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July 4th, 2009
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Brazil: “President Lula is a nerd”
Peter Sunde and Lula at the the International Free Software Forum (FISL). Photo by Mariel Zasso.
A photo of Brazilian president Lula da Silva and Pirate Bay’s spokesman Peter Sunde has been doing the rounds on the blogosphere, together with a video in which for the first time the president publicly criticized the Digital Crimes Bill. Initially proposed in 2005 by Brazilian senator Eduardo Azeredo and now under consideration in the Senate, the legislation deals not only with copyright issues, but would also punish for up to three years behind bars anything considered “a dangerous online activity” – from unknowingly spreading a virus to sharing illicit files online.
In a symbolic display of support for Free Open Source Software, Lula brought relief and hope to Brazilian cyber-activists attending the International Free Software Forum (FISL) saying: “the Internet must remain free”, “in our government, it is forbidden to forbid”, “I consider this bill a type of censorship” and “freedom is the source of creativity”. Open Source Initiative provides the English translation of the president's address at the International Free Software Forum (FISL). Self-confessed geek Júlio Câmara [pt] calls the president's visit political marketing and concludes that Lula said what everyone wanted to hear:
A início do controle da segurança do presidente, próximo ao meio dia, decretou o final do terceiro dia de fórum para os participantes. A área onde estavam a maioria dos estandes teve o acesso restrito a poucas pessoas, o resto do pessoal teve de optar por ficar embolado na multidão na área livre ou sair pela cidade.
Embora tenha causado tantos tanstornos, Lula conseguiu cativar vários participantes do FISL, alguns até divulgaram materiais com a frase “O Lula é nerd”.
Para conquistar os eleitores geeks, Lula bateu na cara da Microsoft defendendo o uso de Software Livre e detonou o projeto de Lei do senador Azeredo, classificando o projeto como censura na internet
Although Lula caused much trouble, he managed to please several FISL participants, some of them even handed out banners with the phrase “Lula is a nerd.”
To win the geeks' sympathy, Lula gave Microsoft a slap in the face advocating the use of free software and criticized Senator Azeredo's Bill, describing the project as censorship on the Internet
Despite the chaos that the security apparatus surrounding the president's visit brought to the event, Filipe Saraiva [pt] says his presence was positive, but he wants to see real action to prevent the law from being passed:
Agora, vamos esperar que o presidente não fique apenas no discurso. Muitos pediram que ele vetasse a lei, caso aprovada; porém, isso gera um fato complicado de se lidar.
Ainda existe a possibilidade que os partidos políticos possam fazer um movimento para barrar a aprovação da lei ainda nos plenários. Enquanto isso, os movimentos continuam fazendo pressão.
Não esqueça de assinar a petição contra o Projeto Azeredo. Já são quase 150.000 assinaturas.
There is still the possibility that political parties make a move to prevent the bill being passed in the congress. Meanwhile, organizations carry on applying pressure.
Do not forget to sign the petition against Azeredo's Bill. Almost 150,000 have already done so.
"Lula is nerd" – This photo illustrated cards distributed at the FISL
The main goal of President Lula's participation in this special 10th anniversary of the International Free Software Forum, attended for the first time by a head of state, was to promote the coming launch of its own social media strategy and the Blog do Planalto. Planalto Palace is the house of the Federal Executive Power, but the blog has also been dubbed Blog do Lula on the blogosphere, despite the fact that a group of bloggers and not the president himself will provide content. The blog will run on Wordpress using open source software and aims at a share of the population that have the Internet as their main source of information.
To test the waters, the government has set up a consultation form, an initiative that has been welcomed by the blogosphere. The deadline for participation is July 7th, and at the end, there will be a few choices of layout with bloggers and netcitizens again invited to voice their opinions, this time casting a vote for the template of their choice. Afinsophia [pt] helps to get the word out:
E como mais uma evidência de um outro entendimento do que é comunicação social que carrega este governo, não compactuando com as forças reacionárias tradicionais, a chamada mídia sequelada, convida os internautas a participar da confecção do blogue. Desde o conteúdo até os softwares de código aberto que irão compor o portal, tudo será decidido em um fórum virtual, com participação livre. É o entendimento do público transbordando nas ondas virtuais da rede, a partir do entendimento democrático da comunicação social do governo federal.
If there have been attempts to ban blogs from the debate in past elections in the country, the arrival of Blog do Planalto will mark a change in the trend and mentality. J. Neto [pt] also points out that, however, as announced in the pre-launch, the blog will not be open to comments to begin with, which he considers a big mistake:
Com a intenção de ter uma aproximação maior com o público jovem das redes sociais e, visando as eleições do próximo ano (2010), o blog do presidente Lula deverá estar pronto até o final deste mês. E, semelhante a estratégia já adotada por Barack Obama nas eleições americanas, Lula também terá um canal no YouTube e no Twitter para interagir. (…) Agora, uma pergunta curiosa: Qual a vantagem de ter um blog se ele não aceita comentários (feedbacks)?
"Hey, mate, will you add me to your blogroll?" A cartoon by Infomaniaco.com.br
The International Free Software Forum (FISL) is an annual event sponsored by Brazilian NGO, the Free Software Association, that takes place every year in Porto Alegre, this year attracting around 8,000 people from 24th through 27th June [pt]. A collection of news, twitter reactions and blog posts about the event, mostly in Portuguese, can be read here. As previously reported by Global Voices, the protest has now left the blogosphere and entered the streets and a series of demonstrations against The Digital Crimes Bill [pt], also known as Azeredo's Bill, have taken place in past weeks in several Brazilian cities, the most recent during the first week of July in Rio de Janeiro and Vitoria.
Belarus: A Holiday, Sort Of
On July 3, Belarus celebrated its Independence Day with a military parade.
Belarusian analyst Alexander Klaskouski wrote a lengthy article (RUS) for the TUT.by portal, in which he explained, among other things, the history and the politics behind the date of the holiday:
[…] July 3 was chosen to spite political enemies, to rebut the nationalists who mark Freedom Day on March 25 (honoring the [Belarusian People's Republic]), and to cross out the decision of the disbanded organ, the Supreme Council, to celebrate independence on July 27, honoring the adoption of the Declaration of Sovereignty in 1990 (many people no longer remember that until the mid-1990s this was the main holiday). […]
LJ user rokobungi, in a post titled A Holiday, Sort Of (RUS), looks back to the time of the referendum of Nov. 24, 1996, when the date of the holiday was approved. The blogger notes the fact that July 3 is the date of the 1944 liberation of Minsk. Also, he cites the referendum vote results:
[…] 5,450,830 people voted in favor of moving the Independence Day [to a different date) - 88.18 percent; 646,708 people voted against it - 10.46 percent; and 83,925 ballots […] were recognized as invalid. […]
This year there were lots of police in the streets, possibly due to the fact that crowds were too big last year at the same celebration. LJ user sammy-belarus writes in her blog (RUS):
[…] The police have surpassed themselves this year. They were checking everyone with metal detectors, and there was a fixed camera filming everyone who was passing through. [Other] restrictions: one couldn't carry any alcohol in, only soft drinks in small transparent bottles were allowed; no cameras with lenses longer than 4 cm; and, naturally, access was denied to people who were tipsy […].
A lot Minsk residents left the city that day. Some of them went to their summer houses, others went camping.
Mexico: The Campaign to Protect the Vote
A new website is planning to protect the votes of Mexicans in the elections of July 5 from “old enemies”: violence, false IDs, ballot rigging, damage to ballot boxes and other obstacles for transparent elections. “Cuidemos el voto [es]” [“Let’s protect the vote”] is a project following the “citizen journalism” spirit that will watch discrepancies during the elections through reports from text messages (SMS), Twitter and its own website.
“Cuidemos el voto” is built on Ushahidi, an open-source platform that allows citizens to send information in a quick and easy way through cellphones and Internet with the purpose of coverage during crisis: it collect reports, links, photos and video, and places them on a map where the information can be filtered. The “motor” has been used recently for media coverage: in early 2009, news network Al Jazeera used it for reports on the war on Gaza and later an independent project used it for surveillance on swine flu.
This is the first formal project of Ushahidi in Latin America. This project in Mexico was developed by an eclectic team with knowledge of telecommunications, urban planning and electronic media, with the help of the Center for Future Civic Media of the MIT. Leaders for this project include Óscar Salazar (from Colima, MX; Twitter) and Andrés Lajous (from Federal District, MX, Twitter, blog), with Jorge Soto (Monterrey, MX) and José Oviedo (Colima, blog). The team helped translate the Ushahidi platform into Spanish, making it easier for other Latin American teams to organize a similar effort.
“Cuidemos el voto” calls for Mexican citizens to report any irregularity they witness or they learn through media. Reports can be sent in several ways:
- Using an electronic form at the website of “Cuidemos el voto [es]”
- Sending an text message to SMS number 55-3269-0062 (in Mexico), including electoral section, city or town, and the type of irregularity to be reported
- Sending an e-mail with same information to reporte@cuidemoselvoto.org
- Reporting an incident through Twitter using the tag #cuidemoselvoto
To know more about how to make a better report during Sunday elections, their article “How to report incidents? [es]” gives some basic tips on recognizing electoral crimes and how to quick-type them according to their four-letter code.
Honduras: Was it a Coup?
The political crisis in Honduras reached its highest levels last Sunday with the arrest and subsequent expulsion of the now ex-president Manuel Zelaya, which was carried out by the Honduran Armed Forces under orders of the National Congress and the Supreme Court. These actions have accentuated the divisions within the country and has plunged the country into a historical political and social chaos.
Photo of Anti-Zelaya march taken by Roberto Brevé and used under a Creative Commons license. http://www.flickr.com/photos/breve/3684627699/
The origin of the crisis was the popular consultation promoted by the Executive Branch in order to ask the country whether or not they agree that a new Constitution should be written. For some, the proposal is part of the participative democracy that the country needs, but for others, it was a smokescreen that hides the reelection aspirations of Zelaya, meaning, a clear violation of the country's Constitution.
A delegation from the Organization of American States, led by its Secretary-General, Jose Miguel Insulza has been in the capital city of Tegucigalpa to ask for the reinstatement of Zelaya. However, it appears that Congressional leaders are saying that the removal is “irreversible.” As a result, the country may be expelled from the OAS, and may face sanctions.
In Mirada de Halcón [es], Carlos Rivera writes:
La encuesta, que no tiene ningún peso legal, porque no es un plebiscito, tampoco es un referéndum, simplemente es una consulta popular”. Si gana el “no”, pues, lógicamente, los ciudadanos habrán expresado que no desean una nueva Constitución. Si gana el “sí”, entonces, la historia será diferente a partir de ahora.
David Moran of El Catracho [es] writes that there was a coup:
La encuesta que no es otra cosa que un referéndum, el cual pide el SI para una Constituyente. Algo ilegítimo según la actual Constitución hondureña; y por si fuera poco, un SI promocionado nada menos que por el propio Presidente de la República y su gabinete de gobierno ¿Qué significa esto? ¿Quién violó el orden Constitucional? O mejor dicho ¿Quién dio el Golpe?
The transitional government led by Roberto Micheletti, named president by the National Congress states that the procedure was carried out entirely legally under Honduran law . However, for part of the Honduran population and almost the entire international community, they are clearly calling this a coup that has destroyed the young democracy of the country.
In La Honduras Posible [es], Margarita Montes writes:
Este caso no se puede catalogar como un “golpe de Estado”, ya que no cumple con dos rasgos fundamentales de dicho fenómeno político: toma del poder por parte del estamento militar y quebrantamiento del Estado de Derecho.
Rubén Escobar of La Búsqueda [es] asks the following questions:
Si no fue un golpe de estado ¿Por qué Manuel Zelaya Rosales no está en el país siendo juzgado?¿por qué detuvieron a los ministros y enviaron a la canciller Patricia Rodas a México? ¿Por qué cerraron canal 8 y no permitieron ver CNN, mientras encadenaban las radios para que no informaran? ¿Por qué se inventaron una carta que fue firmada el jueves 25 de junio?
The blog Periodico el Inventario [es] writes:
Nosotros no nos sentíamos ni representados, ni identificados con El Presidente Zelaya, pero menos aún con los militares, con Micheletti o cualquiera de ese grupo ultraconservador que hoy asaltó el poder.
Finally, the coverage of the international media during the conflict has generated discussion, especially from CNN, which according to many had not been impartial. In Desde Tegus [es], we can see some comments about this topic in this open letter to a CNN reporter, which asserts that they “misinformed the entire world.”
Carlos Viaux adds a comment:
La actitud de CNN en Español el domingo 28 cubriendo el golpe de Estado en Honduras es una clase magistral para estudiantes acerca del periodismo que desprestigia la profesión. Pero, ni su corresponsal en esa capital ni sus editores o conductores exigieron a ninguno de sus entrevistados actores de la asonada cívico-militar copia o tener a la vista la carta que se leyó en el Parlamento hondureño atribuida al Presidente Zelaya, en la que éste supuestamente renunciaba.
Iran: Myth and reality about Twitter
International media coverage of the Iranian protest movement in the past weeks has widely celebrated ‘Twitter power' as a tool of organizing and reporting on protests, but the reliance on Twitter has had both positive and negative results in this crisis. We look at some of them here to demystify the actual degree of impact.
There is no doubt citizens protesting the results of the June presidential election have made efficient use of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogs to ‘immortalize' their movement and broadcast scenes of violence by security forces, but the centerpoint of this movement are the people and not technology.
With journalists prohibited from doing their work and a world audience thirsty for information from Iran, citizen media has often become a primary source of information. Unfortunately, the true identity and reliability of twitter users was not always known, and we saw instances where the lines of fact and fiction blurred - just as they may have in the presidential election results themselves.
1-Communication tool for reformists leaders
After the election on June 12, several websites belonging to reformists were filtered. Security forces heightened their control of newspapers, reformist personalities were jailed, and those who were still free were barred from access to national television and radio. The Internet is still almost the only window for them to communicate with the public. The Facebook page of Mir Hussein Mousavi's campaign has more than 100,000 supporters. On Twitter his campaign has around 30,000 followers. Ghloamhussein Karbaschi, a top adviser to Mehdi Karroubi, a second reformist candidate in the election, tweets to inform his 5000 followers of events. Twitter and Facebook along with reformist websites such as Ghlamnews help communicate the decisions of reformist leaders and pass on the message.
2-Closing the gap between Iran and the world
Iranian tweets touched thousands around the world and it seems by following and re-tweeting people feel involved. The most common search topic on Twitter for days has been #iranelection (the “hashtag” for discussions on Iran) and global media outlets are relying on information and images disseminated via Twitter as well. According to Bloggasm, tweets coming out of Iran are retweeted an average of 57.8 times.
3-Twitter does not organize demonstrations:
Reformist leaders and their supporters make decisions to organize protests and they communicate it through different means. We have no evidence that people tweeted each other to organize a demonstration. As Evgeny Mozrov, a fellow of the Open Society Institute in New York said to the Washington Post:
“[Twitter] has been of great help in terms of getting information out of the country. Whether it has helped to organize protests — something that most of the media are claiming at the moment — is not at all certain, for, as a public platform, Twitter is not particularly helpful for planning a revolution (authorities could be reading those messages as well!).”
4-Tweets can misinform people:
Recently one of several people tweeted that 700,000 people had gathered at the Ghoba mosque in Tehran. Several people re-tweeted it and even posted the news on their blogs. Meanwhile mainstream international media estimated the number of protesters was between 3000-5000 people. What could have happened to the other a 699,5000 people?
As the new Twitter Journalism website by founder of Breaking Tweets, Craig Kanalley, explains:
“It’s obvious people want information from Iran, and they want it in real-time. So it doesn’t take much for a person to hit “RT” and to rebroadcast information they feel may be a “scoop.” But where’s the gatekeeper?
The gatekeeper is the retweeter, who takes a look at the tweet and within seconds decides its value. Anyone who eyes a retweet must keep this in mind, and treat every tweet with caution until confirmed.”
5-Tweeting is recycling news and tips
Most people tweet what they read on websites, and have also shared useful tips and information to help Iranians circumvent internet filtering and censorship. In other words tweeting helps create an information pool.
6-Misunderstanding the sender:
Sometimes there are 'senders', like Iranians based in the West, for example, who receive information about a demonstration from a source and tweet it without checking the facts, or without mentioning any references. Receivers - especially if they are not Iranians - may think the guy is in Tehran and tweeting from the frontlines.
7-Activism and agendas:
Most Iranians who tweet are activists supporting the protest movement and promoting a cause. Their information should be double-checked and not be accepted at face value, or as an eyewitness observation.
With all these things in mind, it is clear that Twitter is both a source of information as well as mis-information. It's the people behind the screens that matter, as much as the people who report on what they are saying.
Syria: Blogging Pains
Syrian blogger Hossam Akras [ar] describes his attachment to blogging and posting his thoughts online in this post.
After months of seclusion behind a computer screen, Akras takes a break:
The blogger continues:
The blogger does not tell us what the blog he is working on is about in this post.
Links for Sat, 2009-07
Bahraini blogger Ali Abdulemam wonders how four Emirati citizens who were allegedly attacked by a group of Bahrainis received a rapid official response, including a visit from the Bahraini Prime Minister: “This is how fast the justice is, we don't need courts, we don't need story details.”
In Bahrain, Ashish Gorde comments: “I really don't know Michael Jackson and, for that matter, neither does any of the scribes who have written loud commentaries on his life, his career, his legacy. What I know of him is what the media presented to the world. And now it is the loss of that image we mourn.”
A film on student protest movement in Kashan University in Iran.
Bahraini blogger Evil Odd doesn't like Bahrain: “I feel like enough time has passed since my last visit to Bahrain to write a fair description of what I thought of the country. Basically, the place sucks.” But Tom Carter disagrees.
This year is Mobile Suit Gundam's 30th birthday.
While a giant statue of the robot stands in Odaiba's park (in the Tokyo bay area), in a theatre of northern Tokyo, blogger/actress Rie Takahashi [ja] and her crew pay tribute to the animated television series in stage play Robot.
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