Stories about Technology from December, 2009
South Asia: Looking Back At 2009
The year 2009 is ending and its time to retrospect how the year has been for the South Asian region. In a two-part review we will look back at some of the major events which took place this year in the South Asian countries seen through the eyes of the citizen journalists.
Caribbean: 2009 Regional Roundup
As Global Voices celebrates its fifth anniversary, the occasion has given us all an opportunity to reflect on why we do what we do and how our work makes a difference. As my colleague Jillian York so succinctly put it, “We spread stories. We spread words.” We manage to do...
Indonesia: Email mom ‘not guilty’ says the High Court
Prita Mulyasari, a housewife who was charged with defamation by a hospital for an email complaint against a bad health service, was found not guilty by the Indonesian High Court. Bloggers and twitterers are happy with the ruling.
China: Three prominent bloggers GFWed in the same week
Following the blocking of veteran Internet essayist He Caitou's (@hecaitou) two longstanding blogs hecaitou.net and caobian.info on December 25, renowned columnist Lian Yue (@lianyue) had yet another one of his blogs, lianyue.net, blocked on the 29th; late on the evening of December 30, Peking University new media associate professor Hu...
Belarus: New Internet Censorship Regulations Planned
Belarus Digest writes about the alleged plans of the government to introduce “additional measures to regulate Internet in Belarus.”
Japan: Spread the message, translate it
A video interview [en] of Kyo Kageura, head of the project Minna no Honyaku (みんなの翻訳, Translation for all) [ja], a new translation platform that helps NGOs and NPOs to spread their messages thanks to volunteer translators. Global Voices Japan asked him about the challenge of Minna no Honyaku [en], the...
Trinidad & Tobago: Facebook Assault
KnowTnT.com reports on “the first documented Facebook related assault” in Trinidad and Tobago.
Palestine: Twitter accused of silencing Gaza tribute
Twitter has been accused of attempting to silence tributes to Gaza one-year after an Israeli onslaught devastated the Palestinian enclave. Pro-Palestinian and human rights activists used the influential Twitter to express support for the besieged territory. Tweets using the hashtag #Gaza flooded in on December 27th, peaking at number 3 on Twitter's top ten Trending Topics list.
Uruguay: The Best Blogs from School-Aged Children
The blog from Plan Ceibal in Uruguay shares links to the best blogs from school-aged children [es] across the country as part of the campaign, “Your Ideas are Valued.”
Barbados: Non-Partisan
Barbadian bloggers note with interest the launch of a new non-partisan political blog.
St. Lucia: A Year for the Books
St. Lucia's Caribbean Book Blog reflects on 2009 as “a year that surely has to go down as one of the most disruptive and transformational periods in the world publishing industry.”
China: Tweeting in support of Iran
Twenty-four hours later and #CN4Iran remains in heavy constant use by Chinese Twitter users speaking out in support of protests now underway across Iran. The #CN4Iran hashtag has since been joined by a @CN4Iran Twitter account and a central blog. Related is this post with a similar story from 2007.
China and Iran: #CN4Iran
Yesterday, thousands of Iranians took to the street to protest against dictatorship. The protest reminded Chinese people of the Tiananmen democracy movement back in 1989 and Chinese twitterers are using hashtag #cn4iran to show solidarity with Iranian fellows.
Is Vietnam blocking Facebook?
Viet Tan publishes an article which provides a background to the problems encountered by Facebook users in Vietnam.
Vietnam: Facebook competitor
YuMe, a Vietnam-based social networking site with more than 2 million members, is Facebook's main competitor in Vietnam.
Global: Tweeting for #Gaza
In honor of the one-year anniversary of Israel's attacks on Gaza in December 2008, a number of activists have planned a targeted "tweet for Gaza" campaign on Twitter. Jillian C. York has more.
India: Facebook Is Good For Your Soul
Gaurav Mishra at Gauravonomics lists five reasons why Facebook is good for your soul.
Mums In Bangladesh
A new exclusive social networking site for mums in Bangladesh has been launched, informs Nilim.
Malaysia: Blogopshere Social Responsiblity
The Malaysian blog, Blogopshere Social Responsiblity, publishes stories of people around Malaysia who are in need of financial support. The blog wants to promote “a new culture in the Malaysian blogosphere which centres upon the idea of social responsibility.”
Israel: Micro-Giving Campaign Seeks to Raise $250K
The One Million Drops Jewish Charity Initiative hopes to drive funds to 275 different Israeli nonprofits and spur micro-giving in Israel, Jewlicious reports.
Africa: Internet and Mobile Statistics in Africa in 2009
Africa grows fastest in the world according to mobile and internet statistics released by the International Telecommunications Union, writes Erik Hersman.
