Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2012 January 30

30 January 2012

Daily archive · 7 posts

Stories from 30 January 2012

Brazil: Sex Scandal on Big Brother Provokes Debate on Machismo

Written by Yohana de Andrade · Translated by Alex Higson · Latin America

The live broadcast of an alleged rape on the TV show with the highest ratings in Brazil on 14th January, with no immediate intervention by TV Globo, led thousands of internet users to declare their disgust and outrage, but also provoked an important debate on machismo and sex education in the country.

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Philippines: Protest Against Removal of Trees by Shopping Mall

Written by Karlo Mikhail Mongaya · East Asia

The plan of SM City Baguio shopping mall in north Philippines to remove more than 100 trees to make way for a new parking lot and entertainment site has been greeted by massive protests from concerned citizens and various cause-oriented groups.

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Pakistan: Moral Policing of Dating Couples Gets TV Show Axed

Written by Faisal Kapadia · South Asia

In a recent live Pakistani television show, a group of middle aged women were seen scouring the parks of Karachi to hold accountable the couples dating without their guardians' knowledge. Protests mounted on social media which led to the firing of the anchor and removal of the show from the network.

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South Africa: Student Anti-Racism Poster Causes a Stir

Written by Ismail Dhorat · Sub-Saharan Africa

South Africa's Democratic Alliance Students Organisation recently released a controversial poster as part of their anti-racism campaign, which shows a naked mixed-race couple embracing. The poster has caused a huge stir on Facebook, Twitter and blogs and even generated viral spoof posters.

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Peru: Terrorism, Youth and Social Networks

Written by Juan Arellano · Translated by Elizabeth · Latin America

One of the strongest repercussions of the MOVADEF's decision to apply to register as a political party is the amount of young activists and supporters the group has attracted and how they are using social networks to spread their message.

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Ukraine: The Story of Anna Boiko's Life

Written by Tetyana Bohdanova · Eastern & Central Europe

"She is a cheerful, talented, strong person. A person who has been through a lot, who is full of knowledge and memories," writes Olya Suprun about her 75-year-old grandmother, whose memories she is sharing on the award-winning blog called "The Story of Anna Boiko's Life." Tetyana Bohdanova reports.

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US, Russia: The Flying Balalaika Brothers Bridge Cultural Gaps in Texas

Written by Donna Welles · Eastern & Central Europe, North America

Like many of their compatriots, musicians Zhenya Kolykhanov and Sergey Vaschenko emigrated from Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and have since established themselves in Austin, Texas. Through their band, The Flying Balalaika Brothers, and a non-profit called Musical Connections, they work to bridge cultural gaps by exposing Texans to international art.

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Updates from 30 January 2012

India

In the context of the Indian cricket team's recent bad performance Amreekandeshi has some suggestions how to improve India's fortunes in Australia.

• Rezwan

Macedonia

Human rights activist, journalist and artist Xhabir M. Deralla candidly expressed his view on the role of the civic sector in contemporary Macedonia: “The choir of indolent subjects stands mute. As media get quieter, the stench of the decay prevails. The civil society forgets that media are civil society, too. Civil society seems to forget that they themselves are civil society… I see high walls being elevated between people. I look at my county and wonder. When did it become so difficult to see the obvious? When did ability to speak become a handicap?”

• Filip Stojanovski

India

Debolina Raja Gupta blames Mumbai police for not being able to solve the recent child abuse cases and the trend is on the rise as a consequence.

• Rezwan

Bangladesh

Hana at Unheard Voice highlights a petition by twenty human rights activists, academics and members of the Bangladeshi civil society in which they protest the arrest of a Head Teacher for having a copy of Taslima Nasreen’s ‘Lajja’ in the school’s library.

• Rezwan

Governance

A Facebook group called “Daaf and Paaf” (means hot persons) fell under control of Iran's cyber police. Iran's cyber police announced [fa] on the group's Facebook's wall that “the administrators of this group have confessed to promoting banality”. This group had an online competition for choosing hot Iranian men and women.

• Hadi Nili

Chile

In El Quinto Poder [es], Marcelo Aliaga writes about OpenStreetMap (OSM), “a free editable map of the whole world,” and the OSM community in Chile. He invites Chileans to participate and stay informed through the local blog. [es]

• Silvia Viñas

Brazil

An injunction has suspended bid for 2016 Rio Olympic Park, reported the organization RioOnWatch. The court considered that the concerned Public-Private Partnership contract is not clear on whether or not the Olympic development to be constructed on the Vila Autódromo neighbourhood would imply the eviction of 900 families from the area.

• Thiana Biondo

Cuba

In the wake of more repression against Las Damas de Blanco, Uncommon Sense thinks “that the pope should postpone his visit until human rights conditions improve in Cuba.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

The TnT River says of an incident in which a teacher allegedly stuck a student's head in a toilet bowl: “This is another case of child abuse which comes in a different form and from an institution entrusted with the education and all-round development of this child.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

Plain Talk comments on the issue of capital punishment: “The sad reality is that this pantomime only continues because the people are starved for choice, so every now and then these tired discussions are pulled out, dusted off and begun again in ernest to no benefit to anybody.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco