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Freedom of Speech

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8 February 2012

Morocco: Busted for Posting Caricatures of the King on Facebook

Written by Hisham Almiraat · Middle East & North Africa

On February 7, Walid Bahomane appeared before a court in the Moroccan capital Rabat. The 18-year-old is accused of "defaming Morocco's sacred values" by posting pictures and videos on Facebook mocking king Mohammed VI of Morocco. Moroccan netizens are closing ranks in solidarity with Bahomane.

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7 February 2012

Italy: More Protests Against Austerity and Information Deficit

Written by Ylenia Gostoli · Translated by Ylenia Gostoli · Western Europe

The austerity measures being implemented in EU countries are still drawing popular opposition. Especially in a country like Italy, already strained by years of government mismanagement and budget issues -- not to mention a relevant information deficit.

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Ukraine: Netizens React to Popular File-Sharing Website's Shutdown

Written by Tetyana Bohdanova · Eastern & Central Europe

The news of the shutdown of Ukraine's most popular file-sharing website caused quite a stir online. Tetyana Bohdanova reports on the netizens' varied reactions to the controversy.

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6 February 2012

Palestine: A Blogging Initiative for Jerusalem, the Praying City

Written by Mohamed ElGohary · Middle East & North Africa

Palestinian bloggers have joined hands to blog for their country, in a blogging initiative led by Abir Kopty under the theme: “For you, oh praying city, we blog.” In the following post, Kopty writes in Arabic about social media utilization in the Palestinian cause, and coordinating it with offline events on the ground.

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Cuba: Bloggers on SOPA, Culture and the Democratization of Knowledge

Written by Ellery Roberts Biddle · Latin America

Unlike many SOPA/PIPA critics in the United States and around the globe, Cuban bloggers did not focus on the technical implications of the proposed laws. Both independent and state-affiliated Cuban bloggers saw SOPA/PIPA as a powerful statement about how legislators (and the music and film industries) value culture and creativity as part of U.S. society.

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5 February 2012

China: Veto of UN Security Council Draft Resolution on Syria Draws Praise and Grief

Written by John Kennedy · East Asia

Once again, China and Russia have vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution aimed at bringing peace to Syria. The latest proposal calls for an end to the killings of those involved in an uprising against the country's current president.

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Updates about Freedom of Speech

8 February 2012

Russia

Read The Guardian's take on the so-called “Potupchik-gate,” a series of scandals surfaced as a result of hacking and publishing of private inbox of Kristina Potupchik [ru], press-secretary of Nashi, notorious pro-Kremlin youth group. All hacks were published by twitter-user @OP_Russia who uses Anonymous symbolics. Representatives of Anonymous, previously never seen involved in Russian online politics, had also issued an Russian/English statement on the issue.

• Alexey Sidorenko

Cuba

“Cell phones have changed our lives,” writes Generation Y, adding: “If, in March of 2008, Raul Castro had imagined the role cell phones would play in Cuba’s incipient civil society, he probably never would have authorized their use.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Georgia

Following the removal of traditional newspaper booths in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, and out of concern that the independent media will suffer as a result, Democracy and Freedom Watch reports that newspapers are now being sold via mobile newsstands including those attached to bicycles. A video report [GE] is also available here.

• Onnik Krikorian

China

Asia Sentinel has a news story about the latest development of the oldest English newspaper, South China Morning Post, in Hong Kong. The writer believes that the appointment of the newspaper's new Chief editor, former China's Daily's reporter and a CPPCC member Wang Xiangwei is part of the trend of the China Communist Party's move in media takeovers in Hong Kong.

• Oiwan Lam

China

Bishop from Digicha follows up Sina Weibo's new user registration growth after the implementation of real name registration and the blogger provides three possible explanation on the falling trend.

• Oiwan Lam

Bulgaria

The civic initiative “People Against Racism” is appealing [en] to the Municipality of Sofia and the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria with the request to ban an international neo-Nazi racist conference scheduled for Feb. 17 and a neo-Nazi torchlight procession known as the “Lukov March” on Feb. 18. Every year since 2005, Bulgaria's far-right, neo-Nazi, and ultra-nationalist groups have commemorated the death of Gen. Hristo Lukov, who supported Nazi Germany during WWII. Lukov March 2011 drew protests from many civic groups and human rights organizations, including the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the Jewish organization B'nai B'rith, and People Against Racism. (More about Lukov March; a 2010 video.)

• Ruslan Trad

Czech Republic

An anti-ACTA rally took place in Bratislava on Feb. 4. On the protest's Facebook page [sk], nearly 7,500 people wrote they would attend, and over 3,800 wrote they'd “maybe” attend. The weather was cold and windy; the recent news from Poland, which has postponed the ratification of ACTA, was good; and it's unlikely that anything will be approved before the Slovak early elections in March. As a result, only 500 people or so showed up for the rally [sk; photos; video]. This week, a number of Slovak and Czech politicians announced they were in favor of postponing the ratification of the controversial treaty.