Stories about Middle East & North Africa from April, 2009
Egypt: Local Report Documents Violations against 43 Internet Users
The prominent Egyptian NGO Hisham Mubarak Center for Law (HMCL) issued a report, titled “Egypt on the Crossroad …2008“, documenting the status of freedom of expression in the country during...
Egypt: A New Detention Order for a Blogger Arrested Since 2007
In an unexplained action, Egyptian Ministry of Interior issued a new detention order for blogger and activist, Mos'ad Abu Fagr. The detained blogger was transferred again to Borg El Arab prison in Alexandria instead of north Sinai prison. This transfer imposes hardship on Abu Fagr's family to visit him, as they are based is the Sinai. Abu Fagr was arrested on 26 December 2007, but the court and D.A issued e
While White-listing Syria, Linkedin Keeps Sudan's Internet Users Blocked!
After Linkedin the business social Network, blocked Internet users in Syria and then unblocked them and apologized (as ArabCrunch has reported.) It was confirmed that Internet users in Sudan (an African Arab country) still cannot access Linkedin, who were blocked by Linkedin since several months ago.
Iran: Ahmadinejad says jailed blogger must have right of defense
According to[fa] the Iranian media President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Hossein Derakhshan, an Iranian jailed blogger and Roxana Saberi, an American-Iranian journalist who was sentenced to 8 years of prison,...
Iran: A Christian Blogger arrested
According to several sources an Iranian Christian blogger was arrested in the city of Isfahan in Iran about one month ago. He is a convert from Islam and he used...
LinkedIn Restores Services to Syrian Users
Last week, Global Voices Advocacy broke the news that Syrian users had been cut off from LinkedIn's services. The business-oriented social networking site had stated in e-mails to several of its users that, "Under the User Agreement, LinkedIn Users warrant that they are not prohibited from receiving U.S. origin products, including services or software. As such, and as a matter of corporate policy, we do not allow member accounts or access to our site from Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria."
Egypt: An Appeal For The Imprisonment Of A Blogger
An appeal for the sentence on the Egyptian blogger Ahmad Saad Abou Doma was presented yesterday. Lawyers from Hisham Mubarak center for Legal Aid requested the cancellation of a sentence...
Syria: Linkedin Kicks Off Syrian Users!
AnasOnline blog reports (Arabic link) that Linkedin (AC Group here) completely blocked all Syrian users. According to the blog post: 3 weeks ago when Linkedin blocked all Syrian IPs users , but they were able to access the site by using IP changing programs (such as Tor), but in the last days, Linkedin blocked all Syrian users even if they changed their IPs
DigiActive Guide to Twitter for Activism
DigiActive, an organization dedicated to helping the world's grassroots activists use digital technology, has just released The DigiActive Guide to Twitter for Activism. Following the recent protests in Moldova, the value of Twitter as a tool for digital activism is more prominent than ever. Yet in addition to bringing greater awareness to that tool, the hype surrounding Moldova revealed misunderstanding of the value of of Twitter for activism and, even though the realists responded strongly, there was not a stand-alone resource which clearly defined how Twitter could be used by activists. DigiActive hopes this guide will fill that void.
Egypt: Blogger Abu Fagr Remains Detained Despite Eight Release Orders
Today will mark one week since the eighth release order has been made for Egyptian blogger Mos'ad Suleiman Hassan (a.k.a. Mos'ad Abu Fagr); Despite that fact, Fagr remains locked at a police station in El Arish (North Sinai).
Tunisia: Blogger's Home Raided, Laptop and CDs Robbed
The house of the Tunisian journalist and blogger Zied el-Heni has been raided last night (April 10, 2009). In a blog post published today, Zied wrote that his laptop and CDs which contain all his work have been robbed: "I am sorry to inform you that my house has been raided and robbed on April 10, 2009. They stole my laptop and CDs which contain the efforts of my work day and night...
Egypt: A Blogger Attacked in His House
At noon today, while Egyptian bloggers were in their jobs, or browsing the Internet, a Twitter message reached those following prominent blogger Wael Abbas, which read: My mother and I...
Iran: A blogger freed on bail
According to Reporters Without Borders and Committee to Protect Bloggers, Esmail Jafari,a journalist and blogger based in the southwestern city of Bushehr was released from Bushehr prison on 18 March.Read...
Iran: Freegate is accessible again
In Donableh we read that Freegate,a software utility that enables surfers from mainland China, Iran, among others, to view websites banned by their government, is once more available for Iranians.
Egypt: A Blogger Disappears After His Release
Although he was released by the Public Prosecutor, Egyptian blogger Abdel Rahman Fares (25 ) is still missing. Fares who blogs at Lesani Howa Qalami (My Tongue is My Pen)...
Cyber Activism And Online Campaigns In The Middle East
Cyber Activism And Online Campaigns In Middle East A presentation describing the current state of cyber activism in the Middle East and highlighting successful online campaigns. It answers the following...
