Global Voices » Rachel Rawlins

Meet Sami Ben Gharbia, Global Voices' new Advocacy Director

Rachel Rawlins — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 21:52:13 +0000

Global Voices is delighted to announce the appointment of Sami Ben Gharbia as Advocacy Director, and the attentive reader will already have noticed his posts on anti-censorship and free-speech issues.

Sami pictured next to a free-speech campaign slogan

Sami is an experienced human rights campaigner, a Tunisian who has lived in exile in the Netherlands for the past seven years. He first joined the GV community as a result of the comments thread when we featured his Tunisia Prison Map back in September 2006. This innovative and exciting mashup of different digital media and tools subsequently gained much attention in the media.

The aim of this new position is to allow Global Voices to act as a hub for communication between different anti-censorship and free speech initiatives around the world. It is the second “leg” of the GV “tripod” of amplification, advocacy and outreach.

To find out more about Sami's history, journey to this position and vision for the future, community member Mary Joyce put the following questions to him by e-mail:

When and how did you become interested in political activism?

Politics was already present in my parents' house. My father, who died when I was 6, was a vibrant active member of the anti-colonial resistance against the French Protectorate. Every time I miss him I go to his archive of photos, magazines, books and letters; they all tell the story of the Tunisian resistance and the building of the new post-colonial Tunisia. My mother has the oral heritage of that same story, but with a strong tint of rebellion, feminism and disenchantment.

You are currently living in the Netherlands as a political refugee from Tunisia. Tell a little about how that happened.

In early 1998, I was arrested and interrogated by the State Security about my activities and travels. When I realized that this was just the beginning of a cycle of harassment and persecutions – since I was summoned to appear before the Interior Ministry – I fled Tunisia to Libya, and then to Africa and the Middle-East and finally to The Netherlands where I've applied for asylum.

When did you begin using the internet for activism?

I start using Internet for activism since 2002 on TUNeZINE.com which was founded by the Tunisian cyberdissident Zouhair Yahyaoui. He died in March 2005 at the age of 36, 18 months after his release from prison where he spent one and half years for “disseminating inaccurate news” on his site. In 2003 I started my personal homepage and published the first Tunisian e-book Borj Erroumi XL. Borg Erroumi is the name of a prison near my native town Bizerte – you can see the prison on the Tunisian prison map. The book tells the story of my flight from Tunisia and the journey to reach Europe and get asylum. I was also active within Tunisian cyberactivism groups and was involved in several projects like the online demonstration yezzi.org campaign, “Freedom of expression in mourning!“, the Tunisian page of the Blue Ribbon Action for online free speech, ATPD-Cyberspace (an alliance between Tunisian dissident bloggers to promote and defend the Tunisian cyberspace), and the Tunisian Prisons Map.

Why did you become a blogger?

I grew up in a country and region where freedom of speech is the biggest enemy and threat to despotic regimes. The old Islamic philosophers and logicians used to present Man as a “speaking animal.” Blogging gives me back the quintessence of my humanity. I don't see our societies resolving their problems without granting freedom of speech. And nowadays, I don't see any freedom of speech happening without blogging.

When did you decide to participate in Global Voices?

I was invited by Haitham Sabbah the former Middle East and North Africa regional editor to cover the Tunisian blogsphere on Global Voices. I accepted because I've always believed that the Tunisian dissident bloggers, the ones who dare write about politics, were ignored and under represented on Global Voices. In a way, it was an opportunity to give a deeper insight into what is really happening on the Tunisian blogsphere and to show that is not a frivolous one.

Why did you apply to be Advocacy Director?

Actually there are a lot of reasons why I applied to be Advocacy Director. The first is personal. I see this responsibility as a revenge on censorship. As one of the earliest censored bloggers in the Arab world and the first censored Tunisian blogger [blocked in Tunisia] - my blog has been censored since 2003 - it would be great if I could contribute on a global scale in fighting censorship - and why not in defeating it! - and in defending freedom of speech on the Internet.

The other reason is that I really want to be among the Global Voices team because I believe that it is a unique initiative which is shaping the future of global citizen journalism. When I was covering the Tunisian blogsphere on Global Voices, I always had a problem talking about football, festivities and other “common” subjects they were blogging about. I simply can't do that. The Advocacy Director position gives me an unbelievable ability to continue writing on Global Voices, but about issues that really matter to me. Another important thing is that this is giving me the chance to make a living at what I enjoy doing.

What are your priorities as Advocacy Director?

The first priorities are to bring the existing anti-censorship groups and activists together. We need to know each other, to learn from each other's experiences, to specify our needs, share our knowledge, identify the challenges we're facing, build a global network and come up with new and global strategies and tactics for fighting censorship/webfiltering and supporting persecuted bloggers, writers and cyberactivistes.

This goes in parallel with another priority: introducing the existing anti-censorship experiences to the Global Voices readers by writing about their efforts in defending freedom of expression on the Internet.

—

And since I am a fan of the frivolous side of blogging I added some questions of my own. From the answers I can tell you he's a pretty good cook, an autodidact who likes to read Nietzsche, Dostoevsky, Iraqi poet Mudhaffar al Nawab and watch Denzel Washington movies.

Sailing is his favourite sport and it's something he actively enjoys. And he's really in love with the music of the Lebanese diva Fairuz. “It's an alchemy of love, patriotism, nostalgia, nature, faith and defiance”, he says. “Her music forms a huge element of my ‘emotional identity'”.

World, meet Africa! A new way of reporting the continent

Rachel Rawlins — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 02:15:53 +0000

It's frequently depressing reading accounts of Africa in the mainstream media. Doubly so, in fact. Firstly because what is defined as worthy of reporting is, well, depressing. And secondly because it so seldom engages with the complex and vibrant reality of the continent in all its massive diversity, preferring instead to deal in simplistic stereotypes.

That's why today's launch of a new website from global news organisation Reuters devoted exclusively to the continent - Reuters Africa - is so exciting. And most exciting of all is the inclusion of blogs on every individual country page on the site.

In the screenshot below of the site's page for Uganda you can see, to the right of the map, a section headed “BLOGS”. Below it are links to the most recent entries on Uganda from Global Voices. There is a similar feed for each of the more than 50 countries on the continent.

Reuters is a major funder of Global Voices and it is great that they are able to use our content in this way. It also demonstrates the increasing value placed by news organisations on the ability of authentic voices to provide perspective, background and context to the events they cover. Reuters puts it like this:

The launch of Reuters Africa supports Reuters commitment to cover Africa in detail and from all angles, to give a wider sense of the issues and their contexts, and to explore the individual countries and cultures. Reuters Africa will target both those living on the continent, and anyone globally who follows African development, investment and news…

As part of Reuters continuing efforts to incorporate a wider set of voices and commentary into its news content, the site will incorporate country-specific blogs via Global Voices, the international network of bloggers.

This is a great step forward, but there's still a long way to go. There are large and exciting blogging communities in several countries, such as Nigeria and Kenya but there are other areas where coverage is very sparse and still others, such as Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, where online expression is severely curtailed by the government.

We hope that the involvement of bloggers in projects such as this not only gives a platform to those whose voices have long been left unheard but also encourages others to join the conversation and brings pressure to bear on behalf of those who want to speak but cannot.

Global Voices Delhi summit - only a few days to go!

Rachel Rawlins — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 00:29:37 +0000

The last details are being put together for the Global Voices annual summit being held in Delhi on Saturday 16 December. But the physical location shouldn't make a difference - please join us online from wherever you are! You can join via Internet Relay Chat (IRC). The IRC address is irc.freenode.net/#globalvoices and there are instructions about how to join an IRC chat-room here. Alternatively you can just click on our browser-based web chat link. All the day's events will be available to listen to live via streaming audio, and the link to that will be posted nearer the time.

We are building up a number of linked resource pages about the summit on the Global Voices wiki which will be available from this central page. It will include feeds of material written about the summit as long as it has been tagged with the summit tag: gvdelhi2006. Please, if you blog / write / take pictures / record audio or video or otherwise generate content about the summit don't forget to tag it so your views will be more easily found and more widely distributed.

So what exactly are we going to discuss? The major themes this year are activism and outreach: we want to look at the best ways of bringing more voices into the global conversation and explore new and better ways to amplify them. The packed programme is laid out below. (Please note that all times are local Delhi times (UTC +5 hours 30 mins). There's a useful form where you can enter the time in Delhi, click the button and it gives you the corresponding time in a large number of other locations around the world.)

9.00 - 10.00 - Overview
GV's work so far - a review of the year and a look at moves being made to take us ahead.

10.00 - 10.10 - very quick coffee

10.10 - 12.00 - Outreach
In this session we will explore ways of expanding blogging and online/mobile citizens' media from being an activity of the elites to include the voices of the less privileged and rural communities. We'll start by looking at the situation in India and move on to compare it with outreach efforts in other regions.

12.00 - 1.30 Lunch

1.30 - 3.00 - Language and Translation
Even if you have access to the internet and blogging tools one major factor that limits global conversations are language barriers. We shall look at what could be the best way to translate back and forth so that people writing/speaking in one language can be read and heard by speakers of other languages. We'll look at what has worked so far, what hasn't, and explore ideas for future action to promote more communication across language groups.

3.00 - 4.30 - Tools and Tech
In many parts of the world the desktop computer is not the main way of accessing the internet. So what technologies and tools are most suited to bringing a more diverse range of people - ethnically, linguistically, economically and geographically - into the citizens' media community? And also what tools are needed for people who want to speak but whose governments try to prevent them from doing so?

4.30 - 5.30 - Wrap-up
A summary of the day

So that's the plan. Make a note in your diary and check out the local timings of the sessions you're interested in - we really look forward to meeting as many people as can make it, both online and in the room.

Thailand: First day of the coup

Rachel Rawlins — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 00:39:46 +0000

Rumors of a coup had been circulating in Bangkok for weeks, and foreigners like me had been ‘warned’ to be careful, don’t stay out late, move in groups, keep updated with news reports, watch the cable TV.

So when it happened last night (Tuesday, Sept 19), I was hardly surprise. Nevertheless, I was excited. I have never experienced a coup before and I wanted to be in the thick of things.

When I heard about the coup, it was already past 10pm, and I had just returned to my apartment after dinner. I tried to get a taxi to where the action is: the government house. But no taxi seem to want to ferry me there.

So begins a spirited account of the day's activities by blogger Susan Loone in Bangkok, the latest in a series of entries on the unfolding coup in Thailand.

Thailand: Liveblogging the coup

Rachel Rawlins — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 21:05:16 +0000

At least two blogs have been set up solely to cover the unfolding military coup in Thailand - a group blog 19sep which is in English and revolution.blogrevo which is in Thai.

Video copies of coup-related announcements are appearing on YouTube. Below is the first televised announcement of the take-over by the military.

There's also a capture of the televised announcement of the “first and second orders of the Democratic Reform Coucil”, a previously unknow organisation and the name used by the military who have taken control of Bangkok.

A search on the photo-sharing website flickr on the keyword “coup” brings up nearly 100 pictures from Thailand posted within the last 24 hours from pictures of the army in position round the streets of Bangkok…

[Picture by goshen42]

…to visual evidence of the blocking of foreign cable TV channels

[Picture by kengz]

The bulletin board 2Bangkok.com has a regularly-updated page devoted to the current coup events High tension in Thailand but the most recent post warns that internet connections are becoming very slow.

Knight-Batten Awards: And the winner is…..

Rachel Rawlins — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 17:30:24 +0000

It was appropriate that, for an award given for innovations in journalism, overseen by J-Lab (the Institute of Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland), the news came from my colleague Georgia Popplewell at the ceremony in Washington DC via instant message to London and from there out to the Global Voices community across the world via e-mail.

Global Voices Online is the winner of the Grand Prize at the 2006 Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism. These awards:

spotlight news and information that is more than multimedia journalism. They reward novel efforts to involve citizens actively in public issues, to invite their participation and create entry points that stir their imagination and engagement. Honored are pioneering approaches to journalism that spur non-traditional interactions and that have an impact on a community.

In the case of Global Voices I think it's fair to say that the project is the community.

The judges said Global Voices is “an extraordinary site that allows for both editorial gatekeeping and wide access to news and information from underreported parts of the world“, and they also credited the writers with helping to elevate standards in the blogosphere.

This is a huge tribute to every single person involved in the Global Voices project.

Congratulations!

We were represented at the ceremony by the “GV-3″ - (from left to right) Rebecca MacKinnon, Georgia Popplewell and Alice Backer.

For further information:

Georgia liveblogged from the ceremony for as long as the internet connection held out.
Extensive details of the award, our application and selection as a finalist are in this earlier post announcing our gaining a place in the final selection.
There is a press release from the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society.
And here is the press release from J-Lab announcing the award.

The world is talking - we're listening

Rachel Rawlins — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 20:12:17 +0000

Global Voices has grown dramatically over the past year thanks to our fantastic community of authors, supporters, editors and readers. We're working hard to make sure that the site is arranged in the best way possible - what we cover, how we do it and you read it.

So please - help us by answering our quick survey. Just click on the badge abovel It shouldn't take more than about five minutes to complete and all the information will help steer our future direction. And if you don't have time right now come back when you do - the badge and link will be in the sidebar for some time to give as many people as possible a chance to respond.

Thanks very much indeed -

The Global Voices Team

Five years on from 9/11, the world remembers

Rachel Rawlins — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 23:50:49 +0000

The mainstream media in many countries have been preoccupied with events in the United States to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon on 9/11 2001. But the repercussions of these events have spread across the globe and people far beyond New York and Washington. Here the Global Voices team has gathered together a sample of citizens' voices marking the anniversary.

We have samples of opinion from regions across the world (click on the link to go directly to individual sections): Africa, China, South East Asia, South Asia, the Americas and French language blogs as well as the Middle East.

We'll start in Africa where kenyanentrepreneur dives in to the most obvious consequence, the US invasion of Iraq, in her post Remembering 9/11:

It's amazing watching all the coverage about 9/11. I have yet to see any mention of the 100,000 innocent Iraqi civillians who have been killed in a war that George Bush started using false pretenses.

WMD's - none have been found

Sadam's links to 9/11 - Bush now says there were no links

Now, we are told the goal was to bring democracy to the Middle East. Let's see - you illegally invade a sovereign nation that has not attacked you, in total contravention of international law.. then, you turn around and claim that you are now going to impose the rule of law & democracy on the country that you have illegally invaded!!

…

The biggest threat to secular regimes in the Middle East are religious zealots like bin laden & Zawhiri, not America (just ask Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, who incidentally has never been elected)…If a free & fair election were held in Egypt today, mubarak would lose and he'd be replaced by religious fundamentalists. The only reason that regime survives is because of the billions of dollars in aid they get from America. Mubarak is an autocrat, but he is their kind of autocrat. He has said that he would like his son to replace him as president when he decides to retire. I will never understand how an idiot like Bush managed to manipulate the American People.

In a similar vein nakeel says I too remember 9/11

“Teach Bin Laden to be a terrorist, If you kill one person, you are a murderer, if you kill 2,900 people one morning, you are a terrorist, but if you go to Iraq and kill 330,000 people inthree years you are a democrat like President George Bush.”

At Grandiose Parlor Inmakoyi uses the anniversary to consider the effect of anti-terror measures on the foreign remittance-sustained economy of Somalia:

This system is driven by an informal money transfer system called Hawala, a system that has been in existence for generations in the Middle East and some Islamic nations worldwide.

But this system is about to slam into a brick wall put in place by the United States government. Why? September 11 and susbsequent fight to curb money laundry and terrorism.

In order to cut off funding to terrorist organizations, the regulatory agency in charge of foreign money transfer business now mandates and it enforcing stricter regulation of the industry. Unable to secure the required assistance from U.S banks and other financial institutions, the local money transfer system the Somalis have enjoyed for decades is gradually choking and may totally go into extinction, if alternative and workable modes of money remittance are not put in place.

Meanwhile in what he calls An ode to reality, Zimpundit exhorts people to remember the strength of shared human experience, not just the negativity:

In the billowing dust, the towering smoke, the piercing screams, and the harrowing sites from 9/11 America found this redemptive reality; that when all had been said and done, it was the basic notion of our mutual humanity that meant most to her people in their darkest hour…

In that, you stepped into the very souls of the valiant individuals who led the Civil Rights Movement. That very moment brought you into concert with enduring cries for a better world that ring from Auschwitz to Waterloo in antiquity; and through Bhagdad, Beirut, Darfur, Mozambique, Nepal, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe in modern times. In all those places; at ground zero, but most importantly in each every human heart resides an inextinguishable flame of an alternative to reality. And at it's core is the ability only human beings posses to see beyond the visual.

As you rise like the Phoenix from the flames of your toughest test America, don't forget the reality that saw you through your darkest depression. Hold fast to that reality of the mutuality of our humanity America; for when all else fails you know you can always hang onto that hope that only humans are capable of producing. Remember my dear friends that even though the toughest gap to bridge spans from your mind to mine; the toughest bond to break break runs between your heart and mine. And that America, is my ode to reality.

There's been a wide range of reaction from Chinese bloggers, from those like the writer at Garbled Text who was in New York five years ago:

九一一发生的时候，我在纽约，曼哈顿，正准备兴高采烈地开始我的学习生活。世贸大厦只从旁边走过一次，当时想，要在纽约待好几年呢，没必要跟游客们凑那个热闹，世贸大厦还能没了么？
结果，就没了。

五年，弹指一挥间，那天的纽约也向今天的北京一样，天气极好，天空极蓝，阳光灿烂。有那么多人，就在这样的一个好天儿，一瞬间离开了这个世界。

忘不了的是很多人的眼神，还有当天早上听到在学校楼道尽头办公室里面传出来的哭声，据说，是那个老师的爱人。

When 911 happened, I was in Manhattan, New York, just preparing to happily begin my life of study. I'd only walked past the World Trade Towers once; at the time I thought: if I stay in New York for a few years I won't have to put up with the excitement of all those tourists, it's not like the World Trade Towers won't still be there.

Then, they weren't.

Five years, in just a snap of fingers, that day in New York is just like today's Beijing; the weather is excellent, the sky is blue, the sun is shining. So many people, on a day just as nice as this, left this world in a flash.

What I'll never forget is the look in peoples' eyes and the crying I heard coming from the office at the end of the corridor that morning. From what I heard, it was that teacher's lover.

From personal experience we move to Land LCJ's Sohu.com's blog which considers the wider effects on and of the American way of life:

五年过去了，世贸大楼的原地即将建立起三座新的建筑。有形的损失可以弥补，无形的损失乃至对整个美国价值体系的改变，却一发不可收拾了。

在庇护拉登的阿富汗，美国亲自率军推翻了自己曾经支持的塔利班；同样，在没有得到联合国授权的情况下，美国以存在大规模杀伤性武器为由，以反恐的名义攻入了伊拉克。而这次推翻的，也曾经是美国的合作伙伴萨达姆。出人意料的是，所谓的大规模杀伤性武器一直找了三年了，还是没有踪迹。一向强大的美军，武装到牙齿美军，在伊拉克游击队、伊斯兰极端势力等武装的袭击下，丢下了近3000具尸体。伊拉克人民期盼的民主和自由没有来到，相反，暗杀、路边炸弹、人弹、宗教派别的仇杀却接踵而来。强大的美国“找不到”敌人，有点象狮子和蚊子的寓言。

布什也有点烦了，直接把恐怖分子与伊斯兰划上了等号。这样的敌人，自然好找了。可是，真的是那么有效吗？英国最近破获的类911事件，欧洲恐怖分子成立新组织威胁袭击驻伊外国部队，这一系列的事件说明，恐怖分子不是那么简单定义与识别的。制造恐怖分子的，很大程度上与美国推行的自由、民主有关。世界是多样的，文明是多层次的，简单和单一地推行自己的价值关，必然会使自己惹火上升。

Five years have gone by and three new buildings are about to be built on the original site of the World Trade Center. The tangible losses can be made up for, but the intangible losses have altered the entire American value system, which are now beyond returning to normal.

In the Afghanistan of bin Laden's shadow, America's own army has overthrown the Taliban it once supported; similarly, without having received the United Nation's authorization, America, using the existence of weapons of mass destruction as a reason and in the name of anti-terrorism, invaded Iraq. And overthrown this time is America's past collaborator, Saddam. On top of all that is that after three years of searching, a trace of weapons of mass destruction have yet to be found. All along the mighty American army, armed to the teeth American army, under armed attack from Iraqi guerrillas and Islamic extremist forces, have lost close to 3000 bodies. The democracy and freedom anticipated by the Iraqi people has yet to arrive. On the contrary, assassinations, roadside bombs, human bombs and religious factions' killings have come in its places. That mighty America's enemies ‘cannot be found' is a bit like the story about the tiger and the thorn in its paw.

Bush is also a little irritating, directly equating terrorism with Islam. These kinds of enemy are naturally easy to find. But, is it really that effective? Recently England has uncovered a 911 sort of incident, European terrorists have established new groups threatening to attack foreign troops stationed in Iraq. What this series of incidents goes to show is that terrorists are not that easily defined or identified. A large part of the process of creating terrorists has to do with America's pushing of freedom and democracy. The world is diverse, civilization is multilayered. Simply and singularly pushing one's own set of values will inevitably lead one into fire.

The writer of Xiao Yi 128zh's Sohu.com blog further analyses the American values at issue, and ascribes them to a poor grasp of history:

我们要关心受难的美国百姓,可对美国的统治者,美国的决策者我们有什么话说,利益至上是国家的宗旨,即使会有公正理念和道德的约束但却永难以驾权和改变,美国如此,中国如此,哪个国家都如此,可我们在911这一天,看到了太多关于对美国的破坏,对纽约的破坏,却对于为什么会产生这样的恐怖主义,为什么是针对美国,英国等,为什么不来炸中国,比如上海北京高楼也很多,还有很多国家,这里美国政府和美国人都的思考,他们的政府主张了什么,他们的人民是否对世界了解,很多事实都表明美国的教育对别国的历史文化和现状是不够重视,这是教育长期造成美国很多人不了解世界,就如我们中国人很了解美国及美国发生的事情,而美国人却大部分不了解中国,他们还认为中国是”文革”时候的样子,很可笑,同样美国人对于中东,对于阿拉伯世界一样不了解,他们按照自己的思维去思考世界,只要别人想得和他们不同,他们就认为别人是古怪的,是不科学的,所以他们想改变那里,想改变那里的世界和观念,结果矛盾的产生和激化,很多社会现象和行为表现自然而生,至少仇恨已在心里,

What we need to worry about are the American common folk. What is there we could say about America's rulers and policy-makers? Putting interests first is a nation's purpose, even if there will be restrictions on the concept of what's fair and moral. Seizing authority to create change will never be easy, in America, China or any country. But on 911 that day we saw too much destruction in America, too much destruction of New York. But as to why this kind of terrorism was created, and why it was directed at America and England…why didn't they come bomb China, with all those skyscrapers in Beijing and Shanghai, and in so many other countries. Here the American government and Americans ought to consider what their government's position is, whether or not their people understand the world. Many facts suggest America's education doesn't give sufficient recognition to the history culture and status quo of other countries. The long-term result of this education is that many Americans don't understand the world, unlike us Chinese who quite understand America and the things things that happen there. But most Americans don't understand China, they still think China is the same it was during the Cultural Revolution, so funny. Similarly, Americans don't understand the Middle East or the Arab world. They rely on their own way of thinking in considering the world; as long as others think differently from how they do, they'll think those people are strange, unscientific, that's why when they want to change a place, change its world and concepts, the result is that a conflict is created and intensified; many social phenomena and displays of behavior will naturally occur, at least hatred will be in their hearts.

在表达自己的观念和利益时没有合理合法的途径时,人自然会想到非合理合法的途径, 仇恨美国的所作所为的人在没有正常途径表达自己的时候,就只能冒天下之大不韪,挺而走险,

911是一种给美国思维反抗的信号,想一下美国在宣扬自己的思维和利益的时候,找到一条合理合法的途径,在别国派部队,建基地,甚至敢于饶过联合国对伊拉克动武,推翻了一个国家政权,尽管反对的很多,包括联合国,照样不可奈美国何,还有很多追随者,对于受到攻击的国家和人民来说,又是一种什么样的心境和悲惨,他们又将该怎么办,合理合法的途径他们还有吗,他们的仇恨又怎样能的的到尊重,怎样得到抚平,理在人心,法是人定,理我们都知道谁对谁错,可法在哪里,法不在受到攻击的国家和人民手里,在美国等世界大国手里,换位思维可想,美国的种种行为何尝不是一种披着合法外衣赤裸裸的侵略,是一种明目张胆风雨无阻的恐怖主义, 911是一个让人痛苦的日子,是一个让人思考的日子,是一个从5年前就不在平凡的日子,是一个能让美国人必须要重新认识自己,重新认识世界的日子……

When expressing one's own ideas and interests, when there's no reasonable or legal approach, people naturally think of an inappropriate or illegal approach. All those who hate America, with no normal means by which to express themselves, can only risk everyone's condemnation and stick to taking the dangerous route.

911 was a kind of signal in resistance to the American way of thinking. If you think about it, when America promotes its own way of thinking and interests, finds a reasonable and legal avenue to dispatch troops to other countries, establish bases, even going around the United Nations in attacking Iraq, overthrowing a country's regime, despite the many objectors, including the United Nations, leaving nothing to be done about America and the many of its followers. As for the countries and people who have been attacked, it's another frame of mind and tragedy of what sort? And what are they supposed to do. Are they left with any appropriate or legal avenues? How will their hatred gain respect or comforting? Truth is in people's hearts, and the law is set by people. The truth as to who wronged who we all know, but where is the law? The law isn't in the hands of the countries or the people who have been attacked, it's in the hands of America and the other large countries of the world. If you think about it from another perspective, many of America's behaviors usually just wrap a coat of legality around naked aggression, a kind of brazen, rain-or-shine terrorism in itself. 911 is a day which leaves one in anguish, a day which makes one think, a day which as of five years ago will never be normal again, a day which can force Americans to get to know themselves again, get to know the world again……

Qin Xuan is a Chinese Muslim and a journalist specializing in Middle Eastern affairs. Blogging at taras.blog he offers an analysis of the intertwining of American national self-interest and the avowed intent of combatting terrorism…

五年前911为美国乃至全人类不得不面对一个问题。这个问题并非是被简单概括为恐怖主义，因为恐怖主义自始至终存在。这个问题的实质是，基于伊斯兰原教旨主义且持恐怖袭击行动的恐怖主义活动已经成功地极大重创了发达国家的国家安全保障体系和国民的心理。

Five years ago, 911 presented a problem that both America and the human race had no choice but to deal with. This problem can not be simply described as terrorism, because terrorism has always existed. The essence of this problem is that terrorist activities arisen from the fundamental teachings of Islam's support of terrorist attacks and actions have successfully inflicted heavy losses on a developed nation's national security defence system and on its peoples' psychology.

这五年来，以布什政府为首，所推动的就是对于这一问题的解决方式，简言之反恐。而同时所谓布什政府利用反恐保障美国利益，这其实是与反恐不同的问题。因为即使没有反恐，布什政府当然也会谋求美国利益，这是他分内应做的事情，是常规操作。

These five years, with the Bush government taking the lead, all actions aimed at resolving this problem have been referred to simply as anti-terrorism. At the same time, though, the so-called Bush government's use of anti-terrorism as a means to safeguard America's interests is actually a problem separate from anti-terrorism. Because even if there were no anti-terrorism, the Bush government would still be working for America's interests. This is something his job requires he do, just operations as normal.

我们不能仅从美国表面的言行去一味认同他的反恐，或者坚决称其借反恐布局玩博弈游戏。因为，本来两者就是共同存在的，从阿富汗到伊拉克至今都是为了达成这两个任务，其一为反恐，其二为谋求美国利益。

We cannot blindly go along with his anti-terrorism based solely on America's surface-level words and deeds, or persist in referring to the gambles he takes as anti-terrorism. Because to begin with both of these existed together. From Afghanistan to Iraq to today, all have been for carrying out two missions, one is opposing terrorism, the other is working for America's interests.

问题是，正如开篇所说，布什反恐五年，作为一个阶段，其当年的反恐蓝图实现了多少。其当年所做的，对五年后反恐形势的预期，实现了多少。说得更本质一点，首先是，就恐怖主义引发的问题，解决了多少。美国的国家利益又实现了多少。其次是，反恐引发的新问题是什么？

此外，还要谈论的问题是，基于现状，基于五年来的经验教训，未来五年又如何？下一步当如何。

The problem is, as I said at the beginning, Bush's five years of anti-terrorism, as a stage, how much of his blueprint at the time has been realized? How much of what he anticipated would be accomplished after five years has been realized? To put it more simply, first of all, of all the problems terrorism has given rise to, how many have been resolved? How much of America's national interests have been realized? Secondly, how many new problems has anti-terrorism given rise to?

Further, another problem to be discussed, based on the present situation, based on the last five years of experience and lessons, what will the next five years be like? What will the next step be?

There were some in China who celebrated as the news of the attacks on the US came out. One such was the writer of XG-JF's Sohu.com blog, and it's a reaction which has not changed:

当时从电视上看到这一幕，宿舍的几个同事都高兴的蹦了起来，并且深更半夜跑到外面买饮料以示庆祝。那时后，中国南斯拉夫大使馆被炸，美国飞机在我国南海进行侦察，导致飞行员王伟的飞机坠毁，大家心中对美国有说不出的恨和厌恶。所以当时看到美国出事，无不幸灾乐祸，拍手称快。

事隔5年，对美国依然没有好感，这个国家穷兵黩武，以各种理由作借口在世界各地征战，打击对手。先是阿富汗，然后伊拉克，现在对伊朗也虎视耽耽，真是让人厌烦。对中国也用各种手段进行牵制，台湾依旧不能回归。心底十分期盼我们的祖国快快强大，把该收的都收回来，把该解决的都解决掉，那时才能太平。

I watched it at the time on television, several of my colleagues in our dorm were jumping with happiness, and in the dead of night ran outside to buy some drinks for a celebration. After that, China's embassy in Yugolsavia got bombed and an American jet was carrying out reconnaissance in our South Sea, bringing pilot Wang Wei's plane crashing down. In everybody's hearts was an unspeakable hatred and abhorrence of America. That's why when we saw that something had happened in America, there wasn't anybody who wasn't enjoying it, or clapping their hands in glee.

Five years after the fact, there's still not much good feeling towards America. This country aggressively uses its might to start wars, using all sorts of reasons as excuses to look for battles all over the world, attacking its enemies. First it was Afghanistan, and then Iraq, now it looks like Iran's next. Really disgusts one. It's also used various methods to contain China, Taiwan still hasn't been able to return. From the bottom of my heart I really hope our motherland can quickly grow strong and large and take back what should be taken back, take care of what needs taking care of. Only then will there be peace under heaven.

The author of XT Kasuo's Sohu blog also wants peace, but not at the expense of more human suffering:

我就记得早上到学习我后面一女生问我家是不是在世贸大厦，问得我很奇怪。然后周围都开始讨论了，我才知道，原来美国被炸了。

然后上课了，每个老师都讲，我记得那时候我的老师们没一个高兴的。同学之中有几个高兴，说什么这下让美国人嚣张。可是我们当时的大部分人是挺悲伤的，因为感觉那些恐怖分子确实不应该那样做。毕竟那里有许多无辜的人。我也觉得我们不应该高兴，这不是对美国的惩罚，这是对世界和平的挑战。现在越来越多的人想和平，我真的认为这样做确实很欠缺考虑的。

I just remember that that morning I went to school and the girl behind me asked me if my family was in the World Trade Center, asked quite strangely. It was only when everyone around us then started talking about it that I knew that America had been bombed.

Then in class, every teacher talked about it. I remember at that time there wasn't a single teacher that was happy about it. A few classmates were happy, saying that this would make Americans less arrogant. But at that time most of us were really upset, because we felt those terrorists really shouldn't have done something like this. Especially with all those innocent people inside. I also felt we should not be happy about this, that this wasn't punishment against America, but a challenge to world peace. Now more and more people want peace. I really feel that this way of going about it definitely lacks consideration.

There has been a more muted reaction across South East Asia. In Singapore Sparklette remembers what she was doing that day:

i was having my economics class back in ACJC. instead of discussing inflation and plotting price-quantity graphs, murmurs regarding the attacks were circulating around the class. at that point in time no one had fully grasped the gravity of the situation yet

Her post is headed by a pictorial tribute to the people of New York and she has this to say:

to the people who are still struggling to come to terms with the loss of their loved ones, please know that the world is with you! for those terrorists, did they seriously think that killing thousands of innocent people would bring them to heaven?

The theme of the fate of the killers, of all killers, is one taken up by the blogger at The Daily Brunei Resources who explains why the post, called Post 9/11, was published the day after the date in question:

Yesterday was 9/11 and much as I wanted to write about it, I thought of all the atrocities committed in the name of fighting the war against terror since then, I decided against it. I even refused to post about it on 9/11 but preferring today 9/12 as a small but token gesture against the current military incursions as even in the fight against terrorism, the end does not justify the means. The battle against terrorism will only succeed if economic development in the crisis regions is strengthened - countries need more economic help and not more military help. There should be respect for international law and respect for countries' sovereignity and tolerance for other cultures.

I pray that the Al-Mighty have mercy on all those who have died since then and pray that whoever are the perpetrators of all these deaths receive their fair judgment in hell when they die. The world may be a changed place but it is not an excuse for any military incursions nor for any gratuitous deaths.

US-based Singaporean blogger Kevin Lim writes at theory.isthereason about an online project by Singapore's National Library called The September Project to commemorate 9/11 and also observes that the event might have marked the cultural birth of blogs. And having done so he finds many others who share his opinion and links to them in his post Why 9/11 truly gave birth to Blogs.

Indonesian blogger Asri Wijayanti was moved to verse on her blog a girl's stories…:

Many people condemn when they mourn
Many people are in enormous anger when they are in grieve
Some people plan to revenge when they cry
Some people can turn into a cruel creature when their hearts are broken
Many people gain their unpredictable power when they feel powerless

The survivors always remember how it felt to be the victims,
murders took place in the name of the deceased,
and many wars start just right after the funerals…

From South Asia we have the Global Voices roundup of responses from blogs in the Kannada language, and at The 3rd world view Rezwan recalls some of the Bangladeshi victims:

Nurul Haq Miah and Shakila Yasmin was a Bangladeshi Muslim couple who used to work in the world trade center and was among the unfortunate ones. Nurul was in the 99th floor, attending a meeting when the 1st plane hit their office. Nurul used to work for Marsh & McLennan for about 15 years. Shakila's office was located in the 97th floor, just below. Shakila just started about one year ago six months after they got married on April 2, 2000.

USA honored them this year by renaming the southeast corner of the 3rd Avenue and Ovington Avenue of Ney York after Shakila Yasmin and Nurul Haque Miah, two Bangladeshi victims of the 9/11.

In the Americas there is a comprehensive roundup of Peruvian blogger reaction [ES] by Juan Arellano writing at BlogsPeru: Noticias y Novedades while Melissa De Leon Douglass has included responses from Panama in her blog roundup post.

And from the Caribbean. . . . In his 9/11 post Andy Hunt, a Brit running an eco-resort in Belize, segues from a rant about “power crazy leaders like George Bush and Saddam Hussein” to one about corruption among the Belize goverment leadership. (Belize, Andy notes, marked 25 years of independence from Great Britain on September 10). A “former Charlton Athletic, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion Striker,” Andy leaves readers the wish that “our competitive tendencies and primitive tribal urges can be satisfied on the field of sport and not on the field of war.”

Providence Stadium in Guyana remembers “the 23 Guyanese” who died in the 9/11 attacks, though his compatriot Larry H., who now lives in the US, says it was more like 43. “Some may look at the number and think it small,” Larry writes. “But coming from a nation that has population that's less than a million, and the fact that as a small nation most of our lives are interconnected in some way or the other, yes, it hurts. And I'm sure many of my fellow immigrants can agree with this.”

Barbados Free Press offered a “What I Learned from 9/11″ list, complete with point-by-point analysis and Jamaican novelist Marlon James (John Crow's Devil), who happens to be acquainted with “the last person to leave the building alive,” contributed a 1200-word essay which contains the following paragraph:

As a Jamaican I know full well the feeling of being powerless in the presence of my own government. . . . I'm just not ready to accept the American citizen as being as scared, angry and confused as I am. I'm not ready to accept the American as victim or even human. I remember the first time I came to the U.S. and was stunned that all the women did not looking like Farrah Faucet all the men didn't like Patrick Duffy. I was stunned that America was a land of people and not types and that it was people who died in 9/11. . . . I'm not trying to give American a hug (well maybe new York), but I am looking for a conversation.

From the French language blogs we have the following pot pourri starting with La Reunion blogger Pierrot Dupuy, for whom 9/11 gave a chance to expose a local politician's carelessness with an important fact. Deputy-Mayor Rene-Paul Victoria seems to have flat out lied in answer to the question “What were you doing on 9/11?” asked by local daily Le Quotidien, alleges the blogger. To Victoria's contention that he was in his National Assembly offices on the mournful day, Dupuy counters (Fr): “the only problem is that he was only elected deputy June 16, 2002, i.e. 9 months later!!! That is called having a sense of anticipation… All right, I am going to be kind to Rene-Paul and show him that I know his schedule better than he does: on September 11, 2001, he attended a meeting a the Creolia Hotel in Saint-Denis. And it was his table mate who told him the news…”

In Martinique Le Blog de [Moi] reposts Slate's satyrical graphic interpretation of the 9/11 Commission report as well as cartoon on the quest for Bin Laden by French cartoonist Chapatte which she says (Fr): “captures the essence of the quest better than anyone.” In the cartoon, an American soldier shoots at his own Bin Laden-shaped shadow.

And Senegal's Seckasysteme commemorated in the following words (Fr): “The whole world remembers and stands in solidarity with Americans to show compassion for the tragic lot of thousands of victims of this tragedy, but also to condemn barbarism.”

There has of course been a great deal of response and analysis from across the Middle East. Jerusalem-based blogger DesertPeace sees hatred as the root cause of the attacks, and sees little having changed over the intervening five years:

What are the roots of such intense hatred that the slaughter of thousands of innocent people was the result? At this point in history I do not see the need to actually ‘catch' the alleged guilty culprits, but rather to determine why it was done.

The United States has done things over the past decades to make many a nation look at them with suspicion, even hatred. The documented crimes against the people of the Congo, Japan, Ghana, Guyana, Cuba, Chile, Viet Nam, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, the list is endless, gives many a nation a motive. To say it was any one in particular would be wrong and would not accomplish a thing. Sadaam was blamed, Bin-Laden was blamed, both had a motive… but did they do it? I personally have great doubts.

What I do know is that hatred is an evil force that has to be erased from the face of the earth. The seeds of hatred that are continuing to be sown by the Bush Administration have to be destroyed before they sprout.

The world must come together as one race, the human race. We must learn about each other, we must learn to trust each other. Only then will we achieve world peace. Only then will there be a hope that hatred will die out and become a relic of the past.

Only then will there be a guarantee that horrors, such as those of September 11th, 2001, will never happen again anywhere.

We have to start the process NOW…. before it is too late.

From Syria, and In the Axis, expatriate American Brian Anthony has a similar point to make:

In the decade before the 3,000 innocents died on 9/11, over 100 times that many innocents died in Iraq through UN-imposed sanctions. Singular, and often solitary, US support for the Israeli apartheid state had destroyed countless thousands, perhaps millions of lives throughout the Middle East. These are not the years of the Raj, where you can just kill the ‘niggers' (as the Imperial Brits called anyone a shade darker than paper) with impunity. The niggers got guns and bombs now. Someone would inevitably aim for revenge.

So perhaps a more introspective question, a slightly tougher one than ‘What were you doing on 9-11?' is this: What were you doing, America, for the three decades leading up to 9-11, while other people's innocents were being killed? It's a question I was disappointed more didn't ask after 9-11. With the ‘Bring ‘em on, Cowboy' approach failing miserably, and with terrorism getting worse, not better, and with over 200 killed for every victim of 9-11, and with American power and influence declining daily over this stupid war, that question needs to be answered now more than ever.

In counterpoint to this view Odog at Bethlehem Bloggers says the victim “numbers game” misses the central point of our shared humanity:

An understandable reponse by many who suffer the consequences of American foreign policy is to minimise the event. Considering the death toll in Iraq or the atrocities perpetrated by Israel at the bequest of the US, the casualties America suffered back in 2001 is nothing in comparison.

However, all of this I think misses the point. If one can strip away the political rhetoric, human tradgedy is human tradgedy. Seeing two pillars of American capitalism crumble before your eyes might fill your heart with ecstasy or even the feeling that just retribution has finally reached the shores of America, but people were in those buildings all the same, people like you and me.

While the anniversary will inevitably be exploited by Bush and Co. to further thier case for more bloodshed in the name of “freedom”, September 11 can also be a means to send an alternative messege; a message in support of our universal humanity. As humans we are all equal and deserving of our freedoms. If one genuinly accepts this premise and not the view that “some are more equal than others”, then the finacial and political systems which entrech exploitation and oppression fundamentally come into question.

In Iraq Sooni remembers the attacks as A day to change history and urges the free world to keep up the pressure on “the criminals”:

What I hope is that the whole free world keep remembering this day because it’s the day that started the War on Terror. I know that the voices calling to stop the operations and pull back to the United States are rising more and more, I think they have forgot or at least started to feel safe, well they might be wrong, the hatred is still big and only small portion of it eliminated. If you stop now you will give them the chance to regroup again and soon you will see another attack in the United States and don’t forget what happened in England few weeks ago when the criminals tried to conduct a massive attack there. They are trying their best and you are trying to retreat leaving them more space to prepare themselves better!

At From Jerusalem with Love Matt examines the irony of unity in tragedy and wonders what humanity could achieve if similar energy now directed towards memorialising was devoted to solving current problems:

It's unfortunate that is takes commemoration of a mega-tragedy to bring people together and focus their thoughts on the same issue. I see the same process in Israel, when it's only during war that the country becomes less fractured and more united for a brief time. Imagine if modern societies were able to focus attention, energy and goodwill around things other than tragedy commemoration or self-defense.

Many millions of dollars and hours have been spent writing about 9/11, talking about it, depicting it, rethinking it, etc. I am not implying that the loss of thousands of innocent Americans to barbaric terrorists is not worthy of our grief and reflection for many years to come. The 9/11 “industry,” however, does make one think what our country is capable of when we're on the same page. What if we applied this passion to feeding our millions of below-poverty level children, or educating them, or fixing our troubled inner cities?

And we'll end this quick trip round the world with Moroccan US-based blogger Foualla, who writes at Refusenik. She posted a prayer To the victims… all over the world:

To those who died for no reason
To those who lived and still live through the pain
To the victims of hatred, injustice and tons melted steel not just under the sunny skies of New York, but also the sunny skies over Darfour, Baghdad, Ghaza, Madrid, Amman, Kabul, Riyadh, Bali, Beirut, Saida, Jakarta, Sour, London, Khobar, Mumbai, and Bint Jbeil.

Just a word of remembrance. And a prayer. And hope for a better day.

Amen.

Children in crises and the role of reporters - tell the media what you think

Rachel Rawlins — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 00:50:18 +0000

Where is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child? This is the question asked in a poll by AlertNet, the early warning network for humanitarian organisations, to highlight some of the world's forgotten crises.

The results will be featured in a debate about the responsibility of the media to cover “forgotten crises” and how best to do it. Why do some emergencies receive more coverage than others? And do children in risky situations get fair representation in the mainstream media?

The role of bloggers

Global Voices readers and writers are all invited to take part too, as members of the new media landscape of citizen journalism as well as critical consumers of the mainstream media.

The speakers will be in London but anyone with an internet connection can take part too. The debate will be streamed on live audio here, and all those interested can contribute to the discussion via IRC (internet relay chat) using the instructions on the live event internet page.

Both our South Asia editor, Neha Viswanathan and I shall be at the debate putting questions and contributions from the Global Voices community to the panel. The debate is due to start at 1400 UCT/GMT.

This is the first event in a new AlertNet initiative, its Media Bridge which is aimed at improving media coverage of humanitarian crises.

So how would you answer the question “where is the most dangerous place to be a child?”

These are the factors which AlertNet asked the journalists and humanitarian professionals taking their poll to take into account which they consider can make a place dangerous, or risky, for children:

armed conflict (including the risk that children may be enlisted as combatants)
physical violence of any kind (outside or within the family)
mental violence
displacement
sexual abuse and trafficking
early marriage
child labour
a lack of formal identity, including birth registration
the absence of parental care
detention without sufficient cause
a lack of freedom of expression
discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity or disability
poverty
HIV/AIDS and other diseases
a lack of vital services (including education and healthcare)
hunger

More than 40 countries, including the United States, were among those suggested. Find out what the results were at the debate.

Iraq: “Brilliant” new blog!

Rachel Rawlins — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 22:54:16 +0000

At Iraq Blog Count a group of contributors keep a tally of, yes, you've guessed it, blogs in Iraq. The latest addition, Baghdad Chronicle, gets a rave review:

Woah, I don't know how this one slipped through IBC's collective radar. Miraj has been blogging since January and the blog description is simply “The detailed daily events of a Baghdadi woman”. But no, it's more than that, much more than that. Its touching, personal, gripping, exciting. Her writing style keeps you on the edge of your seat. In a word brilliant.

Egypt: Rights lawyer remembered

Rachel Rawlins — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 21:24:08 +0000

As activists in Egypt continue to demand an independent judiciary Baheyya celebrates the life of the recently deceased campaigning lawyer Ahmed Nbil al Hilali.

In his lifetime, he was christened “the saint of the national movement,” the “liberties lawyer,” and “the Egyptian people’s advocate,” since he spent nearly all of his waking hours defending those accused of engaging in free expression, association, and assembly.

Somalia: Change of power in Mogadishu

Rachel Rawlins — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 20:55:16 +0000

It seems Islamist forces have ousted US-backed warlords from the centre of the Somali capital Mogadishu according to Fontaine at Yebo Googo, but warns that although the fighting is over the balance of power is fragile and the future of the country uncertain.

HIV - Death by Diplomacy

Rachel Rawlins — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 20:31:04 +0000

Leading African HIV activists and other campaigners from around the world are anxious that previous gains made at the international level five years ago. Olivia Phiri, Zambian blogger at Real Life of a Journalist reports on appeals made to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Activists are concerned that the outcome of current three-day UN meeting on HIV and AIDS in New York might not only be a step backwards but also be actively harmful to those with the disease.

Ethiopia: Raising the Wrong Flag

Rachel Rawlins — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 20:12:48 +0000

Wonkette of Weichegud! ET Politics posts a roundup of reaction to the ongoing treason trial in Ethiopia. More than 70 people are charged with crimes which carry the death penalty. As the post points out they are considered to be prisoners of conscience by human rights group Amnesty International; in one case the evidence brought against a defendent included the accusation of treason for decorating a hall with the wrong flag.

Be irrepressible! a campaign for global internet freedom

Rachel Rawlins — Mon, 29 May 2006 23:03:41 +0000

As more and more nations carve up the so-called global, borderless internet into separate spheres of control through filtering and censorship, often using technology supplied by large IT companies, Amnesty International has launched a new campaign - irrepressible.info to raise awareness of and protest against the infringements on the basic human right of freedom of speech.

Chat rooms monitored. Blogs deleted. Websites blocked. Search engines restricted. People imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information.

The Internet is a new frontier in the struggle for human rights. Governments – with the help of some of the biggest IT companies in the world – are cracking down on freedom of expression.

There are specific examples of some of the countries and companies in the spotlight:

The web is a great tool for sharing ideas and freedom of expression. However, efforts to try and control the Internet are growing. Internet repression is reported in countries like China, Vietnam, Tunisia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria. People are persecuted and imprisoned simply for criticising their government, calling for democracy and greater press freedom or exposing human rights abuses, online.

But Internet repression is not just about governments. IT companies have helped build the systems that enable surveillance and censorship to take place. Yahoo! have supplied email users’ private data to the Chinese authorities, helping to facilitate cases of wrongful imprisonment. Microsoft and Google have both complied with government demands to actively censor Chinese users of their services.

The campaign has three main points of action - firstly urging people to sign a pledge on internet freedom, secondly encouraging individuals to undermine censorship by publishing “irrepressible” fragments on censored material on personal sites and thirdly to take action on behalf of imprisoned Chinese journalist Shi Tao

The second option involves putting a piece of javascript on your site which will generate a box containing random pieces of censored information.

If you click on the box you are taken to the campaign page where, not entirely obviously, there is more information about where the random piece of information originated and a url to the censored website (in the off-white box on the right hand side of the page).

The fragments are generated from a database of censored material which is being compiled by the OpenNet Initiative which also has an interactive map with a geographical representation of their detailed research into national efforts to filter the internet.

At least 200 people signed the internet freedom pledge in the time it took me to write this post, according to the counter on the irrepressible.info main page, bringing the total to nearly 13,000 signatures. Let's make some noise, and make a difference.