Stories from and

From Our World Cup Archive: How Brazil Fooled the World With a Meme

  11 June 2014

Remember “Cala Boca Galvão”, the Internet meme that became a worldwide joke when millions of Twitter users started telling a famous Brazilian sports narrator and broadcaster, Galvão Bueno, to shut up, during the 2010 World Cup opening ceremony? Almost instantly it was a worldwide trending topic on Twitter and people from all over the...

Video: Brazil's Military Police Assaults Subway Workers on Strike

  9 June 2014

The Brazilian independent media collective Midia Ninja posted a video and a news report [pt] on Youtube that expose the violence of the Military Police of São Paulo against subway workers on a peaceful strike in the early hours of June 5, 2014. The video shows riot police officers charging against workers...

Costs and Benefits of Brazil's World Cup

  19 May 2014

Daniel Bustos blogs [es] from Colombia on the economy of the World Cup in Brazil and after touching upon the inevitable issue of corruption, states:  Finally, Brazil will serve as a “guinea pig” for the Latin American countries that someday had dreamt of organizing this great event, it will serve to...

Peru and NetMundial: Same Old, Same Old… or Worse

  13 May 2014

Chillinfart writes [es] on V de Vergüenza about NetMundial, which he considers as a farce. To him this was: a meeting just for the sake of the picture, with core topics revolving around the share-out for Internet domains and concerns about cybersecurity (ring a bell?), leaving aside topics as neutrality...

#NETmundial, Tweets from São Paulo, Brazil

  24 April 2014

Here we share some Storify stories that sum up what happened on the first day of NETmundial, the conference on the future of Internet governance in São Paulo, Brazil (April 23 and 24, 2014). In English: – @APC_News: #NETmundial officially kicks off  – First impressions of #NETmundial. – @PdF_Europe: NetMundial...

Coming Soon! Rising Voices Microgrants for Amazon Communities

  4 April 2014

Rising Voices will be launching a microgrant competition next month for digital citizen media projects in the Amazon region which is home to many indigenous communities. Thanks to Avina Americas, Fundación Avina, and the Skoll Foundation, we'll be offering this support with ongoing mentorship from the Global Voices community. Read...

Delayed Construction Works in Brazil Fuel “(un)Happy” Video

  1 April 2014

The contagious feeling triggered by Pharrell Williams’ viral music video “Happy” inspired citizens of Porto Alegre, Brazil, to take advantage of the fact that their city holds the Portuguese word for “happy” in its name — but rather to express what's making them unhappy. The video shows people dancing joyfully in front...

Brazilian Congress Approves Pioneering Bill of Rights for Internet Users

  26 March 2014

Marco Civil has finally been approved in the lower house of Brazil's Congress and next should be voted in Senate. The bill of rights for Internet users became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter, following a large-scale campaign that was promoted during the day of the vote, March 25, 2014, under the hashtags #MarcoCivil and #EuQueroMarcoCivil (I want...

Brazil's Internet Bill of Rights Ignites Storm of Posts

  25 March 2014

Activists who support Brazil's bill of rights for Internet users, known as the #MarcoCivil, and who have Facebook or Twitter accounts are invited to participate in a large-scale campaign on social networks to pressure the National Congress to vote on the current version of the bill. An article by Julie Rovono on TechCrunch explains how...

‘The Subject': A New Crowdfunding Tool for Brazil's Independent Media

  24 March 2014

Aimed at providing an alternative to the traditional business model of media production, a new crowdfunding platform for independent journalism has been launched in Brazil. O Sujeito (The Subject) [pt] is hosted by the crowdfunding website Catarse, which wrote about the new venture [pt] coming at a time of transition for media funding: O veículo impresso está...

“Happy” Video Exposes the Other Side of Rio de Janeiro

  22 March 2014

Inspired by the “worldwide contagious happiness” that was sparked by Pharrell Williams’ viral music video “Happy“, as can be seen in hundreds of dancing videos from around the world, Brazilian group of video-makers Jeitinho Carioca (“Shit Cariocas Say”) has created a local version for Rio de Janeiro with a satirical tone.  Besides showing people...

Activists Mobilize for Passage of Brazil's Internet Bill of Rights

  12 March 2014

Internet rights activists are in Brasilia today to pressure the National Congress to approve the Brazilian bill of rights for Internet users, known as the Marco Civil. One of them is former Global Voices collaborator Diego Casaes, who works with global civic organization Avaaz and wrote on Facebook [pt] before heading to the capital city:  Hoje...

Brazil's Carnival Waste: The Day After in Photos

  5 March 2014

“The party in Carnival week never ceases in Rio,” says Brazilian photographer Leonardo Coelho. But eventually the day comes when the party is over and thus “Rio de Janeiro wakes up to a trashed city after Carnival night“. That is the title of a photo report by Coelho, which shows the...

27 Brazilian Songs Against Police Violence

  28 February 2014

Brazilian journalist and activist Carlos Carlos posted [pt] a list of the most important “Brazilian songs that denounce the police” on his blog, Bola e Arte. He explains: Now it is trendy to make lists, right? and amid so many useless lists, Bola e Arte blog has prepared a selection of...

Pre-Registration Open for Brazil's Global Internet Governance Event

  7 February 2014

In preparation for the Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance that will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 23-24 April 2014, the organizers are now accepting pre-registrations through a form for expression of interest. The event is a partnership between the state-convened Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br), and...

Human Rights Video: 2013 Year in Review

  3 February 2014

A video by WITNESS on the Human Rights Channel of YouTube wrapped up some of the most significant protests and human rights abuses of 2013. Dozens of clips shot by citizens worldwide are edited together to show efforts to withstand injustice and oppression, from Sudan to Saudi Arabia, Cambodia to...