· May, 2012

Stories about TOPICS from May, 2012

Netizen Report: Mexican Spring Edition

  31 May 2012

Galvanized online, tens of thousands of protesters marched in Mexico's capital last week calling for more engaging issue campaigns by politicians and less biased reporting by mainstream media of the upcoming presidential election. This week's Netizen Report discusses this and other key Internet freedom and control issues.

Nabeel Rajab: The struggle continues in Bahrain

  28 May 2012

President of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Nabeel Rajab, has been released on $800 bail, his lawyer Mohamed Al Jishi said. Earlier this month, Rajab was arrested at Bahrain International Airport on his return from Beirut. Charges against include writing “insulting” posts in social networks (Twitter). He has also been...

Internet Regulation and the ITU: Civil Society Must Be Heard

  22 May 2012

Since its infancy, the Internet has benefited from a lightweight and decentralized approach to governance—a combination of targeted government regulation, technical coordination by companies, and a number of formal and informal multistakeholder organizations to help guide the Internet’s development, such as the IETF, W3C, and the IGF, just to name...

Netizen Report: Eurovision Edition

  22 May 2012

Azerbaijan, host of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, has faced a number of digital disruptions as it prepares to host the annual singing competition this week, alongside criticism of its human rights record. From there our Netizen Report team takes you on this week's tour of the global struggle for freedom and control of the Internet.

Pakistan: Twitter has been Blocked

  21 May 2012

Twitter has been blocked in Pakistan on Sunday. The country's top telecommunications officials said that it was blocked because it refused to remove tweets considered offensive to Islam. The tweets were promoting a competition on Facebook to post images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, said Mohammad Yaseen, chairman of the Pakistan...

Zambia: President Sata Sues Citizens, Media Criticizing Him

  20 May 2012

President Sata recently sued United Party for National Development leader Hakainde Hichilema, the Daily Nation newspaper, radio station Hot FM and University of Zambia lecturer Cholwe Beyani for defamation of character and demanded to be paid K1.2 billionor US$266,667 in damages.

Letter for Civil Society Involvement in WCIT

  18 May 2012

This page features a letter from academics and civil society groups from around the world to International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Dr. Hamadoun Touré regarding the lack of opportunity for civil society participation in the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) process.

Netizen Report: RuNet Edition

  17 May 2012

Our weekly review of developments in the global struggle for freedom and control of the Internet begins in Russia, where citizen media has been under attack in the wake of President Putin's inauguration. From there we travel on to China, Iran, Syria, India, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Facebookistan, Twitterland, the United Nations, and more.

A man serving an anti-royal sentence in Thailand dies in prison

  14 May 2012

Akong was sentenced to 20 years in jailed for an unproven lese majeste case on the basis of Thailand's Computer Crime Act. The 61-year-old grandfather, who had long battled with oral cancer, was believed to have died as a result of this disease. Attempts to get bail for Akong, most notably due to his illness, was repeatedly denied.

Breaking Borders Award 2012!

  11 May 2012

We're excited to announce the second edition of the Breaking Borders Award for 2012. The award is a prize created by Google and Global Voices to honor outstanding web or mobile projects initiated by individuals or groups that demonstrate courage, energy and resourcefulness in using the Internet to promote freedom of expression. Closing date for applications is May 20, 2012.

The Monarchy of Bahrain: An enemy of the Internet

  11 May 2012

Last week, the Bahraini authorities arrested the President of the Human Rights Centre in Bahrain, Nabeel Rajab when he returned from Lebanon at Bahrain’s International Airport. Apparently, the Bahraini government claim that Rajab was arrested because of his “insulting tweets.”

Netizen Report: Raise Your Voice Edition

  9 May 2012

In our weekly report on the global battle for freedom and control of the Internet, we begin in India where activists are fuming over the country’s sweeping new Internet restrictions on objectionable content. From there we survey the global state of censorship, surveillance, activism, corporate actions and government regulation.

Tim Berners-Lee: Protect the Open Web! #WWW2012

  1 May 2012

On April 16-20, 2012 the 21st International World Wide Web Conference (#WWW2012) gathered in Lyon, France to discuss matters of global concern for the Internet and the Web. A major highlight was an inspiring keynote by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web.

Netizen Report: Follow What You Believe Edition

  1 May 2012

Our inaugural weekly report honors Ms. Chiranuch Premchaiporn, who was arrested in 2009 for violating Thailand's Computer Crimes Act because she failed to delete a user comment insulting the King of Thailand quickly enough. Also covered, censorship, surveillance, copyright and other net freedom issues from around the world.