Stories about Freedom of Speech from April, 2009
Cuba: Female Political Prisoner Released
Diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense reports that “perhaps the best known female political prisoner in Cuba” has been released.
China: Plurk is blocked
Erick Schonfeld from Techcrunch reported that plurk has been blocked in China. The question followed is will twitter be the next in the ban list?
Kuwait: Blackberry Lunches, Arab Sex Talk and Election Responsibility Plea
From the censorship of video games to discussions about Kuwait's upcoming parliamentary elections on May 16, the Kuwaiti blogosphere offers a mixed bag this week. Also in this post, by Amer Al Hilal, a concern raised by a Kuwaiti female blogger about Arab women talking about sex in public.
Cuba, U.S.A.: What Next?
“After a week in which President Obama announced new Cuba policy measures and discussed Cuba policy at the Trinidad summit,” The Cuban Triangle asks: “Where do things stand?”
Sri Lanka: Internet Strengthens Democracy
ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace) comments: “the Internet and web can and will be used for democracy and human progress and that more, not less, information in the hands of citizens strengthens democratic governance.”
MENA: Reflections on Durban II
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech, and the way European Union representatives reacted to it at the United Nations Conference on Racism in Geneva (Durban II), has stirred debates among bloggers across the Middle East. Eman AbdElRahman sums up reactions in this post.
Brazil: Judicial decisions, a growing threat to online freedom
When it comes to freedom on the Internet, Brazil is a free country according to recent report. However, bloggers face a growing threat from judicial decisions leading to content censorship and the risk of prosecution for libel and defamation. News of blogs being closed down, bloggers having to delete posts or receiving threats abound, appearing on a near monthly basis.
Egypt: Excuse for Syrian ban of Facebook “Stupid”
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia is not convinced with a Syrian Minister's excuse for the banning of Facebook – that it was banned to protect Syrians. She writes: “I do not know how she invented this stupid answer that shows a complete ignorance with the internet and the facebook not to mention...
Cuba: The Outside World
“The Summit of the Americas ended yesterday and it doesn’t appear that an urgent meeting of parliament…is being convened to discuss the proposals made by Obama”, writes Cuba's Generation Y, adding: “I can’t help asking myself, then, if all this ‘olive branch’ and the willingness to touch on broad themes,...
Russia: Hyde Park; WinRAR; Hot Water; etc.
A few links to recent posts at IZO: president Medvedev “to create a Russian Speaker's Corner, based on Hyde Park”; a Russian ad agency shows “how the WinRAR data compression utility shrinks files” – “bad idea, badly executed”; a useful link for Moscow-based readers who'd like to know when there'll...
Bahrain: BahrainBlogs.org Blocked by Information Ministry
Silly Bahraini Girl reports that her country's Information Ministry has blocked access to Bahrainblogs.org, an aggregator which brings all Bahraini blogs under one roof.
Haiti: Senate Elections
Alice Smeets posts a series of photographs of Haiti's senatorial elections this past weekend, while My Life, an Open Book… says: “It turned out to be a terrible election…not because people were killed, but because the voice of the people was not heard.”
China: Property giant block newspapers
On April 15, Xinjiang Property Management issued an order to all of the communities it manages in Urumqi to block Morning Post newspaper carriers from entering – Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated local reports on how private corporate tried to manipulate the media.
China: Impact of New Media
China Digital Times reports on Liu Jianqiang, Zhang Ping, Wang Lixiong's sharing on the impact of new media in a round table discussion at the University of California, Berkeley.
China: More on Jackie Chan
Kai Pan from CNReview translates Jackie Chan's comment on “Chinese need more control” with more semantic analysis of the context. Imagethief wonders where exactly should we place the context then?
China: Free Wu Baoquan
A netizen has been sentenced to 2 year imprisonment for criticizing Ordos city government (in Inner Mongolia) for illegal land requisition. Spontaneous Online campaign calling for justice to Wu has been harmonized. (more in GVA).
Lebanon: Activists Experiment with Social Media
The use of social media tools such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and mobile technology has become increasingly popular in activism and advocacy work worldwide in recent years. In Lebanon, a group called Social Media Exchange teaches activists how to utilise social media to promote their work and reach a wider audience. Mohammmad Azraq digs into the Lebanese social networking and online scene to find out more.
Iran: Diplomats walk out at Ahmadinejad's speech
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today made headlines once more, when he referred to Israel as a “racist state” during a address at United Nations conference on racism in Geneva, Switzerland. Delegates from several European nations walked out of the conference in protest at Ahmadinejad's remark. Jomhour has published the following video...
Americas: 5th Summit Reactions
The much-hyped Fifth Summit of the Americas is now over, culminating with the Hemispheric leaders' adoption of the Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain - albeit with one signatory - the Prime Minister of host country Trinidad and Tobago, who purportedly signed on behalf of all participating leaders. This signaled to many a clear lack of unanimity on the final declaration, hardly surprising given the differing agendas of the 34 participating nations. Bloggers were quick to post their impressions of the three-day engagement.
Jackie Chan: Chinese need control
“I'm mot sure if it's good to have freedom or not, I'm really confused now. If there is too much freedom, like the way Hong Kong is today, it is very chaotic; Taiwan is also chaotic. I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled.” – Jackie...
Moldova: “Making Sense of Recent Events”
Below is a follow-up to the three earlier GV posts on the blog coverage of the protests and rioting in Chisinau, Moldova, that followed the April 5 election.
