Featured stories from March 2008
Stories from March, 2008
Bahrain: Blogger in Jail for Four Months
Bahraini blogger and human rights activist Abdulla Mohsen (Ar) has been behind bars for more than four months, according to Nido. Nido explains: Abdulla Mohsen has been in prison now more than four months. What is he accused of? Well apparently he and more than thirty others are accused of...
Slide blocked in Turkey
A Turkish court banned access to Slide, the maker of social networking widgets, for “harboring pictures and articles that are considered to be insulting to Ataturk.” In a note to Slide users in Turkey, Slide announced that it has contacted the Turkish government in hopes of resolving the issue: If...
Cuba: Blocking Bloggers
Want to get the Cuban blogosphere talking? Block access to a popular blog. Ever since Cuban authorities did just that to several less-than-supportive Havana-based blogs earlier this week, the blogging diaspora have come out in full support of Cuban bloggers – especially Yoani Sanchez and her popular Generacion Y blog,...
Yemen blocks Maktoob blogging platform
Maktoobblog.com, one of the most popular Arab blogging platform, has been recently blocked in Yemen cutting off Yemeni Internet users from the more than 46960 blogs the service hosts. According to MaktoobBlog, there are currently 1226 Yemeni blogs hosted by the service. All of them disappeared from the Yemeni Internet....
Tunisia: relentless campaign against imprisoned blogger and journalist Slim Boukhdhir
In the last few weeks, Slim Boukhdhir, the 39-year old imprisoned blogger and journalist, is reported to have been subjected to an unusual level of harassment by prison authorities in the Sfax prison where he is serving the one-year sentence imposed by a Tunisian court on December 4th, 2007. Boukdhir...
Bloguer pour une cause !
We are pleased to announce the translation into French of Blog for a Cause!, the Global Voices Guide of Blog Advocacy thanks to Claire Ulrich from Global Voices en Français. Blog for a Cause! has already been translated into Spanish; the translation into Arabic, Chinese and Bengali is on...
Morocco: Fouad Mourtada Update
Fouad Mourtada probably never guessed he’d become a household name. Arrested on February 5 and sentenced on February 22 to three years in prison (plus a $1,000 fine) for creating a Facebook profile impersonating Morocco’s Prince Moulay Rachid, Mourtada is now famous, but unfortunately, that fame has come at an...
Anonymous Blogging guide now available in Chinese
Download PDF Thanks to one very gracious individual who unfortunately insists on remaining anonymous, Global Voices Online co-founder Ethan Zuckerman‘s guide Anonymous Blogging with WordPress and Tor is now available in Chinese, bringing years of experience in combining technology with activism not only to yet another part of the world...
Israel: Israblog's Decision Against Banning Pro-Ana Sites
An agressive campaign to shut down pro-ana blogs has been taking place in the popular Israeli portal Israblog. Pro-ana refers to the promotion or support of anorexia as a lifestyle choice. Many pro-ana organizations state that they exist mainly to give anorexics a place to turn to discuss their illness...
Fouad Alfarhan: Three months in Jail
Three months after his arrest, on 10 December 2007, Saudi blogger Fouad Alfarhan remains jailed for unspecified “violation of non-security regulations.” At this occasion, his nine-year-old daughter Raghad sends him a message in this video published on Alfarhan's blog, which continues to be updated by his friends: A recent report...
Japan: Mixi in hot water over terms of use revision
Japan's hugely popular social networking site Mixi is in hot water this week after news [ja] that a proposed revision to its Terms of Use (ToU), to become effective as of April 1st, will force its users to agree to grant Mixi no-royalty, non-exclusive rights over all content published on...
Armenia: Samizdat & the Internet
After a 20-day state of emergency was declared in Armenia when clashes between security services and supporters of the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, broke out on the streets of the capital following the disputed 19 February presidential election, access to the media has been severely restricted. According to presidential decree,...
EU: Towards a European Global Online Freedom Act
The European Parliament has passed a proposal (571 in favor, 38 against) to treat Internet censorship by national governments as a trade barrier. The proposal was submitted by European Parliament member (MEP) Jules Maaten of the Dutch conservative VVD party. The adopted Maaten amendment calls on the European Commission, “to...
The Blog for a Cause! guide is now available in Spanish
Download PDF Blog for a Cause!, the Global Voices Guide of Blog Advocacy, is now available in Spanish thanks to this translation by María Florencia Puente from Global voices en Español.
