Stories about Freedom of Speech from September, 2010
Italy: Social Media Week in Milan and Worldwide
Social Media Week is an eclectic, multi-city event (Sept 20-24) aimed at connecting people, content, and conversations about emerging trends in social and mobile media.
Vietnam: ‘No Firewall’ website
Pro-democracy group Viet Tan has launched the No Firewall website which aims to “assist Vietnamese internet users learn about circumvention techniques and digital security.” The Vietnam government has been accused of intensifying its internet surveillance activities to restrict dissent in the country
Latvia: Oct. 2 Parliamentary Elections
Notes on the upcoming Oct. 2 parliamentary elections in Latvia – at All About Latvia, Baltic, and Juris Kaža's blogs (here, here, and here).
Latvia: Investigative Journalist Flees the Country
Free Speech Emergency in Latvia reported on Sept. 12: “Lato Lapsa, a controversial Latvian investigative journalist with access to hundreds of pages of documents in a criminal investigation of politician and Ventspils mayor Aivars Lembergs, announced he was fleeing the country and shutting down his websites, including one that was...
Russia: Microsoft and Suppression of Dissent
Reactions to the Sept. 11 New York Times’ story about Microsoft and raids on advocacy groups by the Russian security services – at Oleg Kozlovsky’s English Weblog, Streetwise Professor, and Robert Amsterdam's Blog.
China: New media, new challenges
China media project translated a CCP journal article written by Gao Xinmin on how new media has changed the political culture in China.
Iran: Roses for Derakhshan
Hossein Derakhshan‘s mother in an interview [fa] said that “Hossein repented and want to be useful for his country…Hossein was moved to a better place [cell] in prison and they planted roses for him…Hossein is very depressed…”.
China: Rights to strike
The past year has seen a growing number of Chinese laborers fighting for their rights in incidents from across the country; a recent move by Chinese workers to go on strike in Russia has raised questions on both sides of the border.
Ukraine: “New Memory Engineers” and Ruslan Zabilyi's Case
Timothy Snyder writes on NYRblog about the arrest of Ruslan Zabilyi, the director of a Lviv museum “devoted to the occupation of Ukraine by the Nazis and the Soviets”: “Under Yanukhovych, Ukraine’s new memory engineers are using force.” Steve Bandera of Kyiv Scoop offers more insight: “These are the kind...
Egypt: Did Gamal Mubarak Order a Blog Block?
Zeinobia, from Egypt, reports that political activist and blogger Amr Osama's blog was allegedly blocked, following a complaint from Gamal Mubarak‘s office.
Egypt/Syria: Free Tal
Egyptian Zeinobia reports on a protest held by Egyptian activists in front of the Syrian Embassy in Cairo in solidarity with arrested 19-year-old Syrian blogger Tal Mallohi. More information is available here and here.
Mozambique: “Bread Riots” Reflections
Globally and in Maputo, bloggers reflected on the unrest in Maputo and the government's response, addressing the economic, political and social aspects of events. Critiques of "civil society", globalization and Mozambique's economic model were numerous.
Afghanistan: Guide to Afghan shortwave radio
Nick Fielding informs his readers on a useful guide to shortwave radio broadcasts to Afghanistan, released recently by the British DX Club.
Cambodia: Controversial mobile phone ad
An advertisement of a major Cambodian mobile phone service provider is being criticized by many netizens for promoting bad internet behavior among the youth. Bloggers are pushing for the removal of the ad.
China: Yihuang Self-Immolation Incident and the Power of Microblogging
Chinese online public opinion has once again changed the course of an event, this time regarding a forced demolition and consequent self-immolation protest in Yihuang county, Jiangxi. On September 10, the Zhong family were confronted by 40 local police officers and urban administrators seeking to carry out the forced demolition...
Chile: Police Break up Display of Mapuche Flag During Bicentennial Celebrations
Montserrat Nicolas shares a citizen video of an incident during the bicentennial celebrations; the video shows police breaking up a display of a Mapuche flag and apprehending those involved.
South Africa: Thou Shall Not Burn the Bible
A South African businessman and law student Mohammed Vawda planned to burn the Bible on September 11, 2010 in Johannersburg central business district. He claims that he was enraged by pastor Terry Jones who wanted to burn the Koran in the United States of America. The South African High Court stopped Mohammed from setting the Bible on fire arguing that the act was an insult to all religions. The ruling has receive mixed reactions from bloggers.
Iran: Jailed blogger, Hossein Derakhshan (“Hoder”) may face death penalty
Tehran's prosecutor is seeking the death penalty for jailed Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan ("Hoder"). The judge has not yet ruled. Derakhshan stands accused of “collaborating with enemy states, creating propaganda against the Islamic regime, insulting religious sanctity, and creating propaganda for anti-revolutionary groups.” He was arrested 22 months ago.
Russia: Intellectual Property Rights as NGO Prosecution Tool?
Rebecca MacKinnon calls for revising software copyright policy following the story in Irkutsk, where local authorities used the excuse of struggling against illegal software to confiscate local NGO's computers. Irkutsk case represents a wider problem of using intellectual property protection as a justification for prosecution of human rights activists all...
