Stories
India: Government Bans Bulk SMS To Stop Rumors
Medianama reports that the Ministry of Home affairs of India has banned bulk SMS and MMS for a period of 15 days. This directive came after reports revealed that rumors are being spread following violence in Assam, leading to mass exodus of people from the North-East region, from several Indian...
Tanzania: ‘Don't Drown’ SMS-Based Maritime Early Warning System
"Tanzania has few if any rivals for numbers of boat deaths over the last couple of decades," says the founder of Usizame, Rachel Hamada. Usizame is a free SMS-based ferry check-in and alert system designed to help prevent marine accidents in Tanzania.
Korea: Criticisms Mount against China for Repatriating North Korean Defectors
The Marmot's hole blog displayed interesting discussion threads on Chinese repatriation of North Korean defectors. Several reports revealed last week Chinese government sent back 31 North Korean defectors to North Korea where even families who helped those to escape from the country are being arrested and interrogated.
Pakistan: A Holistic View On The SMS Content Filtering Saga
Fouad Bajwa provides a holistic view on the recent SMS content filtering controversy in Pakistan.
DR of Congo: Congolese Citizens Find a Way to Circumvent SMS Ban during Tense Electoral Count
While observers apprehend the post-electoral period as allegations of fraud surface, Congolese citizens have found a way to circumvent the general ban on SMS [fr] that was imposed by the government after violence flared up [fr] in Kinshasa.
Pakistan: Twitter Reactions to the SMS Filtering Announcement
The Pakistan Telecom Authorities' possible attempt at SMS filtering for abusive contents, had twitter timelines flooded with reactions; mostly humorous. Sana Saleem compiles Twitter reactions and provides update on the issue.
Pakistan: Plans to Filter Around 1,500 Words in SMS Traffic
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority is the center of attention of the country's social media junkies and human right groups these days, for its infamous leaked list of banned obscene words and phrases for SMS traffic. Pakistani bloggers react.
Pakistan: SMS Filtration Good Or Bad?
Pakistani blogger Rebz discusses about the merits and demerits of the new SMS filtration step taken by the Pakistan Telecom Authority.
China: How to post to Twitter via SMS in China
ChinaGeeks has written a detailed instruction to teach its readers how to post to Twitter via SMS in China.
Cambodia: SMS versus Malaria
Mobiledia reports how Cambodian health workers use mobile phone texting to fight Malaria.
Russia: President's Office Orders Blog Campaign to Neutralize 2012 APEC Summit Criticisms
Russian president's office administration had published a grant proposal for a blog campaign worth of 3 mln roubles (about 100,000 US dollars) to support the organization of 2012 APEC Summit in Vladivostok, gazeta.ru reported [ru]. The blog campaign will, among others, include reacting to negative messages posted online, “creation of a...
Israel: J14hackers build SMS-Twitter Gateway for Protests
The hacker collective J14hackers put together an SMS-Twitter gateway which enables easy content publishing from a local phone to Twitter. Users in Israel can send an SMS from their phones to 052-5635053, and the content of their message will be posted on the @J14Mobile Twitter account.
Cameroon: Netizens React to SMS-to-Tweet Ban
Cameroonian internet users were shocked to learn that "for security reasons, the country's government asked that posting on Twitter via SMS be suspended on the MTN Cameroon network". Many speculate that the government's decision was motivated by the fear that Twitter has played a role in uprisings throughout Africa. Julie Owono explains.
Nepal: Feedback On Newspaper Articles Via SMS
Ujjwal Acharya questions the newly introduced practice of two dailies of Nepal – Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post – where readers can send their feedback on opinion pieces and editorial via SMS.
Zimbabwe: 2011 SMS Resolutions
2011 SMS resolutions in Zimbabwe: “This morning we asked our email and SMS subscribers “Whats your resolution about how you’ll get involved in making change happen in 2011′?” Of the 70+ responses we’ve received so far, the most popular response from our subscribers is that they would vote (21 said...
Cote d'Ivoire : SMS Service Suspended During Elections to Prevent Violence
diabymohamed informs on Twitter that in anticipation of the presidential election of Sunday, Oct. 31 in Cote d'Ivoire, the Ivorian Telecom Authority (ATCI) decided to suspend short text message services, a decision that is reasonable for some because of potential messages of violence : “RT @2romeo: #Abidjan closing of SMS...
India: Banning Non P2P SMS
Rajesh Jain at Emergic criticizes the ban on all bulk SMS and MMS in India to prevent mass mobilization of people before and after the Ayodhya verdict.
Mexico: Parents to be Reminded About Vaccinations through SMS
Health officials will send parents text messages reminding them about the date, time and place where their children can be vaccinated. Ximena Vega explains [es] that health officials aim to reduce infant mortality rate through this initiative. She adds that the geographical scope of the SMS campaign and its official...
Armenia: FrontlineSMS and health care for all
FrontlineSMS says that more than 50,000 alerts on health care service have been sent using its open source software by international development organization Oxfam. The post includes a video report.
East Timor: Resignation through SMS
East Timor Foreign Minister Zacarias da Costa reportedly resigned his post through SMS.
China: No more dirty joke via SMS
According to last week's Xinhuanet report, Mobile China Shanghai branch will start suspending a mobile phone's SMS function if they find the number distribute “vulgar”, “pornographic” and other illegal contents(Details see GVA). Other cities and mobile companies also carry out similar practices since the beginning of 2010. The new policy...
