready to go…give it a try.

Cuba, Venezuela, U.S.A.: Empty Dialogue?

  31 July 2008

Cuban bloggers Babalu and Ninety miles away…in another country focus on U.S. Republican senator Arlen Specter's upcoming Latin American trip, during which he hopes to meet with both Raul Castro and Hugo Chavez: “The Cuban government has made clear that the only thing it is interested in is the unilateral...

Serbia: More on Belgrade Rally

Eric Gordy of East Ethnia writes about yesterday's pro-Karadzic rally in Belgrade: “Meanwhile the only element of the meeting that made news was the violent confrontation between skinheads and police, who this time around did not have orders to let the hooligans destroy anything they wanted.”

No to Kuwait's New Internet Law

  30 July 2008

Kuwaiti bloggers are angry at a proposed new Internet Law, which they claim would make their days as free bloggers numbered, after Attorney General Hamad Al Othman announced that a new law dealing with Internet crimes will be issued soon. Abdullatif Al Omar takes a closer look at the Kuwaiti blogosphere and their reactions to the impending law.

Trinidad & Tobago: Searching for Truth

  30 July 2008

“One man says we are living under a dictatorship. The other asks, ‘What are you talking about? This isn’t dictatorship. Pinochet, now that was a dictator.’ Sometimes it’s so easy to identify with the first guy”: The Manicou Report plays “the armchair analyst” after an on-air showdown between a reporter...

Guyana: Blogger covers journalist ban

  30 July 2008

On 12 July, news broke in Guyana that a senior journalist had been banned from entering the office of the country's president, allegedly in response to a critical news report. As media representatives and others denounced the move as an instance of press censorship, the Living Guyana blog continued its trend of media rights scrutiny with hard-hitting online coverage of the story.

Iran: Cleric's Protest Walk Ends in Jail

An Iranian cleric named Ali Reza Jahanshahi was arrested about two weeks ago, shortly after beginning a 960 kilometer (590 miles) protest walk from the southern Iranian city, Sirjan to Tehran. The cleric was protesting corrupt land appropriation in Sirjan, and complained the government was not doing enough to stop...

Egypt Silences the Voice of Iran

Egyptian authorities shut down the Cairo office of an Iranian TV network over a film that justifies the killing of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat by Islamic militants. Marwa Rakha sums up the opinions of Egyptian blogger Dina Ayoub about the incident in this post.

Cuba: Carnival Time

  29 July 2008

“It is a time to shrug off the slogans, the shortages and the frustrated expectations. Dancing is a magnificent way of forgetting. And so we will have a festival along the same perimeter where, fourteen years ago, Havanans demonstrated their discontent in a social explosion”: Yoani Sanchez looks beyond the...

South Korea: Law and Order?

  29 July 2008

Jamie from Two Koreas highlights two recent incidents showing how the government intends to impose law and order by repressing the civil society and freedom of speech.

Egypt: Activists released, then detained

“An Appeals Court in Alexandria has ordered the release of 14 activists from Shabab (youth) 6 April ,that was arrested on the 23rd of July,” reports Egyptian blog Fustat. Ibn Al Dunya further adds: “The prosecution appealed the order on the release, and then the appeals court refuted the prosecution´s...

Cuba: July 26th

  28 July 2008

This past weekend, on July 26th, Cuba marked the 55th anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago that came to be recognised as the start of the Cuban Revolution. Bloggers react to President Raul Castro's much-anticipated speech at the event.

Brazil: Who is behind the ‘Cybercrimes Bill'?

  28 July 2008

Blog do Tião writes [Pt] about the companies and political groups behind Eduardo Azeredo, the Brazilian Senator that proposed a controversial Cybercrimes Bill that's being largely discussed in the Brazilian Blogosphere. The same post presents data that links Azeredo to some recently uncovered corruption schemes in the country. This link...

Bangladesh gets a ‘Blog-Ban’ scare

  28 July 2008

On 15th of July, Bangla bloggers were disconcerted to find that they could not access Sachalayatan , a popular Bangla blogging platform that focuses on literature and contemporary issues, from within Bangladesh. Those living outside Bangladesh, however, had no problems with accessing the site. In the beginning, people thought it...