· January, 2011

Stories about Weblog from January, 2011

Sudan: People's Revolution in the Making?

Following mass protests in Tunisia and Egypt, a group Sudanese activists have chosen January 30, 2011 to be the beginning of peaceful demonstrations to bring down Omar al-Bashir and his government. Here is a roundup of latest tweets using the hashtag #SudanJan30.

30 January 2011

Maldives: In Solidarity with Egypt

The ongoing protests in Egypt have ‘electrified’ netziens in the Maldives. These uprisings have a special significance to the Maldivians as it brings back flashbacks of pro-democracy protests held only a few years ago to bring democracy to the Indian Ocean island nation.

30 January 2011

Egypt: The World is Watching

As Egyptian demonstrators take to the streets for the sixth day in a row, netizens continue to pull all the stops to keep the world informed of what is happening on the ground. Here's a snapshot of reactions from Twitter this morning, compiled by Jordanian Nadine Toukan.

30 January 2011

Saudi Arabia: Jeddah Rain .. Again

Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port city of Jeddah has been lashed with rain again, bringing back the ill-fated #Jeddahrain hashtag to our Twitterfeeds. Following are reactions from netizens, who poured their wrath on corruption and Jeddah's deteriorating infrastructure.

30 January 2011

Philippines: SIM cards – to register or not to register?

The mandatory cell phone SIM card registration proposal continues to generate an intense online debate in the Philippines as bloggers share their views whether the measure will be an effective anti-terror tool. Here are more voices from the Philippine blogosphere.

30 January 2011

Maldives to Egypt: Can a Revolution be Censored?

When the Egyptian government decided to go for a total Internet shutdown of the country to curb the growing anti-government protests, people in the Maldives were reminded of 13 August, 2004, when the government of Maldives blocked Internet in the country following a massive pro-democracy demonstration.

30 January 2011

Netherlands: Dutch-Iranian woman executed in Iran

Dutch-Iranian Zahra Bahrami has been executed in Iran after having been found guilty of drug-related crimes and sentenced to death on 2 January. Zahra Bahrami was arrested on 27 December 2009 when she reportedly attended an anti-government demonstration.

29 January 2011

Egypt in Photographs: From the Streets of Cairo

When not out on the streets of Cairo, human rights activist and Global Voices Advocacy contributor Ramy Raoof has been uploading photographs of demonstrations to share with the world. In this post, we share Raoof's images from Cairo.

29 January 2011

Egypt: When Mubarak's Speech Fires Back

After keeping quiet as protests raged Egypt for four days in a row, a defiant president Hosni Mubarak addressed the nation early today, calling protesters "gangs" and "thugs." He also fired the cabinet and said that he would reinstate a new cabinet today. Netizens from around the world are not only disappointed, but outraged with his speech.

29 January 2011

Lebanon: Protest in Support of Egypt

A solidarity protest in support of the demonstrators in Egypt is taking place next to the Egyptian Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Similar protests are being reported around the world, as Egyptians continue to rally against the 30-year rule of president Hosni Mubarak.

29 January 2011

Brazil: Ministry of Culture abandons Creative Commons

Brazilian Minister of Culture's decision to remove a Creative Commons license from its website provoked all sorts of reactions on social networks and among bloggers. It is the first instance of undoing of the previous government inclusive public policies regarding Internet, digital culture and authorial rights.

29 January 2011

Egypt: Demonstrations Continue for Fifth Day

Widespread demonstrations continue to rock Egypt for the fifth day in a row, as netizens around the world continue to closely watch developments on the ground. Reports say the millions of demonstrators are taking to the streets to protest against president Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

29 January 2011

China: 88% of Chinese trust government?

Edelman, one of the top five global public relations firms, released its 2011 Trust Barometer on January 26 2011. The report indicates that China ranked first, with 88% trust, in the world in terms of trust government. On the other hand, the United States fell from 46% to 40%.

29 January 2011

Philippines: Online debate over SIM registration

The registration of cellphone subscriber identification module (SIM) cards has become a hot topic for Filipino netizens as lawmakers pushed for the measure in the wake of a recent bus bombing that allegedly involved the use of a cellphone.

29 January 2011

Egypt: Citizen Videos Manage to Bypass Blockage

Although the internet and mobile phone shutdown during the protests of the past few days have made it harder for people in Egypt to show the rest of the world what is happening at ground level during the protests, some citizen videos have made it through.

28 January 2011

Egypt: Is the Army on the People's Side?

Following massive protests across Egypt today, the army was deployed to enforce a night time curfew. On Twitter, the news was received with surprise, with reports that the army was on the people's side. Following is a selection of tweets from across the region.

28 January 2011

Egypt: Visualizing Topics Shared on Twitter

Twitter has played an instrumental role in keeping the world abreast of the latest developments in Egypt, where demonstrations against the 30-year rule of president Hosni Mubarak have entered their fourth day. The following widget shows Twitter content mentioning the hashtag #jan25 over the last three days, and are all related to terms mentioned in people's Twitter messages.

28 January 2011