Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2011 January 28

28 January 2011

Daily archive · 16 posts

Stories from 28 January 2011

Egypt: Citizen Videos Manage to Bypass Blockage

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · Middle East & North Africa

Although the internet and mobile phone shutdown during the protests of the past few days have made it harder for people in Egypt to show the rest of the world what is happening at ground level during the protests, some citizen videos have made it through.

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Poland: Blogger Prosecuted for Criticizing Local Mayor

Written by Jakub Górnicki · Eastern & Central Europe

Jakub Górnicki writes about the case of Łukasz Kaprowicz, a Polish journalist and blogger who was sued for defamation after he had criticized the mayor of the town of Mosina in his blog posts.

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Egypt: Is the Army on the People's Side?

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

Following massive protests across Egypt today, the army was deployed to enforce a night time curfew. On Twitter, the news was received with surprise, with reports that the army was on the people's side. Following is a selection of tweets from across the region.

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Iran: Egypt Uprising a Vivid Reminder of Iran's Green Movement

Written by Fred Petrossian · Middle East & North Africa

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011. For several Iranian bloggers, the current Egyptian protests and activist use of social media, is a vivid reminder...

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Egypt: Visualizing Topics Shared on Twitter

Written by Gilad Lotan · Middle East & North Africa

Twitter has played an instrumental role in keeping the world abreast of the latest developments in Egypt, where demonstrations against the 30-year rule of president Hosni Mubarak have entered their fourth day. The following widget shows Twitter content mentioning the hashtag #jan25 over the last three days, and are all related to terms mentioned in people's Twitter messages.

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Egypt: Videos Are Worth a Million Words

Written by Hisham Almiraat · Middle East & North Africa

The Egyptian government is bracing itself for a fourth consecutive day of demonstrations. Activists have been circulating pamphlets and sharing videos via the Internet. The government has reacted by shutting off the the whole network. A quick roundup of videos posted YouTube urging people to join Friday's planned protest.

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Egypt: Information getting out despite information blackout

Written by Ivan Sigal · Middle East & North Africa

The Egyptian government's shutdown of the Internet and closures of cell phone networks has significantly curtailed information flows, but people have found creative ways to get information out.

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Egypt: Tweeting the Protests Continues

Written by Gilad Lotan · Middle East & North Africa

The blackout on the Internet in Egypt was supposed to thwart efforts to let the world know what was happening on the ground, as massive demonstrations against president Hosni Mubarak enter their fourth day. This attempt has failed as the tweets covering the unfolding events in Egypt continued to dominate our Twitterfeed. Here is a round up of some of the tweets.

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Egypt: “The People Will Bring the Regime Down!”

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

People around the world were glued to their television and computer screens today, as Egyptians took to the streets after the noon Friday prayers. The Day of Rage marks the fourth day in a row for Egyptians to demonstrate against president Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule. Despite an Internet blackout, news continued to flow through satellite channels, with reports being rebroadcast on social networks by netizens.

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Puerto Rico: Violence Continues as Students Engage in Civil Disobedience

Written by César Santiago · Western Europe, Latin America

On January 20th, students from the University of Puerto Rico started staging acts of civil disobedience as part of their strike against the $800 dollar annual fee imposed by the administration. The Police has arrested almost 100 protesters and assaulted journalists who have been covering the incidents. Social media and blogs have been an important tool of dissemination and a space for analysis.

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Updates from 28 January 2011

Mexico

On June 2009 a fire killed 49 children in a nursery in the city of Hermosillo. Erwn C. reports that this week 23 people “related to children either killed or injured in the fire” participated in a hunger strike demanding that the government investigate the case. The strike ended when the Attorney General's Office agreed “to move forward with the inquiry and send the case to an investigative judge by next week.”

• Silvia Viñas

Ukraine

Foreign Notes writes about the latest Euro 2012 controversy in Ukraine: “In other words, the Ukrainian national team could find itself banned from the Euro 2012 football tournament that the country is itself hosting…”

• Veronica Khokhlova

El Salvador

Judiciary workers have concluded a week-long strike requesting higher salaries. Voices from El Salvador's Weblog summarizes how the strike ended and its impact.

• Silvia Viñas

India

Greatbong at Random Thoughts Of A Demented Mind posts a hilarious take on the status and chances of the participating teams to win the 2011 World Cup Cricket.

• Rezwan

India

Maldivian blogger Hassan Ziyau recently visited Srinagar, the capital of Indian controlled Kashmir and blogged about the other side of Kashmir which often fails to capture the limelight.

• Rezwan

Tunisia

iFaqeer opines that the most exhilarating part of a street movement is often the slogans being chanted. This Pakistani blogger urges to the protesters in Egypt, Yemen and Tunisia: “I would like to request, beg, supplicate those on the ground, and watching from afar and who speak Arabic to please post the words, chants, songs, etc. and—as importantly—translate for us what is being said.”

• Rezwan

India

Runa at Uber Desi writes in details about the scam of Tri Valley University in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, which has now been shut down. Hundreds of Indian students, mostly from Andhra Pradesh, were enrolled in this University and they now face the threat of being deported back home after having lost their student visa status.

• Rezwan

Haiti

“With a measly 199 followers, @Judecelestin10's campaign seems to have underestimated Twitter as a communications tool”: kiskeacity looks at the popularity of Haitian political candidates on Twitter.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba

Cuban diaspora bloggers note that the new Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations, which contain the new Cuba-related travel policy, are out; from Havana, Iván García observes that “the new policies of flexibility in the U.S. embargo against Cuba have permitted an exhibit [by Dégas] to be displayed at the National Museum of Fine Arts.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

Of the ongoing controversy over the appointment of Reshmi Ramnarine, Jumbie's Watch says: “The failure of the PM to apologise for misleading the country is not merely a stalling tactic. It is an aberration of her promised mantra to “Serve the people, Serve the people, Serve the people”.

• Janine Mendes-Franco