Stories about Protest from August, 2020
Japan reacts to tennis star Naomi Osaka’s protest in support of Black Lives Matter
Before I'm an athlete I am a black woman. And as a Black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand.
Hong Kong police accused of rewriting history to oppress political dissent
Hong Kong police manipulates narratives of mob violence to accuse political opponents of disturbing the peace and arrest them despite multiple video proofs of their innocence
Belarusian labour activists pressured as political crisis drags on
Growing labour unrest and strikes at key state-owned businesses have become a major challenge to embattled president Alyaksandr Lukashenka. The authorities have struck back with a pressure campaign against the workers involved.
Collusion accusations grow between Haitian government and organised crime groups
"[...] The gang leaders are seemingly free from persecution so long as they help keep the peace in the neighborhoods they control."
Reorienting Taiwan and Hong Kong: New avenues for building power
" ... Taiwanese theorist Wu Jieh-min once posed what seems in retrospect a rather utopian vision of activists in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China uniting to combat their shared enemy—the CCP."
Here's why this feminist philosopher has high hopes for Belarus’ protests
For the feminist and political philosopher Olga Shparaga, the protests in her country offer a chance to develop new solidarities and forge a feminist agenda for Belarus' future development
From horticulture to Harry Potter cosplay, Thai students find creative ways to protest against repression
Students across Thailand have been organizing protests demanding “an end to the authorities’ harassment of citizens, the drafting of a new constitution, and the dissolution of parliament.”
‘Uyghur pop music humanizes and amplifies their hopes': Interview with musicologist Elise Anderson
"Uyghur pop is a source of both entertainment and rich inner life. Another role it can play is in humanizing and amplifying Uyghur hopes, aspirations, and lives."
Islamophobic post on Facebook leads to deadly violence in Bangalore
India experiences another episode of real-life violence triggered by online hate speech.
‘Concerned IT specialists’ launch database of detained Belarusian protesters
Since August 9, over 7,000 people have been detained in mass protests against the Belarusian government. A new database provides their names and locations — in a bid to get them home safely.
Belarus in turmoil: The view from neighbouring Lithuania
Lithuania has long played an outsized role in European engagement with Belarus. Its capital Vilnius teems with political exiles from Minsk — are today's protesters fated to join them?
How one Telegram channel became central to Belarus’ protests
A channel on the Telegram messeng er service run by four Belarusian journalists in Poland has become a crucial source of information on the political upheavals in their homeland
Indonesian students expelled from school face treason charges for joining a protest on Papua
"Khairun University should support academic freedom and free expression, not expel students peacefully expressing their views."
Natives’ or ‘outsiders'? A mob attack in Meghalaya throws questions of belonging into sharp relief
The ethnic tensions of Meghalaya – and many more of India's north-eastern states – can be traced back to the 'outsider' narrative.
An earthquake shook Tanzania. A new law prohibits citizens from speaking about it online.
Revised online content regulations in Tanzania prohibit talking about pandemics, natural disasters or politics without government approval. Is it possible to control essential online conversations? If so, at what cost?
‘This is a partisan movement of a partisan nation': a Belarusian poet reflects on her homeland's turmoil
"The greatest weakness made visible in these past months has been how little the state knows its own people," says poet Valzhyna Mort
Belarusian workers support protesters with growing strikes
Workers across the country are striking in solidarity with Belarusians who have been detained and beaten during mass protests against President Alexander Lukashenka.
Meet the artist embroidering Belarus’ protests
From faraway Prague, the Belarusian artist Rufina Bazlova is paying homage to the protests in her homeland by depicting them in traditional Belarusian embroidery.
Human rights defenders and journalists under attack in Southeast Asia
The past two weeks saw several disturbing cases of arrests, convictions, and raids targeting human rights activists and journalists in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
Belarus shuts down internet as thousands protest election results
As Alexander Lukashenka won a sixth consecutive term as president on August 10, Belarusians across the country faced difficulties getting online. Digital rights activists blame the authorities; the authorities blame foreigners.
How the murder of musician Hachalu Hundessa incited violence in Ethiopia: Part II
Within an hour of musician Hachalu Hundessa’s assassination, Ethiopians netizens hit social media with scattershot conspiracy theories, hate speech & disinformation campaigns — particularly on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
