· April, 2012

Stories about Freedom of Speech from April, 2012

India: Protests Against the New IT Rules

In April 2011 the Indian government quietly issued amendments to the IT rules restricting web content that are designated as “disparaging,” “harassing,” “blasphemous” or “hateful.” The Indian netizens are campaigning against it online and are organizing street protests.

28 April 2012

Russia: Dombrovsky and Molotov

RuNet Echo

The Faculty of Useless Knowledge tells a story of writer Yuri Dombrovsky‘s brief encounter with Vyacheslav Molotov, and shares a link to a documentary [ru] about Dombrovsky's life.

27 April 2012

Puerto Rico: Student Detained After Performance Deemed “Indecent”

Charlene Jane González de Jesús, a student at the University of Puerto Rico, was detained by state police last Thursday, April 19 at the institution's Río Piedras campus after taking her top off in public as part of a performance art piece in protest of gender inequality. The case has ignited intense debate on blogs and social media networks.

25 April 2012

Cuba: Resorting to Hunger Strike

Cuban netizens, primarily from the diaspora, are once again blogging about instances of police abuse in the country and how the island's justice system routinely makes hunger-strikers out of prisoners of conscience.

25 April 2012

Malaysia: Occupy Dataran Merdeka and Education Protests

The April 28 Bersih 3.0 sit-down protest is expected to be the major political event of the month in Malaysia but students and Occupy activists have already put forward their demands ahead of time. Students marched in the streets against the 'anti-poor' student loan program while activists launched the Occupy Dataran movement to 'reclaim' democracy in the country

24 April 2012

Malaysia Prepares for Bersih 3.0 Sit-Down Protest

The Malaysia election reform movement Bersih (Clean) has organized a Bersih 3.0 Duduk Bantah (sit-in protest) on April 28 at Dataran Merdeka. It's the same group which gathered more than 50,000 people in Kuala Lumpur last year in protest against the 'undemocratic' electoral exercise in the country

24 April 2012

Panama: President Martinelli's Confrontation with Journalist Generates Controversy

President Ricardo Martinelli called a press conference to clear up the matter of the scandal connecting him with the Italian businessman Lavitola, but he ended up in a confrontation with a journalist, making reference to a past drug problem. Social networks immediately reverberated with shows of contempt for and condemnation of the President's words.

23 April 2012