Global Voices » Technology & Internet

Russia: State TV Justifies May 6 Police Violence, Cites Spanish Bill Criminalizing Online Protest Organization as Example

Veronica Khokhlova — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:42:31 +0000

In the final segment of the report [ru] on the May 6 protest in Moscow, which ended in clashes with riot police, the Russian state-owned Channel 1 mentioned, among other things, a Spanish draft law [en] criminalizing online organization of public protests, as an example of the “much tougher” treatment of protesters by the “colleagues” of the Russian law enforcement officials “in the countries with the so-called established democracy.”

Kenya: Online Platform for Amplifying People's Power

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:42:50 +0000

Bunge la Mwananchi is an online platform for amplifying grassroots people’s power to decide on their politics and economics so as to improve their social conditions in Kenya.

Vietnam: State of E-Commerce

Mong Palatino — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:06:20 +0000

Chip 2.0 writes about the slow development of e-commerce in Vietnam

Malawi: Kondwani Munthali: Malawi's Blogger of the Year

Victor Kaonga — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:06:49 +0000

For the first time in media history in Malawi, blogging has been recognized as a practice playing an important role journalism. This follows the awarding of blogger and journalist Kondwani Munthali with a Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Blogging Award of the year. The recognition was part of the World Press Freedom Day celebrations on 3 May in Lilongwe.

Having started blogging in 2007, his blog now has about 5,000 visits each day. In this interview, Victor Kaonga sought to hear more from Munthali about his blogging life and the MISA award.

Victor Kaonga (VK): Did you expect to be Blogger of the Year noting this was first time in Malawi that MISA had this category?

Kondwani Munthali (KM): Many people told me so. I rarely enter competitions and this one too did not require me to submit anything. It was done through voting. I felt honored that my peers thought I was doing a good job. But as I said, there are excellent bloggers whom I felt deserved the award, but Journalists in Malawi thought I was better and that is a humbling experience.

VK: Why did you start blogging?

KM: There were two Malawian bloggers, Dr. Steve Sharra and Victor Kaonga whom I followed much when I was on a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 2007. They did not write much about news, but a reflection of issues that affected Malawi. I thought the blogs represented a freedom to share your opinion to a larger audience. But being a news person, over the years I do write less about my opinions and more news. It is a news blog now.

VK: Who have been your main readers?

KM: It is interesting that with time my blog has grown in terms of audience since I started linking my updates with my Facebook page and Twitter account. My blog visitors are mainly from Malawi which is very impressive. This is followed by the United States of America and for some reasons, I also have people in Romania who make part of the top 10 countries visiting the site. Individually, I am sure decision makers, diplomats, politicians and many ordinary Malawi read my blog. I get calls all the time or reminders that I have not updated the blog from various people. I feel honored to have many of these people visit my blog and pay attention to what I have to say.

VK: Do you ever feel scared because of blogging?

KM: Yes, Malawi went through political turmoil in the last 2 years. Even my company - Nation Publications Limited which has been very supportive at times thought some of us were being targeted by authorities because of blogging. The challenge is that people do not differentiate between opinion and facts. Very few people would accept that I have a right to express my opinion on any matter especially politics. I could get nasty reactions, comments or simply insults. I improved my security but thank God, nothing happened and now I am free to write what I want again!

VK: Would you share one or two highlights of the posts you written so far?

KM: The first one is an account of July 20. After Police beat us up alongside Civil Society leaders at Lilongwe CCAP, after seeing them chase and beat my camera man, that minute all I thought was running to survive. But later in the evening it dawned on me that we could have died and the situation did not look fine the following day. I started writing my account of events minute by minute. It has since been used as part of record of events of that day across the world.

The second is the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika and the suspense that engulfed the delay to announce his death. On Friday evening of 6th April after listening to speeches by then Cabinet Ministers claiming that then Vice President Joyce Banda could not take over, I wrote a piece around midnight appealing to those that had power that night to choose the constitutional way. I got a record number of telephone calls, some threatening but a majority thought I had written sense on the question of transition. When President Joyce Banda called for a Press Briefing that morning, I knew my country had evaded the worst. I would consider these two as my best pieces.

VK: Advice to bloggers especially in Southern Africa.

KM: The secret to writing is to keep writing, even when you don't understand what you write. The blog opens you up to a wider world. It helps us document our countries and region in our own words. We connect to the whole world and influence perception people have on our region. This is the time to keep blogging, until our story is told everywhere!

Global Voices Online and especially bloggers in Southern Africa wish to congratulate Munthali on this great award.

*Thumbnail: Kondwani Munthali receiving his award. Photo source: Munthali's Blog

Cuba: Dissident Ferrer Garcia Re-Released

Janine Mendes-Franco — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:33:04 +0000

Havana Times reports that dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia was released by authorities late last week “after being held for more than 24 hours without his whereabouts being made known.”

Kyrgyzstan: Can a Blogger be the Fourth Branch of Government?

Chris Rickleton — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:50:52 +0000

Ilya Karimdjanov is a pest. Armed with a camera, a question and the most popular blog on Kyrgyzstan's most popular blogging platform, Kloop.kg, he is a one-man citizen media machine, the nemesis of rule-breaking cops, corrupt university teachers and the Kyrgyz monetary system. Well, someone has to keep them all in check, don't they?

Kyrgyzstan's weakened executive, unruly legislature and compromised judiciary are not renowned for enforcing their own rules and regulations. Indeed, state officials' disregard for due process is a feature of life in the country that can charm or frustrate foreign visitors to the country in equal measure. For citizens of the country, it is simply the daily minefield they must negotiate in order to get from home to work and back again.

Commissar Karimdjanov, as he has been referred to in the past, has made a habit of exposing these routine violations of law and protocol both on his blog and on the main news portal at Kloop.kg, where he works as a journalist. A recent example saw him “police” a female police officer who appeared to be drinking while in uniform at lunch time:

Karimdjanov: Look, she is drinking beer. Shall we go?

Colleague: Sure

Karimdjanov [to policewoman]: I hope you are not against us making a video. Why are you drinking beer in uniform? It is interesting for us, why is a police official drinking beer?

Policewoman: I have a praznik [celebratory day]

Karimdjanov: But you are on duty…

Policewoman: I understand that it is banned on duty but for one thing it is non-alcoholic…

Karimdjanov: It is not non-alcoholic, we asked the waitress….

Policewoman: It is non-alcoholic you can ask again, and secondly tomorrow is a praznik and [today is] my birthday. May I?

In the Facebook plugin beneath the posted video, Almaz Rakhimdinov noted [ru]:

Not for nothing Ilya Karimdjanov has the title of agent provocateur!

While Cholponbai Borubaeva said [ru]:

Interested to know what will happen to her - a warning or a sacking?

Rinat Shamstudinov argued:

The guys from Kloop [Karimdjanov and colleague, Zarema Sultanbekova] did good. But you should have taken a copy of the receipt because staff [of the police] may do anything possible to turn that Siberian Crown [alcoholic beer] into a Baltika ‘0′ [non-alcoholic].

This isn't the first time Karimdjanov's activities have earned him attention. Another recent video exposed on his blog posed the question [ru] ”Tiyini - Money No-one Needs?”

On that occasion Karimdjanov went around Bishkek with co-author Begimai Bolotbekova trying to spend tiyini, the much-loathed Kyrgyz equivalent of cents, pence and other smaller-than-small currency denominations. Refused by shopkeepers, stallholders and parking inspectors, he successfully exposed another law that doesn't work - that all denominations belonging to the national currency be accepted in cash transactions.*

Ilya's day-to-day blogging sees him defend the constitution [ru] (particularly article 33, allowing access to free information), expose corrupt university lecturers [ru] and make appeals [ru] for greater press responsibility. In this sense, he is like an onlime ombudsman, performing the functions the government, either through indifference or incompetence, doesn't.

But why does he bother? In response to a criticism by one commenter of his handling of the police-beer scandal, Karimdjanov replied [ru]:

I also thought to dismiss it at first. Just get up and leave, but my conscience would not allow me to. I know that nothing has fundamentally changed and it is unlikely to even be punished, but I have every right to approach such employees and to show them that they themselves are doing wrong.
All of us like to chew the fat and say that it is because of low salaries and all that. But fundamentally you don't even desire to do something useful. This is my country, the place my children will live ! And I will do everything possible so that before they arrive, I will make at least a few people, through examples like these, change the way they think about things and do what is correct! To sit back and criticize - is the easiest thing to do. But I respect your opinion, because my task was to convey information to you. I did this as a journalist, and how you perceive it - is up to you

* Fifty tiyin pieces, the eqivalent of 1 US cent, are accepted in the Kyrgyz supermarket chain ‘Narodni', an organization that fares pretty badly during coups in the country. Tourists in Bishkek may be forgiven for thinking that Narodni are entirely responsible for the circulation of this meloch, or small change, since only they seeem to dispense them, and only they seem to accept them….

Links to videos: 1, 2

Russia: Duma Deputy Wants Criminal Liability for Extremist Tweets

Kevin Rothrock — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:42:31 +0000

Yesterday, on May 14, Aleksandr Khinshtein [en], a Duma deputy and member of United Russia ('the party of power'), wrote a letter to Yuri Chaika [en], the Prosecutor General of Russia. In that letter, Khinshtein noted the “recent sharp rise in the number of calls for acts of violence against state officials and police officers” appearing in online social networks. Twitter and Facebook, he argued, “have effectively transformed into an instrument to coordinate the actions of extremists, becoming a channel for the dissemination of detailed instructions to their supporters.” The letter begins [ru]:

Прошу Вас принять меры к владельцам и пользователи аккаунтов в различных социальных интернет-сетях (русскоязычные сегменты Twitter и Facebook), активно содействовавшим в организации массовых беспорядков 6 мая 2012 года в г. Москве.

I ask you to take measures against the owners and users of accounts on various online social networks ([such as] the Russian language segments of Twitter and Facebook), who actively administered the organization of mass unrest on May 6, 2012, in Moscow.

Khinshtein added that bloggers are also using these services to advocate violence against “the legally elected President” and Russia's “constitutional order.” (Twitter user Lucius Aevus, for instance, wrote [ru] on April 24, “Buy weapons, stockpile food, join up, and kill Putin.”) Khinshtein called specifically for (1) the prevention of the further spread of such illegal, extremist online appeals, (2) the criminal prosecution of individuals who use social networks to disseminate extremism, and (3) any other measures legally necessary.

Screenshot of Khinshtein's official Duma webpage, 15 May 2012.

Hours after news of this petition caused a stir in the media, Khinshtein responded by publishing the full text of his letter to Chaika, claiming [ru] that his initiative is not a plea for political censorship. Khinshtein did not, however, publish the supplementary materials he attached to the letter, where he cataloged dozens of examples of bloggers advocating illegal activity. The list, to which online newspaper Gazeta.ru has access and has graciously summarized [ru], focuses on nationalist and liberal democratic oppositionists — some anonymous and others well-known.

First on the list is self-described “ultra-right” anonymous blogger odinzavseh (”one for all”), whom Khinshtein links to soccer hooligans, like the ones infamous for inciting a small ethnic riot in Moscow in December 2010. On Twitter, odinzavseh has called on protesters to beat up Putin-supporters and public figures Sergei Minaev and Konstantin Rykov. He also allegedly encouraged oppositionists to attack government buildings with Molotov cocktails on the night of May 8. Both these tweets were later deleted, though evidence of the former can still be found [ru] on Yandex. In what seems particularly outrageous to many bloggers, Khinshtein has claimed, as well, that retweeting (reposting another user's message) also carries criminal liability. Odinzavseh, for instance, retweeted user LailaMooore's call [ru] on protesters to slash the tires of police vans and bring weapons to protests.

Not one to exclude Russia's homegrown social networks, Khinshtein also cited “The Moscow Front,” a nationalist group based [ru] on VKontakte that advocated attacks on government buildings near Chistye Prudy on May 7. As soon as these allegations went public, the group published its thanks to Khinshtein for the “free publicity.” Several members immediately posted anti-Semitic comments, complaining, for example [ru], “You know, Khinshtein's Jewish snout pisses me off.”

Also gracing the list is Mikhail Svetov, Twitter user msvetov, a Russian student living in Japan, who has been an active virtual participant in the opposition protests. During the May 6 “Million Man March” at Bolonatia Square, Svetov tweeted:

Не выбрасывайте омоновские шлемы в реку, надевайте их на себя. Это броня, она вас защитит от полицейских дубинок.

Don't throw the police helmets into the river: wear them yourselves. They're armor, and will protect you from their nightsticks.

and:

Отнимайте у ОМОНа щиты, каски, дубинки, это уравнивает ваши шансы. Не нападайте на них, но отнимайте амуницию.

Take away the police's shields, helmets, nightsticks — this evens your chances. Don't attack them, but take away their ammunition.

Khinshtein also accused oppositionists Vitaly Shushkevich and Artem Chapaev of online extremism. On May 7, Chapaev tweeted:

Думаю, частью стратегии должна стать дальнейшая радикализация масс, чтобы перейти к тактике ощутимой городской герильи.

I think that further radicalization of the masses should become a part [of the opposition], in order to transition to urban guerilla tactics.

That same day, Shushkevich used his Twitter account to encourage [ru] protesters to bring coins to Chistye Prudy and throw them at police and “Nashists” (members of the pro-Kremlin youth). He also reposted several unsavory messages from Twitter users gruppa_voina, ponny1, papumaria, and moskless, including calls to spread the fear that “Moscow is out of control.”

The always irreverent artist collective Gruppa Voina [en] responded in typical fashion, quipping [ru] that its followers would soon be confronted by Khinshtein himself:

Друзья, вы все шутки шутите - но не забывайте - за КАЖДЫЙ РЕТВИТ с вас спросит @khinshtein в комнате допросов ближайшей к вашему дому тюрьмы

Friends, you're all having a laugh, but don't forget that for EVERY RETWEET Khinshtein will question you in the interrogation room of the prison nearest to your home.

Petr Verzilov, husband of Pussy Riot's imprisoned Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and a Voina member, sarcastically welcomed [ru] Khinshtein's efforts, saying that criminalizing retweets could become the “next step in the development of civil society and legal consciousness in our country.”

Aleksei Navalny is also on Khinshtein's list — included for a May 3 tweet [ru] that joked about burning down the Mayor's office. Navalny quoted the text of a Sergei Udaltsov tweet, altering the final line into a mock appeal for arson:

Чиновники из мэрии вышли на связь, обещают в течение часа согласовать марш. Если обманут – сожжем мэрию.

Officials from the Mayor's office have been in contact. They promise to approve the [May 6] march within an hour. If they're lying, we'll burn down city hall.

In reality, Udaltsov had written [ru]: “If they're lying, we'll make an announcement through the orgkomitet.”

Some RuNet voices have insisted that Khinshtein is asking the Prosecutor General to do something fundamentally beyond its legal authority, and is only causing a stir to grab a moment's publicity. In a series of identical tweets addressed to prominent RuNet bloggers, Yuri Suetin posted the scan [ru] of a letter from May 2011, where the FSB informs a certain Dmitri Goriugin that Russian law enforcement agencies are incapable of deleting or banning posts from Twitter. (Goriugin had apparently complained about personal insults directed at him, published online by pro-Kremlin blogger fritzmorgen — an account that ironically Twitter has since suspended.) Other users, however, were quick to point out that Khinshtein is citing anti-extremism laws that carry far more extensive police powers than Criminal Code 130 (to which Goriugin appealed).

Russian politician, Yuri Chaika, 8 December 2009, photo by Russian Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY-SA 3.0; Wikimedia Commons.

Khinshtein's appeal to Chaika coincides with a draft project [ru] introduced to the Duma yesterday by United Russia deputies. The project denounces protesters who attacked police at Bolotnaia Square on May 6, and advocates criminal prosecution of those “responsible.”

The state's response to Khinshtein's letter will be an interesting test of the lengths to which the Kremlin is prepared to pressure oppositionists in their use of online social media. Services like Twitter and Facebook are widely credited with energizing the protest movement — indeed, the feasibility of recent mass demonstrations seems to have required these instruments. Likewise, heightened public scrutiny on the extremist content of oppositionists' blog posts and tweets will test the maturity and accountability of a space that until now has hosted language often violent and legally dubious according to Russian legislation.

Russia: Website Appears Publishing Civil Servants' Incomes

Siân Sinnott — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:22:41 +0000

The project “Public Profit” [ru] was established so that anyone interested could access information about the salaries of civil servants and state deputies. The information is compiled using public records and disclosed in accordance with Russian law.

In addition to general information about incomes, other interesting statistics can be found on the site, such as reports on individual government departments, as well as data about which civil servants own the biggest apartments.

Several of the facts revealed are nothing short of amazing.

Screen shot of Public Profit's website, 15 May 2012.

For example, Alexander V. Gilderman [ru], Deputy of the Administrative Department of Regional Sustainment, owns a house with land covering 4,433 square meters (1.1 acres).

However, the champion of real estate holdings is Igor I. Shuvalov [ru], whose total income exceeds 14,652,000 rubles (approximately 505,240 U.S. dollars), which only makes up less than 4% of his total family income.

The gap between spouses' earnings is a separate reason to reconsider the traditional family paradigm; Igor Suvalov's wife earns almost 25 times more than him, and Mrs. Sukhenko earns 60 times more than her husband, although their income is more modest by far.

The champion of all Russia's civil servants is Yuri Trutnev, who has earned a record-breaking 114 million rubles (3.7 million U.S. dollars) and change (and, in his case, there is more than a little change). Unfortunately, his income fell in 2010, but let's hope things will be okay. For now, his wife and four children (judging by their income declarations) can get away with not working for now.

Apart from that, we can only be happy for these people!

See the original article here [ru].

India: Entertainment Industry Seeks Court Ban on Torrents and Vimeo

Aparna Ray — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:45:08 +0000

Since the beginning of May 2012, some ISPs across parts of India had been quietly blocking access to the popular video sharing site Vimeo as well as various torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay, KickAssTorrents, BitSnoop etc.

According to media reports, this is because a film production house, namely Reliance Entertainment, has (once again) obtained a preemptive ‘John Doe‘ order from the Delhi High Court, prior to the release of some of their upcoming big budget films. The Company insists that this has been done in order to ‘prevent film piracy'.

Vimeo and Pirate Bay facing censorship in India. Graphic by author.

However, there was some confusion about the news because not all ISPs were seen to block access to the aforementioned sites.

On his blog Share Press, blogger Varma provided some more details:

As of now most of the Reliance Communications broadband visitors who try to access the blocked sites are redirected to a custom page saying “The site has been blocked as per instruction from DOT” message when browsing the above file sharing sites.

[…] There has been lots of Govt and private agencies looking for ways to block all illegal site access through internet. Their has been specific orders for all majors ISP’s in the country to block access of users to this website by taking appropriate steps like DNS name blocking on ISP level, IP address blocking via routers, and DPI based URL blocking.

Message that was appearing when trying to access sites like Vimeo on some ISPs like Reliance. Image by Share Press. Used with permission

Twitter has been abuzz with reactions and vehement protests against the blocking of the file sharing sites.

@lleshShah: I can not access #Vimeo.com. The emerging face of #censorship by #Govt of India… http://pic.twitter.com/eT8FRrPD

@ajantriks: has @vimeo been blocked in #india or only i am getting crazy error message? @anjakovacs @jackerhack @zainabbawa @geohacker

@jackerhack: @ajantriks Blocked on Reliance and maybe other networks. Reliance got a court order to block piracy before a film release @vimeo @anjakovacs

@kaustubh4evr: Vimeo Blocked in India Along with BitTorrent Sites: Censorship, at the behest of movie studios or music labels, … http://bit.ly/LepfJ4

@mihirfadnavis: Terrorism? Food shortage? Power cuts? Corruption? NO SIR, Vimeo is by far the biggest threat to India!

@varunasingh: @relianceworld Whatever you are doing is pathetic and against the motives of the internet.

@_anshulk: Blocking vimeo is stupid #reliance #censorship #india

@wewakesaynoy: For those of you using Reliance internet: they have blocked TPB, Vimeo & will follow with others. Do you really want an ISP that does that?

@TheBigGeek: @vimeo blocked by #reliance and not by #Bharti and #Tata #VSNL #CRAZY how can a DOT order be only for one ISP :****

The hue and cry over the blocked sites appear to have had an impact. The sites have been unblocked on the Reliance ISP, as this Facebook message by Chai Kadai informs us:

Vimeo is back on for us. Yay! Maybe Reliance Communications got some sense into its head or people found some other ways to download the movie. Whatever the reason. For now, happy to have Vimeo. Still don't understand how they got to block it in the first place.

Some of the tweeple have seconded the information that the sites can now be accessed on the ISP concerned.

@crazyscorpio12: Finally! TPB and vimeo unblocked on reliance india. Whew!

@aditya_bhatt: TPB and Vimeo are unblocked on Reliance now.

However, this appears to be a temporary respite. Until their next big release, that is.

Nigeria: BattaBox Bakes Stories Through Online Videos

Nwachukwu Egbunike — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:22:25 +0000

Nigeria is inflicted with the sores of a 'single' story. The stereotypical canticles of corruption, internet fraud, terrorism and gross ineptitude. However, this image is at variance with the real Nigeria and Nigerians whose gusto for life is unparalleled.

BattaBox - a Nigerian Conversation - is an online television that captures the genuine rendition of the country and shares with global netizens.

“BattaBox is everything Nigerian - music, film, street-life, news, comedy, cooking and much, much more. ‘For Nigerians, by Nigerians’ - YOU upload your videos, photos, shout-outs, as well as discussing anything in our real-time video chat-room - and we’ll make sure your voice is heard.”

Christian Purefoy

Christian Purefoy (CP), a director in BattaBox gave us a glimpse of this evolving online television. CP has worked in Nigeria for over seven years as a freelance journalist and CNN’s West Africa correspondent.

Nwachukwu Egbunike (NE): What is BattaBox TV?

CP: BattaBox is ‘a Nigerian conversation' - music, film, street-life, news, comedy and much, much more. BattaBox is a video platform that allows anyone to upload videos to share an emotional moment, discuss a hot topic and promote an idea. If you want to make your voice heard, you have a video or photo you want to share, you need a big break for your music video, or you have a great show idea…

NE: Going by the clips on your site, they show an array of mundane but surprisingly, momentous stories of everyday Nigerian life. What and who motivated this idea of video communication?

CP: Nigeria is such a vibrant place that even the most mundane is crackling with energy. We hope the BattaBox platform will enable Nigerians to harness that energy with the huge potential of the internet. With the explosion of mobile phones (and their video cameras!) and the coming of the internet - there are now the tools in the hands of every Nigerian to explore, share and make their voice heard. We hope this will not only bring entertainment but positive change to peoples lives, not just in Nigeria but the diaspora in the rest of the world.

NE: Why Lagos, Nigeria? You could have as well focused on any other part of the globe?

CP: This is a Nigerian company so there's no place like home! No other place on earth has such a vibrant character, everyone has something to say, every street corner has a story to tell - we hope BattaBox will provide the platform to promote and share that energy. And, of course, we believe there is enormous business potential in Nigeria - so there's no where else we'd rather be!

NE: Any plans to get more videos from other parts of the country?

CP: BattaBox is a Nigeria-wide community, but so far many of our videos are from Lagos. This is simply a technical issue: the internet in Nigeria is concentrated in the big cities for the time-being. It is costly and very slow for anyone in the rural areas to upload videos. We believe this will change rapidly over the next few years and so you will see more videos from outside of the major urban areas. However, we do have plenty of people coming back home ‘from the village' with videos that we're uploading and would love your readers to send in more!

NE: You seem to rely on citizen reporters to make and upload videos. What are the criteria for selecting/accepting videos that are finally hoisted on your website?

CP: We accept all and any videos - as long as they are not inflammatory. If there are problems (maybe with the video or sound quality) then we try to get in touch with the person and help one-on-one to get it uploaded. This is a new platform in Nigeria so we are happy to help anyone who has an idea but maybe have a few questions ( for example, if they have a series of cooking class videos, etc )

NE: What has been your audience reaction? Bearing in mind that you currently rely on the social media platform.

CP: Audience reaction has been amazing! Our viewing figures better than we'd hoped, comments and feedback on the videos are great - everyone seems to enjoy any of the videos they watch! - and people stop me when they see me around town to say they love the site. So yes it's a social media platform but people are talking about it in the real world!

NE: What is your business model? And what is your strategy for being financially sustainable?

CP: Our business model is advertising - we are relying on our own personal investments and want to grow this business independently and organically. We have not rolled out any advertising yet as we continue to establish ourselves but once we start to make money you can be sure we will be investing straight back into BattaBox and Nigeria!

NE: In your opinion, what is the future of web based citizen media sites in Africa?

CP: In many ways, the future is already here in Africa. Everyone with a mobile phone able to access and share on citizen media sites allowing them to bypass the traditional state broadcasters - it's already possible. What is needed now is cheaper costs and easier accessibility, and like the explosion of mobile phones we believe this is inevitable and simply a matter of time.
However, security remains a serious issue for any citizen media sites in Africa. Their voices may be online, but people still live in the real world and any government or other intimidation of journalists (online or traditional) must be stopped.

NE: What is your take about the power of videos for social change in Africa?

CP: Video, I believe, is the most powerful communication medium. Through video - both recorded but increasingly real-time - people will be able to tell their story themselves, and not rely on a ‘third-party' journalist. This will have a profound effect on empowering social change, not just in Africa but the world. I can't give away all our secrets but hopefully soon start seeing this happening in Nigeria.

NE: The radio remains the most potent developmental tool, followed by the television. The reason being the spread it has among the rural poor in the continent. Consequently, do you think that the social media can ever match up to these two?

CP: Don't underestimate the power of the minority who can currently access and afford the internet in Nigeria - the burgeoning middle-class. In Egypt recently, it was this ‘urban middle-class' that used the internet to bring change.
But yes, the internet in Nigeria is still a few years away from having the reach of the radio or television - the infrastructure and costs remain a huge issue. We do however believe social media will surpass the traditional media in both spread and potential to bring change.

NE: Can we peer into the future of BattaBox?

CP: We are so excited at the unexpected ways in which BattaBox is being used and growing that we're almost unsure how it will look in the future ourselves! But we hope you will see more people wanting to put up their own shows, voices, jokes, fashion ideas and more. We have lots of ideas and potential in the pipeline - but hope you don't mind if we keep them ‘under our hat' for the moment! But one thing I can tell you is that we'll soon be unrolling our Google+ Pidgin Hangouts!

NE: Last words…

CP: Thank you to everyone who is getting involved in BattaBox! We all gather round and watch everytime we get a new video - there's nothing we'd rather be doing.

Colombia: A New Home for Campus Party in 2013?

Chellsy Alis Manning — Mon, 14 May 2012 03:11:38 +0000

Campus Party [es], the meeting for the collective creation of knowledge and training in Information Technology and Communication (ICT) will be held this year in Bogotá, as it has been in previous years since its birth in Colombia in 2008. This year the meeting is expected to draw in over 5,000 people. Traditionally the event has attracted the economic support from the Mayor of Bogotá, however, this time around Mayor Gustavo Petro has decided not to support the event.

The lack of financial support from the mayor of Bogotá has motivated Paco Ragageles, co-founder of Campus Party, to post on his personal blog [es] and on Twitter [es]. He writes that it may be time to think of another venue for the Campus Party in Columbia. At the end of his post he clarified:

Pd (obviamente es mi opinion personal con la info que tengo podría y desearía estar equivocado)

PS. obviously this is my personal opinion with the information that I have - I could be and I hope that I am wrong

Mayor Petro through his press office [es] confirmed and explained his decision on three points:

En primer lugar, cuando los organizadores de Campus Party se acercaron a la Alcaldía, se les preguntó si podía estar presente ETB [Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogotá] [es] en el evento y respondieron que no, que solo podía estar presente una empresa extranjera, entonces no es razonable que la Administración apoye tal criterio de exclusión del operador de Bogotá.

En segundo lugar, los 600 millones que el Distrito ha dejado de aportar este año solo representan una pequeña parte del costo estimado del evento Campus Party, según manifestaron los organizadores.

En tercer lugar, esos 600 millones la Alcaldía los va a invertir en apropiación social de las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación (TIC) en barrios y colegios de estratos populares a través de la semana distrital de TIC que la Alcaldía está preparando para el segundo trimestre de este año, con un impacto social mucho mayor que si se invierten en eventos como Campus Party.

Firstly, when the organisers of Campus Party came into the office we asked them if the Bogotá Telecommunications Company [es] could be a part of the event. They said no, that only a foreign company could participate. Therefore, it is not reasonable to suggest that the Administration support such an exclusion of an operator based in Bogotá.

Secondly, the 600 million pesos that the District has failed to give this year is only a small part of the estimated cost of the Campus Party event, according to the organisers.

Thirdly, the town hall is planning on investing 600 million pesos during the ICT week planned for the second quarter of this year to develop the use of technology in the poorer neighbourhoods and schools. The social impact of this will be far greater than if you were to invest in events like Campus Party.

“Mujer Florestal” maintains [es] that the blog entry published by Paco Ragageles generated misinformation and explains:

Si la Campus Party esta buscando nueva sede, es muy irresponsable relacionar este acto con el apoyo que le brindaba la Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá, que como lo mencione anteriormente representa solo un 11% del valor total, no se deben lanzar apreciaciones espontáneas sin exponer las respectivas cifras e impactos.

If the Campus Party is looking for a new location then it is irresponsible to link this with the withdrawal of funding from the Mayor of Bogotá, as it only represents 11% of the total cost of the event. Judgements should not be made without examining the figures and potential impacts.

Image from the flickr user campuspartycolombia (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The phrase ‘Campus Party' was a local trending topic on Twitter, where many people were proposing and debating new cities for the event in 2013.

Carlos Gutiérrez (@glomaker) writes [es] enthusiastically about his proposal for Medellín:

Ojalá Campus Party 2013 sea en Medellín, estoy seguro que sería una buena plaza! #CPCO

I hope Campus Party 2013 comes to Medellín, I am sure it would be a great place to hold it! #CPCO

Diana Galindo (@dianagalindob) makes a comparison [es] between Campus Party 2013 and events like the upcoming concert by the singer Madonna:

Campus Party en Medellín, Madona también. Qué sigue, Medellín la capital?

Campus Party in Medellín, and Madonna as well. What's next, Medellín becoming the capital?

Camilo Galeano (@camilogaleano) says it is a given [es] that Campus Party 2013 will be in Medellín:

Este será el último campus Party en Bogotá! (Fijo se lo queda Medellín)

This will be the last Campus Party in Bogotá! (The next will definitely be in Medellín)

Eliana Caraballo (@elianaca) argues the case for Cartagena [es] as a possible location, where the last Summit of the Americas took place:

CAMPUS PARTY EN CARTAGENA!!! ¿Si pudieron hacer una cumbre de presidentes, por qué no un evento de tecnología tan importante? @AlcaldiaCtg

CAMPUS PARTY IN CARTAGENA!!! If they could hold the Presidents' Summit there, why not an important technological event? @AlcaldiaCtg

Cari Isa Vanegas (@Caricilla) suggests [es] Barranquilla:

En Barranquilla no tendríamos problemas en acoger al Campus Party

We would have no trouble welcoming the Campus Party in Barranquilla

Sebas R. Sarmiento (@sebas779) regrets [es] that the Bogotá town hall cannot support the event, but asks for it to be held in his city:

Lamentable saber que la alcaldía de Bogotá no apoya un evento como Campus Party, pero bueno, ojalá decidan que ahora se haga en Cali!

It is regrettable to find out that the Bogotá town hall cannot support an event such as the Campus Party, but well, I hope they decide to hold it in Cali!

Diana Luque, in her blog [es] “Identidad Geek”, considers the possible investment of 600 million pesos and links to an article [es] written by another co-founder of Campus Party showing the benefits of the event and their strong interest in achieving the investment through sponsorship:

(…) ¿A cuantas personas llegará la iniciativa de la alcaldía y a cuantos Campus Party? Para tratar de demostrar el aporte del evento, la respuesta de la organización a la alcaldía sobre lo que han hecho en la ciudad no se hizo esperar.

How many people will benefit from the initiatives by the town hall and Campus Party? In order to demonstrate the contribution of the event, the organization's response to the mayor about what they have done in the city was left for far too long

Diana concludes by supporting the idea of relocating:

Me gustaría que se quedara en Bogotá, pero pienso que Medellín o Cali merecen la oportunidad, como lo merece en México Puebla o en cualquier otro país salir de la capital. Mi verdadera crítica es que en medio de la globalización y el acercarnos más a través de Internet, no entendemos que las capitales no son el ombligo de los países.

I would like it to stay in Bogotá, but I think Medellin or Cali deserve the opportunity, like Puebla in Mexico deserve it or any other city that's not a capital city. My real criticism is that in the midst of globalisation and the Internet bringing us ever closer together, we do not understand that capital cities are not the centre of all that happens in their respective countries.

At the time of writing this post, Paco Ragageles in the last update of his blog [es] clarified:

Pd2 Actualización (en vista de la que se esta liando, aclaro, yo solo digo lo que me da la sensación va a suceder, y añado que es triste para nosotros, es insostenible campus sin el apoyo de la municipalidad y no lo tenemos este año, y respeto 100% la decisión libre y soberana, simplemente tendremos que buscar nuevo hogar y agradecer por los años que nos ayudaron, sin hacer mas lío please)

Update (in the wake of this running on, I will clarify my position and just say whatever I feel will happen. I add that this is sad for us, that for Campus it is unsustainable without the support of the town hall this year. I respect this decision 100% but now we will have to find a new home for next year. I thank you for the years when you helped us and I am hoping for no more trouble, please.)

Egypt: Historical Arabic Manuscripts Put Online

Mohamed Adel — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:15:37 +0000

Egypt's Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Wellcome Library and King’s College London Digital Humanities Department have recently launched the Wellcome Arabic Manuscript Cataloguing Partnership (WAMCP). The manuscripts collection comprises around 1000 manuscript books and fragments relating to the history of medicine. All content is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Zambia: Citizen News Website Hacked

Gershom Ndhlovu — Sun, 13 May 2012 14:36:15 +0000

On Wednesday, 9 May, 2012, netizens who flock to various citizen-run news websites such as Zambian Watchdog and Tumfweko were met with “page not available” or messages to similar effect. As frustrating at not accessing the websites that have come to be known for their expose stories as it was, the non-technical readers dismissed it as one of those things the internet threw at you once in a while.

A day after the glitch, Zambian Watchdog reported that its website was a target of a sustained attack allegedly by the PF government. Reported the website popularly known as ZWD among Zambian netizens:

PF government agents last Wednesday carried out their most ambitious attack on the Zambian Watchdog website with view of destroying it.

“The site has been attacked using denial of service and no personal information has been compromised”
The attackers have used Optima/Darkness DDoS botnet that is popular in the Russian-speaking cybercrime black market.
The Attack caused inaccessibility to the news for close to 8 hours.
Other websites like http://www.tumfweko.com were also brought down that day.

President Sata looking at the Facebook page of opposition MMD MP Dora Siliya. Picture courtesy of McLan Mkuni on the Bemba vs Nyanja: Miponto Sha Ci Mbuya group page.

Although difficult to prove that the attack was carried out by the PF government, the relationship between the Zambian Watchdog and the PF has not been all rosy even as an opposition party before the 2011 elections. President Michael Sata’s statement when he swore in Attorney General Mumba Malila shortly after he took up the president did not help matters.

President Sata told Mr Malila who had once held the same position under the defeated MMD government:

“Last year when we were preparing for elections, these so called unregistered internet sites reported that Mr Sata had collapsed, Mr Sata is very sick, Mr Sata has died…

“So, I am not asking for a witch- hunt, but you as Attorney-General, let us enforce the laws of this country because all these internets are all orchestrated by the UPND. Last year the Watchdog website lied that he was dead, he was too sick, when in fact not. “

Chilling though, was a story that was reported earlier this year that the government had released K5 billion or US$1 million to send police and security staff around the world to train them to hack the targeted websites.

The Independent Post, which was also hit by a similar attack, quoting an email it got from Zambian Watchdog quoted from the Cyber War Zone website, reported:

Watchdog comment: The Watchdog is aware of the hackers sponsored by the PF government to wipe out all Independent news websites in Zambia.

About K5 billion tax payers money has been released to government agents and some have been sent to China and other countries to learn how to hack websites. Even though we hear that most of this money has been used on beer and prostitutes.

Graph of the distribution of DDoS attacks on Zambian Watchdog. Image source: zambianwatchdog.com.

A Wikipedia entry claiming that President Sata had been assassinated did not help matters in the relationship between citizen news websites and the government. It was shortly after that incident that the reported K5 billion was released for the war against recalcitrant news websites.

Commenting on the Zambian Watchdog attack story, Mufana Wamahafu wrote:

The PF will soon run out of cash in their quest to close critical online publications.Even if ZWD is brought down today, another one will immediately be setup by the same owners. The PF will have to subcontract the Vietnamese and Russians at what cost? Because we all know that PF has no capacity to even learn how to go about this whole process.Its a party of thick heards. I mean the president is a grade ZERO ZERO ZERO. Please hear this: ONLINE NEWS IS HERE TO STAY. FINITO!!! This is just a tip of the iceberg, ZWD and the rest of these online newspapers has’nt even reached their optimum. Its too early to press the panic button ba kaponya imwe [you louts].

Reacted a reader calling himself Say What?:

DoS attacks don’t come cheap and are difficult to sustain.
If the PF really is behind this then some great use of our tax money, huh? No price too high to pay for suppressing freedom of speech? Guess I missed that line in the PF Manifesto.

But one reader, Jackson, had a different view:

I DONT THINK A SERIOUS GOVT. CAN LOSE SLEEP OVER A SMALL,BIASED,TRIBAL AND UNETHICAL WEBSITE. THESE ALLEGATIONS ARE TOTALLY BASELESS.

On 2 April, 2012 Zambian Watchdog reported that the government has intensified crackdown on Internet users:

The PF government has heightened its internet crack down on citizens who use to discuss matters that affect them.

But the crackdown on the Internet may land the Zambian government in trouble as it risks being listed as one of the Internet enemies.

The government through its secret service is now monitoring and gathering Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of people who regularly comment on political matters on popular news websites or social media like Facebook and Twitter.

As example, the Zambia Media Forum, a private discussion group has been invaded by state agents who are passing on details of group members to the state.

Zambia Medium Forum is a discussion group whose members are mostly Zambian journalists and Civil Society activists. Some of the members work for government and parastatal companies.

Last week, at least three members of the Forum were interrogated by OP [Office of the Predisent] agents from their respective offices.

Iran: 28.5 millions have access to Internet

Hadi Nili — Sun, 13 May 2012 11:05:55 +0000

According to official statistics,28.5 millions of Iranians are estimated to have access to Internet connection in 1154 cities of Iran. This figures says more than 2.1 millions of this Iranian users have ADSL connection and the rest are connected via dial-up. Iranian government has restricting rules for Internet connection of citizens and only academic and business users can have broadband connections more than 128 kbps.

Nicaragua: The Media's Challenges in Going Mobile

Silvia Viñas — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:05:51 +0000

Carlos R. Fonseca [es] blogs about the use of mobile devices in Nicaragua. He looks at the challenges Nicaraguan media outlets face in creating mobile applications and mobile versions of their sites due to a lack of information on how Nicaraguans use mobile devices.