Stories about Freedom of Speech from November, 2008
Bahrain: ‘Censoring Free Speech is Like Blocking the Sun’
Boundaries and censorship cannot stop written words from spreading, says a Bahraini blogger. Those attempting to block the free flow of information are only trying to block out the sun, he says in this post written in Arabic.
Cuba: To Choose
“First there were the elections in the United States and now the issue has been revived with what happened on Sunday in Venezuela. It’s as if at the end of the year everything conspires to remind us of our condition as non-electors, our limited experience in deciding who leads us”:...
Afghanistan: Meeting Sayed Pervez Kambakhsh
Nasim Fekrat, an independent Afghan journalist, met with imprisoned journalism student Sayed Pervez Kambakhsh in Pul-e Charkhi prison. He seemed disappointed and desperately waved at me. Only for a few seconds I got closer to him, closer to hear him, which was difficult because of the noise. Suddenly my left...
DRC: Didace Namujimbo Radio Okapi Journalist Murdered
Cedric Kalonji writes about the tragic shooting death of Didace Namujimbo [Fr], the second Radio Okapi journalist to be murdered in Bukavu: “After learning this news, I was torn between pain, sadness and anger. I asked myself how a democracy can last in a country so visibly allergic to independent, professional journalists....
Russia: The Plight of Journalism
As the West continues to turn attention to the Politkovskaya case, Foreign Policy Association's Russia Blog gives focus to the plight of Mikhail Beketov, editor of the obscure Khimki Pravda.
Syria: A Blogosphere Divided
The Syrian blogsphere has been embroiled in a heated debate over the weekend. It is a debate that is quite reflective of some of our modern disagreements as Syrians, over a wide range of basic issues: identity, religion, state and personal freedom. Yazan Badran gathers the different threads of this controversy here.
Egypt: First Human Rights Film Festival
Seven films about human rights are being showcased at the first Cairo Human Rights Film Festival, which continues until Thursday (November 27). Marwa Rakha previews blogger reactions on the event.
Cuba: Hurricane Aftermath
Generation Y takes a road trip to Cuba's Pinar del Rio and is even more convinced that “we have to avoid letting our tendency to forget cover up the situation…we have to go to the affected areas, deliver aid directly, and record the testimonies there. The hurricane-force winds are still...
Latvia: Freedom of speech in peril?
Latvian bloggers react to the security police incarceration of two citizens for publicly criticising the government financial policies. Free Speech Emergency in Latvia covers the story, and Marginalia provides links and comment.
Armenia/Azerbaijan: Journalists Under Attack
Beaten in Armenia and imprisoned in Azerbaijan, journalists in the ex-Soviet South Caucasus know the price of freedom. Some of them are even fighting from prison cells, wrestling state persecution and challenging societal intolerance for dissent. Bloggers tell the story of free speech in the South Caucasus.
Russia: Newspaper Warned off for Extremism
Finrosforum draws attention to Russian authorities warning mainstream newspaper Vedomosti against publishing extremist content.
China: Baidu's new scandal.
CCTV reported that Baidu, referred to as China's Google, had accepted money from illegal medical companies and placed their Web links on top of search results. Baidu’s marketing employees were also reported to have the knowledge of these.The service is called page-rank bid and accounts for more than 80% of...
Egyptian Blogger is Missing
From Egypt, Zeinobia writes: “The famous Egyptian MB blogger Mohamed Adel aka Meit is reportedly missing. No one seems to know for sure where he is currently. Of course the speculations are saying that the State Security has something with this sudden disappearance especially the S.S came and searched his...
Hungary, Slovakia: Tense Relationship
On Nov. 15, Slovak prime minister Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart, Ferenc Gyurcsány, met in the border town of Komárno, Slovakia, in an attempt to ease nationalist tensions that have escalated due to Nov. 1 football game violence in Dunajská Streda, Slovakia. Eva S. Balogh of Hungarian Spectrum has been blogging a lot recently about the Slovak-Hungarian relations, and here are some of the highlights.
Cuba: “Black Spring” Prisoners
Cuban diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense focuses the spotlight on two of the “Black Spring” political prisoners, here and here.
Macau: Say No to Article 23 and White Terror
Macau SAR government issued a draft bill enacting Article 23 of the Macau Basic Law in October. The Law is very sensitive and it would affect every citizen's freedom and rights. Now it is supposed to be the public consultation period, but it seems that the government has been giving...
China: The Longnan riots and the CCP’s global spin campaign
David Bandurski from China Media Project wrote a report on how the CCP manipulated the mass incident happened in Longnan, Gansu through media. Background about Lungnan protest can be found here.
Hong Kong: Protect University Beacon
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is planning to remove the beacon (a symbol of freedom of speech and intellectual exchange) temporarily to build an underground information center. However, there is no public consultation in the campus. At inmediahk.net (zh) eg9515 wrote a citizen report about the confrontation between the...
Sri Lanka: Censoring the web and Internet
ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace) discusses about a proposed law in Sri Lanka restricting private TV broadcasting: “disturbingly, the proposed regulations are a significant challenge to all bloggers in Sri Lanka, since they seek to hold accountable all ISPs for the qualitative nature of the content transmitted, accessed and produced using...
Cambodia's new intellectuals
Vuthasurf uploads an article written by GV author Geoffrey Cain which was published by the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review. The article features young bloggers who are hailed as Cambodia's new intellectuals.
Brazil: Attempts to censor a documentary about censorship
Gagged in Brazil, a documentary about the relationship between politics, media and censorship in Brazil was taken off the Current TV networks after a political party's complaint. After a full investigation into the sources, the film is back online - but media censorship in Minas Gerais is an old and ongoing issue.
