Stories from 23 November 2008
Iran: Cyber Writers Jailed and Threatened and Millions of Sites Filtered
Iranian cyber writers are facing a very difficult time. We can summarize Iran's current situation in three words: Jail, Filtering and Threats. Iranian authorities recently jailed two cyber writers. Read more in this post about the threats and harassment cyber activists are facing in Iran.
Yemeni blogger appeals to prevent possible assassination
In a rather emotional entry posted on his blog, Nashwan Abdu Ali Ghanim, a Yemeni blogger with blogs on maktoobblogs.com and kitab.com called upon international advocacy groups and the Arab Bloggers Union to come for his rescue upon escaping 'three failed assassination attempts'. Ghanim believes that his latest blog entry noting the involvement of senior Yemeni officials in the plotting of the attack carried out against the U.S. embassy in Sana'a on September 17, 2008 triggered a new wave of harassments and life-threatening acts.
Malaysia: State Govt Battles Bloggers
The state government of Pahang in peninsular Malaysia has hired three bloggers to counter inaccurate or slanderous allegations and comments posted on the Internet. According to Bernama, State Information, Science, Technology and Innovation Committee chairman, Datuk Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin announced that the appointed bloggers would be paid allowances and be given...
Malaysia: Blogging Code of Ethics?
After much antagonism over blogs in Malaysia, the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, suggested recently that bloggers form their own ethics code to ensure accountability and fairness in their writings. Syed Hamid, who opened the Bloggers Buff 2008 Conference, emphasized the importance of this because most bloggers do not have a...
Egypt: one blogger disappeared and another still in custody despite court order
Blogger Mohammad Adel who runs the blog Maeit (already dead!) disappeared since Friday, November 21, 2008. As reported by Wael Abbas on Twitter, Adel was supposedly going to meet with an American journalist for an interview, but the he did not show up. Blogger Mohamed Khairi is still in custody despite he received a release warrant few days ago. The Egyptian blogger who writes on “Jarr Shakal” blog (teasing) has been arrested at the dawn of the 17th of this November from his house in Fayoum governate in Nile Delta.
