· October, 2009

Stories about Freedom of Speech from October, 2009

Martinique: Free your mind, free your hair

  30 October 2009

Blogger Imaniyé from Martinique reports the creation of a Facebook group [Fr] by people who are eager to defend the rights of Martinicans to comb their hair as they want and above all to twist it into dreadlocks, without being discriminated against.

Russia: “Twitter Against Tyrants”

  30 October 2009

Oleg Kozlovsky links to and quotes from the text of a briefing held by US Helsinki Commission/Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, which included “a few recent examples of how we utilized Web 2.0 to spread information about electoral fraud” in Russia.

Hungary: 1956

  29 October 2009

Hungarian Spectrum writes about an online collection of testimony (HUN) on the events of 1956, which “helped the western powers understand the Hungarian situation, not just events that occurred during the revolution but more importantly the reasons for the outbreak of the uprising.” Remainder of Budapest wrote this on the...

Cuba: Contemplating Change

  28 October 2009

“I think that for Cuba to transition to an open society from a society ‘with some emergency exits’, some of the people now occupying positions of power in the government could take a long vacation…”: Octavo Cerco contemplates what's needed for meaningful change in Cuba.

Azerbaijan: Blogger trial dilemma

  28 October 2009

Following yet another postponement in the trial of detained video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, In Mutatione Fortitudo offers its opinion on the case so far. The blog says the authorities in Azerbaijan face a dilemma. If the two detainees are imprisoned it will result in significant...

Germany and China: Berlin Twitter Wall

  27 October 2009

berlintwitterwall is a project organized by the city of Berlin to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of Berlin wall. The wall is now filled up with messages from Chinese twitterers against the Chinese Great Fire Wall which blocks Chinese Internet user from connecting with the outside world.

Cuba: Feeling the Disconnect

  26 October 2009

Cuba's Generation Y feels like a nomad in cyberspace, but is confident that “one day my blog will be found on a server on this Island and, believe me, it will not be because it has performed an ideological pirouette.”

Russia: Soviet Legacy and Street Names

  23 October 2009

A few weeks ago, it seemed as if every single Russian blogger took the time to write something about the re-naming of Anti-Soviet Shish Kebab Restaurant in Moscow, a dissident journalist's protest article and a pro-Kremlin youth movement's counter-protest activities. One blogger alluded to the scandal in a post about street names that kept on preserving the questionable Soviet legacy.

China: Fanfou is coming back?

  22 October 2009

Fanfou is a micro-blogging tool similar to twitter which has been closed down for more than 100 days in China. However, many still have hope that it will be back. Chinageeks translated a blog post by He Caitou discussing fanfou users’ loyalty towards the platform.

Cambodia: Award honors sex slavery survivor

  22 October 2009

Sina Vann from Cambodia is an activist with the Somaly Mam Foundation helping fellow survivors of slavery as well as those still working in brothels. For her work, she was honored with the Frederick Douglass Award.