Stories from August, 2007
China Telecom blocks FeedBurner RSS feeds
China Blockpage (China Telecom) Screen shot of blocked FeedBurner via williamlong.info It has been reported that people who are using China Telecom are unable to access FeedBurner feeds. FeedBurner, which has been acquired by Google Inc since June, 2007, is the leading provider of RSS feeds, powering hundreds of thousands...
Thailand: Ban on YouTube lifted; Veoh and MetaCafe blocked
The Thai Information and Communications Technology Ministry has lifted the ban on Youtube.com, Bangkok Pundit reported today. According to The Nation, the Thai government has lifted its ban on YouTube after a deal was made between the video-sharing site and local Thai officials. Youtube “agreed to block any video clips...
Chinese cartoon cops patrolling websites
Image released Tuesday August 28, 2007 by the Beijing Public Security Bureau. In the footsteps of Shenzhen Internet Police, the police in China's capital, Beijing, will start patrolling websites registered on Beijing servers using animated police officers that pop up in a user's browser. From September, 1st, Beijing's new virtual...
Toward a Global anti-censorship Network
During the last six months, since the launch of Global Voices Advocacy, we have been trying to cover the increasingly serious threats to online speech occurring around the globe and the efforts to combat them. We’ve documented the arrest and detention of scores of bloggers and online authors and highlighted...
Thailand: WordPress.com blocked
Thailand blockpage (TOT – Telephone Organization of Thailand): This screen shot was taken by Prachatai.com when access to the popular blogging platform WordPress.com has been blocked (August, 22th, 2007):“Sorry. TOT Plc., as an organization of Thai people, has restrained the access to this website as it contains content, text, and/or...
The Committee to Protect Bloggers is back
The Committee to Protect Bloggers (CPB), “the first organization devoted to the free speech and personal liberty of bloggers worldwide, has come back after a 1+ year hiatus, with a tighter focus. Our primary goal is to act as the comprehensive clearinghouse for information on threatened bloggers and on threats...
UAE: online forum administrator sentenced to prison
Earlier this month, on August 8th, Mohamed Rashed al-Shohhi, an online forum administrator in the Emirate of Ras Al-Khaimah (UAE) has been sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of nearly US$ 13,600 (Dh50,000) for content deemed defamatory published by anonymous on the popular forum board he moderated...
Turkey: wordpress.com ban inspires firestorm of criticism
Turkey blockpage (screen shot of the blocked WordPress.com) “Access to this site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/195 of T.C. Fatih 2.Civil Court of First Instance.”(Source: National Blockpages Gallery | Global Voices Advocacy Blog) Matthew Mullenweg, founding developer of the popular WordPress blogging platform, has received a...
Kuwaiti blogger Bashar Al-Sayegh released!
It has been reported that Bashar Al-Sayegh, the Kuwaiti blogger who has been arrested earlier this week for comment posted by an anonymous on his forum, has been released.
Let Hoder Speak!
Following the suspension of Hossein Derakhshan’s blog (aka Hoder) by the U.S. based hosting company, Hosting Matters, an online petition has been launched by The Eyeranian in support of Hoder’s right to freedom of speech: “Hoder, like all of us, has a right to express his opinion. Opinions expressed in...
Turkey blocks popular blogging platform WordPress.com
The popular, and free, blogging platform WordPress.com has been blocked in Turkey and those who are trying to visit it are seeing this message: “Access to this site has been suspended in accordance with decision no: 2007/195 of T.C. Fatih 2.Civil Court of First Instance.” “I didn’t realize Turkey had...
China: Cyber-dissident jailed for four years.
A Chinese court in the southeastern province of Zhejiang jailed Chen Shuqing, an online author and a founding member of the banned China Democracy Party, for four years on charges of “inciting to subvert state power”. “It's totally wrong to convict him … He was only expressing his political views....
Hossein Derakhshan’s blog is suspended
The blog of the Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan (aka Hoder) has been suspended by the U.S. based hosting company, Hosting Matters, after a complaint filed by lawyers representing Mehdi Khalaji, Next Generation fellow at The Washington Institute. The complaint -not filed to the court- centered on allegedly defamatory content published...
Monaco: webmaster accused of defaming the Head of State
In Monaco (Principality of Monaco), Marc Giacone, the owner of a new satirical website, featuring cartoons allegedly defaming and ridiculing the Prince Albert II and other local politicians risks a 6 month prison sentence and a fine of 1500€. The website, Monaco Politic Circus, which was meant to imitate the...
Part Two: Defending online free speech and environmental rights in Bulgaria
In Part One of this article, I outlined recent threats to the Bulgarian environment and the vibrant web-led protest movement that developed in response. In this article I speak to Milena Bokova, BlueLink Information Network executive director, who talks about the intimidation against her colleague, blogger Michel Bozgounov, the threats...
Bahrain blocks websites critical of the government
“Bahraini authorities launched a campaign against political and human rights websites, which criticize government policies”, The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights reported today, providing a list of the blocked websites: Bahrain center for Human Rights (BCHR), Bahrain Forums, National Edifice Forums, Al-Saheefa newspaper website, Modern Discussion Rezgar website, the...
Part One: Defending online free speech and environmental rights in Bulgaria
For Sale: Strandzha Nature Park. Parcel 1 160 680 dka; view of the sea, beach; located in the east in proximity to Turkey; oak and beech forests; 3 rivers, fishing. Nature pays with its life. Support WWF, protect protected areas. (Source: panda.org/bulgaria) The June 29, 2007 decision of the Bulgarian...
Belarus to increase its control of the Internet
President Alexandre Lukashenko is planning to increase the control of the Internet. “If we read what is posted there, we will see that it serves as a platform not only for the opposition, but for voices and nations that are hostile to us,” Lukashenko said, urging his government to “put...
Tunisia: online writer freed and website editor to appear in court
Last week, the Tunisian government has released the human rights lawyer and online writer Mohammed Abbou who had been jailed for nearly 28 months. Mr Abbou was arrested in March 2005 and sentenced to prison for three-and-a-half years for writing online articles criticizing the Tunisian penitentiary system and comparing his...
Blogging for Kurds’ human rights
Young bloggers from across the Middle East have joined forces to fight for the human rights of their Kurdish brethren: “Our first target is the media which is necessary for Kurds to voice their opinion, thus we are petitioning to unblock these voices, at least on the internet, our only...
