Stories from February, 2013
[Webcast] Internet Censorship and the Remembrance of Infowars Past
With Internet censorship on the rise around the world, organizations and researchers have developed and distributed a variety of tools to assist Internet users to both monitor and circumvent such censorship.
Pakistan's Darkest Night On Social Media
A massive power breakdown rocked Pakistan at 11:45 pm on Sunday, 24 February 2013, plunging 70 percent of the country into darkness for 14 hours. People turned to humor on social media to make life easy during the blackout.
Why Are Tourists Not Wanted at French Carnival?
A video featuring a group of masked Carnival revelers in Dunkirk, France chanting "we don't like tourists" has some web users ruing the flood of visitors who come year after year unprepared for the festival's madness.
Costa Rica: Time of the Vanquished
In the post titled “Time of the vanquished” [es], the blog Furia raises profound reflections about what happens when quietness comes. It concludes its reflections by saying: “in order to conquer the silence of the serenity, the vanquished ones invent new ghosts that whisper in their ears. To win, to...
Ghana: Vote for African Women's Development Fund Blog
Vote for African Women's Development Fund blog which has been nominated in the first ever Blogging Ghana awards: “I’m really pleased that AWDF’s blog has been nominated in the category of ‘best organisational blog’. Many thanks to all of the AWDF staff that have contributed to this blog. I plan...
Monitoring Dangerous Speech in Kenya
Umati is a project that seeks to monitor and report the role of new media on an election: “Our Kenya-based project has citizens at its core and uses relevant technologies to collect,organize, analyze, and disseminate the information collected.”
The Land Problem in Kenya
Chrenyan discusses the land problem, which has become an election issue in Kenya: “It is a historical injustice for the Kenyatta family to own (it is said) half a million acres of land, all over this country (including thousands of acres in Coast Province). The defence that this land was...
U.S. and South Korea: A Show of Force, But Running Out of Options?
North Korea’s third nuclear test provided the ideal opportunity for the United States and South Korea to respond with their own displays of military muscle. But what will be their next move?
Interactive Maps of China’s Most and Least Polluted Places
Beijing recently experienced its worst day of air quality on record. Since then, reporting on China’s “airpocalypse” has been accompanied by what seems like a monochromatic slideshow of the country’s iconic cities all smothered in thick smog.
Brazil: Cable Car Goes Up, Houses Come Down for World Cup
The construction of a cable car for tourists in preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the Morro da Providência favela in Rio de Janeiro is kicking residents out. Demolished houses are being traded for a stipend of 400 reais (200 US dollars), and many families have been unable find a place to live.
Weary of Austerity, Portugal Sings a Song of Revolution
Thousands of Portuguese people have promised a massive anti-austerity protest on March 2, 2013. Leading up to the date, demonstrators have led a campaign to interrupt government ministers during their public appearances by singing a historic song used by revolutionaries who toppled the country's dictatorship in 1974.
#Wikimodernism: Catalan Modernism, from the Classroom to the Web
The mystery behind the dreamy aesthetic of Barcelona's fantastic architecture is only a click away. Art history students in Barcelona are trading in traditional homework to share their learning about Catalan Modernism with the world.
First Crowdsourced News Site in Myanmar
A group of young programmers in Myanmar launched the country's first ever crowdsourced news site called “Buzz in Myanmar“. With the slogan “News for people, by people”, netizens are allowed and encouraged to submit neighborhood and other local news.
Being Fat, Talking Fat in South Korea
Many reports have been made about South Koreans’ obsessions with body image, some with shallow understanding of Korean culture. Youtube user durkeeinkorea in this video shares his experience in Korea where people are very ‘open about talking others weight’ and ‘calling someone fat’ in public happens frequently, with no harms intended.
Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood or the CIA?
The Muslim Brotherhood will soon confuse the world, if it decides to go ahead with a name change. Egyptian Bassem Sabry explains: @Bassem_Sabry: My friend @HaniSabra has just noticed the new name being considered by the MB, “The Comprehensive Islamic Authority,” has the acronym “CIA.”
A Monologue of Blood and Bullets Precedes Yemen's National Dialogue
Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi finally payed a long overdue visit to Aden on Sunday evening, February 24th, after four days of ongoing bloody clashes, which erupted between police and pro-independence demonstrators on Thursday. How will this effect the National Dialogue, scheduled to take place on March 18? Netizens weigh in as more violence shakes the country.
Open Letter to China on Human Rights
Just prior to China's annual “two meetings” of the NPC and CPPCC, which are scheduled to convene on March 5, more than 100 prominent individuals — including academics, journalists, lawyers and economists signed an open letter calling on China's government to immediately ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The open letter, circulated on Chinese social media...
VIDEO: In Bolivia, Indigenous Women Draw Society's Short Straw
Marisol, an indigenous Bolivian woman, says that in her country "being an indigenous woman is the worst thing that can happen to you." Her testimony is part of a news report by Mario Munera which explores the lives of Bolivian women in the contexts of education, politics and sexist violence. The report "Women in Bolivia" was published in Periodismo Humano.
A Futile Gagging Order for the ‘Prisoner X’ Scandal
For a whole day, Israeli media were forbidden from reporting on the Prisoner X story, even as it was making headlines worldwide and Israelis disseminated the news in social media and blogs.
Iran's New Stealth Fighter Soars Across Fake Sky
Iranian bloggers revealed this month that an official photo of Iran’s newly unveiled stealth fighter, Qaher-313, is a fake photoshopped image.
