Global Voices · Citizen media stories from November 2010

November, 2010

Monthly archive · 154 posts

Featured stories from November 2010

Russia: Leading Activist Blogger on How Internet Changes Politics

Caucasus: Revelations & Confusion over Cablegate

Russia: Competing Models of Internet Politics

RuNet becomes an arena of the competition of at least two concepts of the usage of the cyberspace: "United Russia"'s formula "Internet instead of democracy" and independent, grass-roots formula "Internet as a free environment for civil society initiatives." Alexey Sidorenko analyzed the recent trends of the role of the Internet in contemporary Russian politics.

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China: “Hang the Slaves of the West” 30 November 2010
Fiji Water closes the tap and leaves Fiji 30 November 2010
Cambodia: Lessons from the Water Festival stampede 29 November 2010
Madagascar: Wave of Arrests in the Aftermath of the Failed Coup 29 November 2010
South Asia: The Morality Of Exposing Others' Secrets 29 November 2010

Stories from November, 2010

30 November 2010

Cablegate: Lessons on tech for transparency

Written by Renata Avila · Technology for Transparency Network

Wikileaks' release of over 250,000 United States embassy cables is one of the hottest subjects in media and government right now. Renata Avila looks at what Cablegate can teach us about technology for transparency.

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Pakistan: The Desperation Cards

Written by Farhan Janjua · South Asia

There has been a lot of mismanagement of the donations collected for flood relief in Pakistan. The methods of distribution of reliefs and utilizing those funds for other purposes have also been questioned. One such controversial project is the "Watan Cards" project.

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Africa: Cablegate: Does the US care about Africa this much?

Written by Ndesanjo Macha · Sub-Saharan Africa, North America

Bloggers react to documents published by WikiLeaks (Cablegate) that disclose classified communication between the US State department and its embassies worldwide. The documents make reference to African countries and its leaders.

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Central & Eastern Europe: Initial Reactions to WikiLeaks' Cablegate

Written by Veronica Khokhlova · Eastern & Central Europe, North America

While other regions feature a lot more prominently in the collection of U.S. embassy cables published by WikiLeaks thus far, a few countries of the CEE region do appear in the kickoff edition of Cablegate. Below is a small selection of initial reactions from the region's bloggers.

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29 November 2010

Australia Waking to Cancún

Written by Kevin Rennie · Oceania

In the lead up to Cancún (the COP16 meeting of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol) online discussion in Australia has finally spiked. Here are sample blog reactions

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Philippines: Student unrest over education budget cuts

Written by Karlo Mikhail Mongaya · East Asia

Students from various public universities in the Philippines held massive protest actions against the budget cuts imposed by the government. Students documented the 'campus strikes' by using the internet.

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Jordan: Wikileaks' “Cablegate” Raises Questions

Written by Betsy Fisher · Middle East & North Africa

The recent Wikileaks release, known as "Cablegate," featured several quotations from Jordanian officials, as well as large numbers of cables from the U.S. Embassy in Amman. Jordanian tweeters had varied initial reactions to the latest leak from the whistle-blower site.

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Middle East: The Not-So-Secret US Embassy Secret Cables

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa, North America

While mainstream media across the Arab world gave the secret US Embassy cables released yesterday the cold shoulder, bloggers and Twitter users from the Middle East found much needed material to chew on.

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Panama: Asylum for Former Colombian Security Director Creates Controversy

Written by Ariel Moreno · Translated by Marco Veliz · Latin America

The Panamanian government's decision to grant asylum to former director of the Colombian Administrative Department of Security -who is accused of illegal phone wiretapping- has sparked reactions on social networks in both countries.

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Take Back the Tech to Eliminate Violence Against Women

Written by Firuzeh Shokooh Valle · Freedom of Speech, Human Rights

The global campaign Take Back the Tech! started on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This year it is focused on developing actions that defend women's right to freedom and expression and information. Global Voices interviews Erika Smith, the Association of Progressive Communications Women's Networking Support Program communications coordinator.

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Updates from November, 2010

30 November 2010

Brazil

Natalia Vianna reports [pt] for WikiLeaks on how US embassy cables reveal Brazilian security forces have cooperated with US intelligence on counterterrorism in the country, arresting individuals with links to terrorism on various other charges, particularly narcotics.

• Thiana Biondo

Mexico

“Mexico is showing real leadership on this issue, unilaterally setting ambitious goals to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions and implementing policies that have already begun to make a dent in that number,” writes Boz from Bloggings by Boz, adding that, “Unfortunately, few people expect a major breakthrough at the Cancun meeting.”

• Silvia Viñas

Venezuela

LluviasVe.com [es] uses crowdsourcing to map events caused by the heavy rains in Venezuela. Users can report on floods, landslides, victims, road blocks, shelters, places to make donations and more.

• Silvia Viñas

Sri Lanka

Groundviews discusses about the Wikileaks papers on Sri Lanka and its possible impact.

• Rezwan

Sri Lanka

“Weddings are awesome, as long as you are not the groom!” comments Sri Lankan Blogger Rakhitha Karunarathne, who is getting married recently and is troubled by the massive arrangements to be done.

• Rezwan

Bangladesh

Mahfuzur Rahman Manik shares his frustration over the delay in enacting the National Education Policy 2010 of Bangladesh.

• Rezwan

Haiti

Dying in Haiti continues to comment on Sunday's election, here and here, saying, even as the OAS announces that the vote should be deemed valid: “The methods that I witnessed on Sunday morning sure wouldn't give robust results choosing new Haitian leaders.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba

Along the Maleon says that the “Cablegate” cables that pertain to Cuba appear to be about the country's “political affairs, the country's relations with other countries and human rights.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

Afra Raymond tells of “amazing scenes” as the CLICO bailout debacle reaches the showdown stage.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba

As the Cardinal of Havana declares that the release of the remaining political prisoners is not in his hands, Uncommon Sense says: “The difficulty he faces in understandable. But what is indefensible is that at least publicly, he never comes across as a champion for those Cubans…”

• Janine Mendes-Franco