· April, 2010

Stories about Freedom of Speech from April, 2010

Caucasus: Social Innovation Camp

Although Internet penetration remains low in the South Caucasus, all indications are that new and social media has an increasingly important role to play in the area of democratization and activism. With that in mind, the first Social Innovation Camp in the region took place in Tbilisi, Georgia on 8-10 April.

19 April 2010

Sri Lanka: Heading For An Internet Dark Age?

“Given the bent of the Defence Secretary, post-war Sri Lanka is set to head into an Internet dark age,” comments Sanjana Hattotuwa while discussing about the inclination of the Sri...

19 April 2010

China: Verdict announced in Fujian Three netizen trial

The three netizens in Fujian province arrested last summer for their role in seeking the truth behind the death of Yan Xiaoling were given sentences on Friday ranging from 1-2 years. One retired senior official sees the charges as part of a larger crackdown on social activism.

18 April 2010

Did internal wounds kill the Fiji Times

Many prognosticators worry about how Fiji's proposed media ownership law will affect the Rupert Murdoch-owned Fiji Times. But a former staffer said in Cafe Pacific both foreign and local management...

17 April 2010

Cuba: Testimony

Uncommon Sense reports that a Cuban prisoner of conscience has testified about “the tortures suffered by fellow political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo between when he was imprisoned in April 2003...

16 April 2010

Kazakhstan: Internet Users Love Opera

KZBlog informs that Opera 10 is the most popular browser in Kazakhstan. As journalists allege, this might be due to the feature which compresses web pages on a remote server....

16 April 2010

China: Propaganda order Google calendar

Chinese journalists have over the past two years become more open about discussing news blackout orders received from propaganda departments. Those on Twitter have recently begun posting the contents of...

15 April 2010

China: Web mobilizes to help Yushu earthquake victims

Between local government attempts to keep news of the Yushu earthquake contained and China's top leaders calling for "all-out" assistance from the public, desire from offline and virtual civil society to contribute to rescue efforts any way they can has been loud and forward.

14 April 2010

Cuba: Hunger Strike Victory

Cuban political prisoner Dr. Darsi Ferrer has ended his hunger strike “after officials said they would meet his demands”, which Uncommon Sense says is “good news for freedom in Cuba”...

13 April 2010

Bangladesh: Bangla Blogs At The BOBS – Meet Ali Mahmed

Bangla (Bengali) language blogs have been included for the first time in the Deutsche Welle's 2010 BOBS awards. We have interviewed Ali Mahmed (Shuvo), a leading nominee for the best of the Bangla blogs category, to learn about his blogging and the blogging scene in Bangladesh.

11 April 2010