Stories about Freedom of Speech from February, 2009
Shiv Sena's Orkut Campaign: The Limits to Freedom of Expression in an Intolerant India
Introduction: Freedom of Expression in the Indian Blogosphere The Indian blogosphere is abuzz with discussions on freedom of expression after the Supreme Court refused to throw out Shiv Sena's defamation...
Azerbaijan: Popular website back — minus forum
After several days of closure, the popular semi-independent Azerbaijani news and discussion website, Day.az, is back. However, raising additional questions about its brief disappearance, the site's forum — known for its open and somewhat democratic discussion — is not.
Kyrgyzstan: Hard Time for the Opposition
Elena writes a history of the persecution of the oppositional movements in Kyrgyzstan.
China: From Red Guards to Cyber-vigilantism to where next?
Rebecca Mackinnon from Rconversation discusses the rise of Net power in China: “Will the Chinese people rise above cyber-vigilantism and use the Internet to build a just and fair society...
China: Harnessing human search engines for government use
Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated a recent incident when netizens human flesh search two reporters who are critical towards corrupted practice of local government in constructing their government building.
Jamaica, Guyana: Action or Reaction?
Both Active Voice [Jamaica] and Guyanese blogger C.D. Valere (writing at Baiganchoka) continue the discussion about recent attempts by the Jamaican Broadcasting Commission to “clean up” the airwaves.
Syria: Violation of Terms of Service
Syrian Hosam Akras writes that WordPress has disabled a blog which lists Israel's “crimes against humanity” because it did not comply with its terms of service.
Jordan: The Unborn Banned in Cinemas
Jordanian Moey reports that The Unborn has been banned in his country's cinemas – because of its ‘violent’ content.
Singapore: Copyright Act and blogosphere
ringisei is worried that the Copyright Act is being used to “strangle” the blogosphere in Singapore.
Ukraine: Politics on Twitter
Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko has an official Twitter account; his tweets mirror daily schedule announcements and latest news items that are featured on the official website as well. There is also a Yushchenko impersonator on Twitter. Former speaker Yatsenyuk seems to have a Twitter account, too, but his political movement's press service would not confirm it.
Egypt: Philip Rizk's Four Days in Detention
A day after publishing “Egypt: More activists and bloggers arrested” on Global Voices Online, news of Philip Rizk's detention spread like wildfire around the world - and the blogger and activist was finally released. Lasto Adri visits Rizk's blog, where he writes about his ordeal and that of another blogger Diaa Gad, who was arrested on the same day and still remains behind bars today.
China: Control 2.0 Mastermind
David Bandurski from China Media Project gave more background about the propaganda event in the “eluding the cat” case, especially on the mastermind behind the control 2.0 strategy.
Egypt: Police Crack Down on Student Demonstration
The 21th of February 1946 marks a shameful memory in the modern Egyptian history. On that day, hundreds of students demonstrating on the movable Abbas Bridge were either shot dead or drowned in the Nile, after British officials ordered to open fire, before finally deciding to open the bridge. Since then, this day has been commemorated at the Egyptian Students National Day. Lasto Adri rounds up blogger reactions to this year's events - and how police crackdown on protests by students demanding for reforms on campus.
Egyptians on the verge of insanity
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Egyptians are struggling to maintain their sanity, faith, and stability. Marwa Rakha presents the following selection from Egyptian blogs which discuss dreams, suicide, unemployment and the gruesome murder of a woman and her children - at the hands of her husband.
Cuba: One Year Later
Blog for Cuba says that one year after Cuba signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Personal Rights, “human rights...
Iran: Students protesting against martyrs re-burial are jailed
Up to 70 students from the Amir Kabir University in Tehran were arrested today, Tuesday 24th of February, while protesting against the re-burial of five anonymous Iran-Iraq War martyrs in the grounds of the university. See videos of the protest and the first reactions on the blogosphere.
India: Court Ruling Against Bloggers
Kafila informs about a recent Supreme Court ruling in India which states that “a person who starts a blog/community page cannot claim that it was a community page and not...
Hong Kong: Defending freedom of speech
On 22 Feb 09, more than a hundred Hong Kong people took on the street to voice out their concerns about the alarming shrinking of freedom of speech in Hong...
New Zealand: Blog ‘Blackout’ protest stalls anti-pirating law
A large swatch of New Zealand’s political blogosphere shut down its websites for a half-day on Monday, February 23 in protest of a copyright law that could have required internet service providers from disconnecting users who download pirated materials like movies or music
Germany: “Putins Pressefreiheit”
LJ user drugoi highlights Vladimir Putin's “appearance” at the carnival in Düsseldorf, Germany, and receives nearly 300 comments (RUS).
Blog Plagiarism hits Egyptian Bloggers
Is there such a thing as blog plagiarism? Egyptian bloggers argue both sides of the fence on Facebook and on their blogs after a newspaper started quoting bloggers - without their permission, reports Marwa Rakha.
