Stories about Freedom of Speech from July, 2008
China: Vulgar Websites
Eric from DANWEI pointed out that the Internet society in China has recently classified six websites and forums as vulgar. The society is now responsible for getting complaints from netizens.
Russia: Should Internet Be Subjected to Mass Media Laws?
Russian Cyberspace accounts for continued discussions in Russia on whether to define the Internet as mass media and thus subject it to the same legislative framework as traditional mass media.
Brazil: Electoral censorship at work
Pedro Dória [pt] reports that a contestant in the local elections for Porto Alegre, Brazil, was forced to close down her Orkut account and suspend her videos on YouTube. “They are being censored: they can't express themselves using all the resources allowed by the Internet allows. They can not use...
Zimbabwe: Open letter from Tsvangirai on the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding
This is Zimbabwe posted an open letter from the President of the leader of the opposition Morgan Tsvangirai on yesterday's signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.
Barbados, Cuba, U.S.A.: The Times Rejects Mc Cain
Caribbean blogs are irate over The New York Times‘ rejection of John Mc Cain's rebuttal to Barack Obama's recent editorial on Iraq: Babalu Blog: “Who the hell gave them the power to think they speak on behalf of my best interests?” Barbados Free Press: “As much as we support Obama,...
Cuba: Cyber-Citizens?
“Never having become citizens in the real world, it is hard for us to behave as citizens on the web”: Yoani Sanchez at Generation Y shares her thoughts about the virtual Cuba.
China: Insulting Olympics
Anti-CNN starts to monitor overseas organizations which produce images that insult the Beijing Olympics. A spotted case is the Sweden youth red cross.
China: Another Friend Missing at MSN
Mo Zhi xu missed another friend, Du Dao-bin, at his MSN list before the Olympics. Du has to stay in prison for 2 years and 5 months because of his online writings.
China: A 50 Cent Party Case Study
ESWN notices a 50 cent action in the the Weng'an Incident.
Cuba: Nothing is Free
A long wait at a “free” clinic gets Yoani Sanchez thinking about the true cost of freedom: “I imagine that Aladdin’s lamp, rubbed by eleven million Cubans, has succeeded in providing these hospitals, schools and other publicized ‘subsidies.’ But the image of the genie with his three wishes doesn’t last...
China: Bloggers take stand against web activist's arrest
"We would hate to see this case become yet another dismal human rights record raising international attention in the midst of this Olympic year. We regret to suspect, however, that the Chengdu police are at present committed to doing as much."
Brazil: On authoriterrorism and online surveillance
Over 60 bloggers attended the blog carnival against censorship [pt] this Saturday, most of them posting especially about the new cyber crimes proposal for Brazil. The bill has now proceeded to the House of Representatives, where a request for it to be handled urgently was put forward last week, leaving bloggers on red alert. Over 70,000 signed an online petition against it.
Taiwan: Observations on Yahoo! Taiwan's search filter
We hear about issues on censorship a lot on Global Voices Online and our Advocacy Project, and most of the cases come from Government policies or business self-censorship because of Government policies. However, fierce business competition can sometimes result in censorship...or a kind of.
Brazil: Cybercrime bill is now translated
Nardol translated the new Brazilian Cyber Crime Bill: “So the World can be made aware of what’s going on in Brazil. I also just sent an email with it to EFF, asking for their help. Not that I think they can do much, but they surely will know one or...
Brazil: Blogging Against Web-Censorship
Censura Não! (No Censorship!, PT) issued on last July 5th a call for a collective blogging on July 19th (today) against web-censorship and the Azeredo Bill . Many Brazilian blogs, like Luz de Luma [Pt] and Ladybug [Pt] answered to the call.
Sudan: Reactions to the ICC charges against al-Bashir
Since the ICC's prosecutor asked for an arrest warrant for President al-Bashir of Sudan a few days ago, there haven't been many big reactions in the Sudanese blogosphere (although we covered reactions of several bloggers elsewhere in Africa in this roundup). However, the Sudanese debate has been alive and full of passion on Facebook.
Ukraine: Ukrainska Pravda Reporter Interrogated
Ukrainiana writes about the questioning of an Ukrainska Pravda reporter in connection with Yushchenko poisoning case.
Macedonia: Traditional Media Demonize Gamers
Two influential Macedonian media outlets, Dnevnik daily and A1 TV, have recently published technophobic articles portraying the gamers as menace to society, using language bordering on hate speech. Filip Stojanovski reviews the reactions of Macedonian bloggers.
China: Yang Jia Harmonized
Lui Xiaoyuan got the message from Sohu blog editor that articles about cop killer Yang Jia have become sensitive and some of those have to be blocked.
Malaysia: Blogger charged for criminal defamation
Prominent Malaysian blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin has been charged for criminal defamation. Benstakes informs us that this is in relation to the blogger's accusation about the alleged involvement of the wife of the deputy Prime Minister in the murder of a Mongolian model.
Serbia: EXIT Festival
Bosnia Vault writes about “the famed EXIT festival in Novi Sad” – and the politics that surrounds it.
