Janet Gunter

Inspired to learn Portuguese by my father's collection of LPs from late 1960s Brazil. Lived in Brazil, Portugal and East Timor. I am an ex-aidworker, perpetual-novice anthropologist working on projects combining technology, communications and social transformation.

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Latest posts by Janet Gunter

Portugal: Activist blog silenced by Google

  17 November 2012

On the day of Portugal's general strike, Google's Blogger took down an activist blog maintained by one of Portugal's largest organizations advocating for "precarious" workers. The group suspects the move was motivated by allegations of defamation by a Portuguese company, accused of abuses by a commenter.

Guinea-Bissau: Top Blogger Detained, Beaten by Military After Coup

  14 April 2012

Aly Silva is one of the most important bloggers in the small west African country of about 1 million people, if not the most important (see this Global Voices interview with him). He is a controversial figure in the country, who does not hide his political leanings. Yet nobody can match him in terms of his longevity, frequency of posting, and dedication to blogging.

United Kingdom: Moves to police social media

  18 August 2011

Following the riots and looting in London and other parts of England last week, UK Prime Minister David Cameron  made a strong statement indicating his government is looking into the legal and technical means to limit access to Blackberry Messenger, even Twitter and Facebook to stop “violence”. So we are...

Mozambique: Controversial SIM card registration

  23 December 2010

Shortly after the September protests in Maputo that were convened by SMS, the Mozambican government issued a Ministerial decree law forcing mobile pre-paid phone users on the country's two networks to register their SIM cards. The process caused protest and has gone slower than the strict law requires.

Mozambique: Government interference in SMS service

  21 September 2010

Much noise was made around the world about how the popular unrest against the rises in the cost of living in Maputo on September 1-2 was propagated by SMS messages by mobile users in the capital's poorer neighborhoods. On the afternoon on September 6, pre-paid mobile phone users on both mobile carriers...