· January, 2010

Stories about Freedom of Speech from January, 2010

Belarus: LGBT Issues

BelarusDigest quotes from a chapter on Belarus that was included in the Greenwood Encyclopedia of LGBT Issues Worldwide earlier this year.

31 January 2010

Tajikistan: Judges seek to silence press

Alpharabius posts a story of the Tajik high-level judges, who conspired to punish three independent newspapers for publishing a sensational story about unlawful conviction practices at the courts.

31 January 2010

Sri Lanka: ‘Lanka E news’ Banned

Journalists For Democracy In Sri Lanka blog informs that “the office of the ‘Lanka e news’, a prominent news website operating from Sri Lanka, has been sealed off by the...

30 January 2010

Russia: CJR Piece on the Media

Robert Amsterdam recommends Adam Federman's article on the Russian media, published in Columbia Journalism Review: “[…] Federman focuses on the remaining mechanisms and political dynamics for freedom of press and...

29 January 2010

Azerbaijan: Democracy is…

Önər Blog [AZ] posts a video [EN] made by the OL! Azerbaijani Youth Movement for the Democracy Video Challenge. OL! has been exemplary in its use of new media in...

29 January 2010

Russia: Political Dossier Web Site Shut Down

RuNet Echo

Compromat.ru, a notorious Web site that publishes controversial dossiers on various Russian politicians and businessmen, has been allegedly closed following a court order, Elena Tokareva (a.k.a. LJ user elena-tokareva2) reported...

28 January 2010

Egypt: The Right to Speak Up

Egyptian bloggers and activists held a conference on January 22 in defense of their right to speak up after more than 20 Egyptian bloggers were arrested when their train arrived in the village of Naga Hammady where the Coptic massacre took place. Marwa Rakha sums up their reactions to their detention in this post.

28 January 2010

Russia: Prosecution Against Opposition Blogger Stopped

RuNet Echo

The first criminal case against a blogger in Russia with a happy ending unfolded over a long period of time. After two years of investigation and three socio-linguistic assessments, experts didn't find any evidence of "incitement hatred against police and Russian Security Service officers." But the blogger's victory, however, is rather an exception than a rule.

28 January 2010

Belarus: Politics and Economy Update

Belarus Digest reports on the ongoing political repressions in Belarus; the governement's plan “to introduce censorship on the Internet about a year before the next presidential election”; the new price...

28 January 2010

Russia: Newspaper Web Site Hacked

RuNet Echo

The Web site of a popular Russian newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” has been hacked today, RIA news agency reported [EN]. Allegedly, the attack has been provoked by the article [RUS] about...

26 January 2010

South Korea: Mediact to be dismantled

Mediact, South Korea's first public media center, will be dismantled in 1st of February under the Lee Myung Bak's government (more from interlocals). A petition has been launched to save...

26 January 2010

Syria: Netizens Discuss SourceForge Ban

A day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a free and open Internet, Syrian users noticed they could no longer access open-source software community SourceForge. Bloggers react to the block.

26 January 2010

Philippines: Blogger charged with libel

A Filipino blogger was charged with a libel suit by the secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development after writing about the ‘rotting’ relief goods in a government...

26 January 2010

Iran: Iranians commemorate Neda's birthday

Iranians inside and outside the country remembered Neda Soltan's birthday. Neda was shot dead by Basij militia on June 20, 2009, during a protest against the presidential election results that declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad president. Her death was captured on video and uploaded to the Internet. She died with her eyes wide open, and her last moments transcended citizen media to mainstream media, reaching millions of people.

25 January 2010

China: War of Internet Addiction

DigiCha introduces an online video called “War of Internet Addiction” which a satire on the government’s attempt to “harmonize” China’s Internet with forced installations of “Green Dam Youth Escort” and...

25 January 2010