Stories about Cuba
Netflix is Coming to Cuba — But Will They Have Any Customers?
Netflix seems unaware that even those Cubans who have Internet access do not have a strong enough connection to watch videos online.
Cuba: More Money Means More Technology, With or Without State Reforms
What Wednesday's changes mean for Internet access and mobile telephony in Cuba? There are a few things we can glean from what both leaders have said—and haven’t said—so far.
Netizen Report: Cuban Craigslist Comes Back Online, Briefly
This week, Global Voices authors in Ethiopia and Tajikistan remain behind bars, the UK fesses up on social media spying, and Twitter goes a flutter in Russia and Pakistan.
Spies Like US: “Fake Twitter” Violated Cubans’ Privacy Rights
ZunZuneo not only obtained mobile phone numbers for half a million Cubans without their knowledge or consent -- it also observed and analyzed (read: surveilled) their communications for "political tendencies."
Dozens Detained on Human Rights Day in Cuba
Bloggers, punk rockers, intellectuals, dissidents, and a pair of Argentine tourists were all detained in Cuba last week, just in time for international Human Rights Day.
Latin America and the Caribbean Netizen Report: Detention Edition
This month, arrests of Internet users in Latin America and the Caribbean appear to have increased, with bloggers and activists in Ecuador, Colombia, and Cuba detained for their activities online. In this Netizen Report for Latin America and the Caribbean, we review some of these cases.
Cuba: Democracy Advocate Rodiles Released; Blogger Diversent Remains Detained
Antonio Rodiles, curator of the independent scholarly forum Estado de SATS, was released in Havana last Wednesday after enduring over three weeks of detention. Rodiles was arrested on November 7, along with numerous other bloggers and civil society advocates on the island, including well-known blogger and attorney Laritza Diversent, author of the blog Jurisconsulto de Cuba (Cuban Legal Advisor). There has been no report of Diversent’s release as of December 3, 2012.
Latin America and the Caribbean Netizen Report: Free Trade Edition
In this edition, we focus on recent free trade agreements and the challenges they pose in the digital age. To fulfill the requirements of a free trade agreement with the United States, the Congress of Panama approved a law last week that will impose severe penalties for violating copyright and will make it almost impossible for the accused to be able to present their cases in court.
Cuba: Blogger Yoani Sanchez Arrested, Released After 30 Hours in Custody
Award-winning Cuban blogger and human rights activist Yoani Sánchez was arrested last night in the eastern province of Bayamo, where she had traveled to attend and report on the trial of Angel Carromero, a Spanish national accused of vehicular manslaughter after a car crash that killed renowned democracy advocate Oswaldo Payá and activist Harold Cepero. Carromero traveled to Cuba in July to meet with human rights activists on the island.
Latin America and the Caribbean Netizen Report: First Edition
This first Latin America and the Caribbean Netizen Report focuses on legislation that affects the fundamental rights of Internet users in the region. In the last two months, the governments of various countries -Costa Rica, Peru, and Brazil, among others- have considered bills that affect freedom of speech, access to information, anonymity, and privacy online.
Brazil: 1º Encontro Mundial de Blogueiros (First World Bloggers’ Conference)
This week a blogger conference–dubbed the 1º Encontro Mundial de Blogueiros (or First World Bloggers’ Conference)–is taking place in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. Sponsored by Brazilian companies Petrobras and Sanepar, as well as the Itaipu hydroelectric dam, the conference attendees are from all over the world, with significant representation from...
Cuba: Telecommunications, Internet Access, and US-Cuba Policy
US-based and US-affiliated telecom companies, which is to say, nearly all telecoms that offer service in the Caribbean, face severe restrictions in the US- Cuba embargo legislation, and this has put Cuba in a fundamental disadvantage for decades when it comes to telecommunications. The blogosphere reacts
SourceForge Removes Blanket Block
In late January, on the same day as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech on Net freedom, open source community SourceForge blocked access to users from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea, in an effort to keep in line with U.S. Treasury export restrictions on those countries. On Sunday, SourceForge announced that they had revoked the ban, unveiling their new strategy for complying with U.S. law.
Cuba: Yoani Sanchez & Other Bloggers Seized
Yoaní Sánchez, Cuba's most famous blogger, who has received countless international awards for her activism, was detained briefly and beaten by Cuban authorities on November 6, along with fellow bloggers, Claudia Cadelo (a Global Voices contributor) and Orlando Luís Pardo Lazo. Bloggers make their feelings known about the incident.
Cuba: Government Officials Tell Bloggers to Cancel Planned Meeting
A Cuban blogger meet-up scheduled for December 6 is in danger of being cancelled by the authorities. The event, which has been in the planning stage for months and had 25 confirmed attendees, is being deemed “counterrevolutionary.” This is according to a recent conversation between officials from the Interior Ministry and one of the island's most well-known bloggers Yoaní Sánchez of Generación Y, who was one of the bloggers recently summoned to the local police station.
The Blogging Revolution: from Iran to Cuba
Antony Loewenstein, a Sydney-based freelance journalist and blogger, has recently published his new book: The Blogging Revolution. This book talks about the impact of blogging on six countries: Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China and Cuba.
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,...
