· June, 2012

Stories about Advocacy from June, 2012

Netizen Report: Copyright Edition

  27 June 2012

This week's edition begins in Japan where disproportionate penalties for copyright violations reached new heights in with the passage of a new bill this month that will make downloading copyrighted material punishable by imprisonment or fines. A number of other countries have also moved to criminalize copyright infringement. Our team then moves on to update our global readership on the latest developments and controversies related to freedom and control of the Internet around the world.

Sudan: another blogger rearrested

27 June 2012

According to recent reports, many Sudanese bloggers and activists have been arrested in the last few days. Today, I have followed one of the bloggers’ posts on Twitter. Maha Sanosi @MimzicalMimz was arrested. She was released later to tell us about the police raid: This is getting old :) I am fine,12...

Netizen Report: Transition Edition

  21 June 2012

This week's Netizen Report begins in Myanmar, where the government's new resolve for an open Internet is being tested this week by a state of emergency declared to contain deadly clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in the nation’s western Rakhine state. From there we report on the latest developments in the struggle for online freedom around the world from Azerbaijan to the United Kingdom to Googledom.

Netizen Report: Intervention Edition

  14 June 2012

Throughout this week's edition we highlight examples of government intervention to limit free speech online, ostensibly "for the greater good". We begin in Kuwait, where a Shi’ite man has been sentenced to prison for ten years for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammad and Sunni Muslims via Twitter. From there we travel to China, India, South Africa, Tunisia, Oman, Facebookistan, and beyond.

Nabeel Rajab: Tweeting from prison!

  7 June 2012

Nabeel Rajab, the President of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights , who was released on bail last week, has been arrested again. Just like last time, Nabeel Rajab is detained for posting what the Bahraini government considers insulting posts on his Twitter  handle. As a result, he will be detained for 7...

Netizen Report: Telecoms Edition

  7 June 2012

In this week's survey of the struggle for freedom and control of the global Internet, our team begins in Ethiopia where the introduction of new telecommunications infrastructure is creating a new layer of censorship and surveillance. We proceed onward across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, and provide an update on the battle over which international organizations should be allowed to govern parts of the Internet.