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By Janet Gunter
[This post was originally published on Ushahidi's blog. Ushahidi is an open-source mapping tool that was developed in Kenya at a time of crisis in 2008 and has since been used for crowdsourcing worldwide.]
School children being told to chant candidates’ names by their teachers. Civil servants getting sacked for not campaigning for their political bosses. Zinc roofing being traded for votes. The public wholesaling of voters’ personal data to campaigners. Death threats to those who denounce electoral crimes.
Welcome to the unpleasant side of Brazilian electioneering.
These are just some of the reports coming from Eleitor 2010, a “crowdsourcing” project aiming to facilitate citizen reports of abuses of the electoral process in Brazil.
In the largest democracy in Latin America - with over 120 million voters - this year, voters go to the polls they will be choosing the successor of one of the country's most popular Presidents in history (Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva) but also voting on governors, a large portion of Congress.
Eleitor2010 website
Every country has its own unique political culture and oddities. Even the most minimal democracy has its own rules around electioneering, the mechanics of the vote, and ensuring that the state regulates the electoral process.
Brazil was one of the first democracies of its size to use electronic voting machines. It also has compulsory voting. But other aspects of its electoral process are unique, including attempts to strictly regulate of online campaigning, vote buying and what are called “showmícios” (concert-rallies).
Brazil has very clear and comprehensive laws regulating elections but the problem is enforcing these laws.
There is a real culture of politicians subverting the law, maintaining a privileged position as patrons of voters in Brazil. This stems from a distant colonial past and continued persistent inequality, where entrenched elite interests have maintained themselves.
The idea behind Eleitor 2010, which is a purely volunteer, non-partisan project run by a virtual team with zero funding, is to engage the voter beyond the day of the election. According to Paula Góes and Diego Casaes, its creators - who met via Twitter and now collaborate on Global Voices Online, the project is to promote critical and active citizenship, that challenges some of the arcane and undemocratic practices mentioned above.
Eleitor 2010 runs on the open source software Ushahidi, a web-based platform which received much attention for its utility in mapping incidents after the Haiti earthquake, driven by SMS reports from the ground.
Ushahidi has yet to reach its full potential as an election monitoring platform, say Góes and Casaes. With an estimated 25% of the country online every day, and one of the highest mobile subscriber rates in Latin America, they hope Brazil could be the place where it comes of age this year. Four weeks away from the election, Eleitor 2010 already has 230+ reports, from every state in the country, and from the most remote areas.
However, it is an uphill battle to get the message out about the platform, in a country where broadcast and print media are still strong, held in the hands of a privileged elite bent on defending its interests.
Despite this, the communications team at Eleitor 2010 has generated some media attention, and networking with other online transparency initiatives has been crucial. Google recently featured Eleitor 2010 on its page dedicated to the Brazilian elections.
Góes and Casaes hope that with their awareness campaign - on social networks including Orkut with over 40 million users, partnerships with networks of internet cafés, NGOs, and social movements - Eleitor 2010 will break through and change the way thousands of voters engage in the electoral process.
Through the plaftorm, some entertaining anecdotes have already come to light, well in advance of the October 3 vote.
Voters caught one man in a small town in the interior selling off Twitter accounts with 40,000+ followers for the sickeningly low price of US$125. This is illegal under Brazilian electoral law. When confronted, the man in question gave more incriminating evidence and then threatened to sue Eleitor 2010. The evidence, including screenshots and transcript of a chat with him, were delivered to the Electoral Courts.
Another comic report from São Paulo, where teachers at a school illegally encouraged children to chant for two candidates, one for mayor and one for President, and it backfired with children instinctively chanting “Lula!” “Lula!” The video circulated widely, and has had over 70,000 views.
Another video that raised eyebrows was one by blogger Ricardo Gama of a VW bus owned by the City Hall being used for a campaign in Rio de Janeiro. The blogger shouts “Are you carrying electoral propaganda in the car of the City Hall? This is an electoral crime! I filmed it. I am going to denounce you.”
From the north of Brazil, in the state of Maranhão, word reached Eleitor 2010 that a network of evangelical churches was offering to “trade” 3,000 votes for “support” after the election. In the state of São Paulo, one Bishop implored the faithful not to support President Lula’s chosen successor, Dilma Roussef.
These examples indicate how this platform and online, participatory tools will be of use in years to come. No matter whether it goes “viral” and becomes a household name, Eleitor 2010 and other transparency initiatives have already become game-changers this election year.
This summer's wildfires made it possible to learn a lot about the role that the Russian Internet community plays in the society. We have seen that the social media activists were able not only to provide independent sources of information [ENG] but also to cooperate with each other [ENG]. There is one additional dimension, however.
Despite the initial, politically neutral position, bloggers found themselves in a situation where they had to, unwillingly, participate in a political clash. It’s not only that bloggers were critical of the poor governmental response to the disaster. The online community had a few direct clashes with the pro-government forces, primarily activists and supporters of the Russian ruling party Edinaya Rossiya [ENG] (United Russia). The relationship between the blogger community and the pro-government forces had a high level of hostility.
One of the first episodes of the virtual struggle between bloggers and United Russia supporters took place when bloggers caught [EN] United Russia forging photos, and Ruslan Gattarov, a senator and head of the ruling party’s youth wing Molodaya Gvardiya (The Young Guard), staging pictures of himself putting out fires. Gattarov later explained [RUS] that he had to upload fake photos in order to put some content on the site and had no time to deliver the real photos. He wrote [RUS] that bloggers ”could only stare at pictures and write nasty things” instead of putting out fires the way United Russia did. On his Twitter account, the senator was [RUS] even less diplomatic:
Ruslan Gattarov's tweet.
Some time after the scandal, United Russia announced [RUS] that Gattarov would be replaced as the leader of Molodaya Gvardiya. Although the official version said it was a planned replacement, a popular belief was that the Kremlin had been dissatisfied both with Gattarov's inadequate wildfires response and his ignorant public declarations. Piligrim-67, a blogger who helped to raise the issue, said [RUS] in an interview to a local media outlet that “effective and fast justice is possible only on the Internet.”
Gattarov also heads the United Russia's blogosphere council that was created in June 2010 and should improve the online image of United Russia as well as manage the network of its online supporters. The activities of the council had been investigated [RUS] by blogger spburger-senior.
Another major incident was a “black PR” attack against Yelizaveta Glinka (aka LJ user doctor-liza), a doctor and one of the leaders of the volunteer movement. The official website of United Russia published [RUS] an offensive article that accused Glinka of having political ties with the Spravedlivaya Rossiya [ENG] (A Just Russia) party. The article had a photoshopped image of Glinka with a zipped mouth. All the volunteers were accused by the United Russia ”experts” of having political connections to “A Just Russia.” The reason for the United Russia media outburst was that after a consultation [RUS] with her readers, Glinka refused to give an interview to the party website reporters.
A photoshopped image of Yelizaveta Glinka, made by United Russia
Glinka's readers were extremely against any kind of cooperation with the ruling party. “Do you understand what they need this information for? They want […] say that it was done by them”, wrote [RUS] jestianka.
Blogger g_zharkov wrote [RUS]:
Лиза, не свяывайтесь после того как сенатор Гаттаров потушил поддожженной самим собой дерево, а потом ушел на выходные - любое общение с ними позор для любого реального добровольца как мне вчера сказали молодые и реально помогающие ребята из Владимирской глубинки “давайте жить так, как будто их и вправду нет”
Glinka wrote [RUS] that United Russia would now try to close her LiveJournal account and would keep harassing her.
The offensive article on the United Russia website has only made bloggers angrier. LJ user avmalgin wrote [RUS]:
Это самая настоящая травля, по-другому назвать нельзя. Причем травля человека, который действительно занимается делом. Если вспомнить, что еще не так давно доктору Лизе ломали ее ЖЖ, который был основным инструментом в ее подвижнической деятельности, складывается вполне ясная картина.Все уже знают, как бесстыдно и неуклюже “партия власти” пытается пиариться на пожарах. […] Прикоснуться к “Единой Росии” - значит запачкаться. Но беда в том, что они пытаются испачкать тех, кто с ними не желает иметь дело.
Another clash took place between the Ushahidi-based project Help Map [ENG] (Russian-fires.ru), an independent, non-political platform, and the website of United Russia supporters, called Storonniki (“Supporters”). The banner of Help Map was placed misleadingly under the information about Storonniki's own coordination center, and the organization ignored Help Map's requests to re-position the banner.
Screenshot of the misleading banner placement
On August 21, Igor Cherski, another leader of the volunteer movement, drew attention to the inappropriate banner. Cherski wrote [RUS] on his blog:
Ваш баннер и ссылка на “Карту помощи” появились вот здесь: http://www.storonniki.info/
Вы в курсе происходящего? Вас использовали или теперь вы работаете вместе со сторонниками ЕР? Просто интересно, ничего личного.
The question raised by Cherski caused another wave of of anger among bloggers. LJ user eresiru called it [RUS] an ideological mistake that would lead to total disappointment of the supporters of Help Map. Convincing people that Help Map had nothing to do with United Russia wasn’t an easy task. The site already had a disclaimer that the project had no affiliation with any political group, but now the creators had to add an explanation [RUS] on the top of the page that they were not cooperating with any politicians, and United Russia in particular, since it acted immorally throughout the disaster. Eventually, the banner was removed from Storonniki website, and Cherski acknowledged [RUS] that Help Map had nothing to do with the Russian ruling party.
Later, however, i_cherski dedicated a special post to the clarification of his position in regard to United Russia. He emphasized that the behavior of United Russia had been nothing to be proud of, but suggested that the online community should not automatically disregard any cooperation with United Russia activists. Some bloggers opposed Cherski’s idea:
“The best thing we can do is ignore them,” wrote [RUS] eckero.
“Everything they touch turns into farce. They spend money on PR without any real effect,” radvi_sasha responded [RUS].
Blogger kaktuso concluded that there was no sense in helping even the reasonable members of the party since it would do nothing but promote United Russia.
Unfortunately, the clashes weren't limited to online space only. On August 28, doctor-liza published a post about a visit of an unknown male, who entered through the open door and threatened her. She wrote [RUS]:
Он встал около двери нашей кухни - со сложенными за спиной руками.
С акцентом он спросил
- Это ты? “Справедливая помощь?”
- Я. Руки из - за спины выньте.
- Ты, б…дь, чего хочешь?
- Что бы Вы ушли.
- Уйдешь отсюда ты. Сука. Б…ь. Через тридцать дней. Б…ь.Насовсем.
И так несколько раз.
Then the man promised to return and left. Glinka asked volunteers to forgive her for getting them involved in a dangerous situation, asked them to stop visiting her and promised to increase security measures. Still, it is unclear if this episode is connected with the earlier conflict with United Russia.
Two “imagined communities” in Russia: TV audience and online audience
The bloggers' community has demonstrated not only the feeling of dissatisfaction, but a high degree of hostility towards the government and United Russia. Opposition to the government was a common denominator for the majority of online activists, despite the fact that volunteers’ platforms had no political or oppositional background.
The critical attitude of the blogosphere differed significantly from the perception of the wildfire events by the majority of Russians. A poll by Levada Center showed [RUS] that most Russians thought that the government's response had been good, while the support ratings of the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev (73%) and prime minister Vladimir Putin (78%) had even slightly improved. 27 percent of the respondents said their opinions about the state’s leadership had improved, 57 percent said that it had remained unchanged and only 12 percent said that it had become worse. The most popular answer about the cause of the wildfires (39 percent) was that they were a natural phenomenon caused by extreme weather, and that no one could be held responsible for it.
Aleksey Grazhdankin, deputy director of Levada Center, explained [RUS] that the numbers depended on how the information of the wildfires had been presented to the public by the mainstream media (MSM). TV-watchers and bloggers had completely different sets of information. The blogosphere was full of firsthand information about the scale of the disaster, while the MSM avoided dramatization and focused more on the government’s response than on the disaster itself or its victims.
In this case we can see that the Internet actually triggers offline activity (and is not making people more passive, as it is sometimes argued), because it provides an independent picture of reality, shows that action is required and suggests ways of facilitating this action. ”Enlightened” bloggers are relatively few in Russia (according to various estimates, between 20,000 and 50,000 people), and are completely outnumbered by the majority who uses the MSM as a major source of information, which often has a pro-government slant.
Benedict Anderson, a renowned historian, approached the media as a mechanism of formation of social groups with a common identity, which he called “imagined communities” [ENG].
The wildfires have shown that there are two very different “imagined communities” in Russia: TV viewers and social media users. They have different, and often quite opposite, attitudes, which affect how they act. The consumption of information online is deeply interrelated with social interaction, and, due to this and other factors, the Internet community is a much stronger, more effective and united, “imagined community.”
If in the previous article we argued [ENG] that the unaccountability of the government had triggered online cooperation, in this case we see that the degree of cooperation depends on the information source. To be provoked by the state’s unaccountability, people should first be informed that the government is unaccountable. This is what has been done by the Russian social media, whose approach is so different from MSM.
The divide between the two communities is deepening, although the TV community is still the decisive majority. The balance between the passive majority and the active minority presents an electoral dilemma: which political strategy should the Russian leaders choose to address both “imagined communities”?
In his recent article, Alexey Sidorenko suggests [RUS] three scenarios for development of the Russian Internet – liberalization, preservation of the current ambivalent status quo, and a significant increase of censorship and filtering. I would like to add the fourth scenario, a futuristic one, that would suggest the aforementioned divide to take place and to form a dual state – the “virtual” one, made up of netizens, and the “real” one, made up of the TV spectators. We may assume, however, that in this case the authorities will do anything to make Internet as close as possible to the TV model [ENG].
By Juan Arellano · Translated by Silvia Viñas · View original post [es]
After reading the participating posts for the Blog Carnival: Venezuela, Freedom of Expression on the Internet [es] it is clear that while within the scope of traditional media there might be attempts to curtail freedom of expression, on the Internet the picture is very different because Venezuelans have launched themselves into the world of social media. Through their home connections or their BlackBerry phones, they talk, express their views and ideas without any major restrictions.
But, what is a “Blog Carnival”? It is a virtual event where a host blog, Global Voices in Spanish in this case, calls on other blogs to write about a specific subject. The Carnival usually has a set time frame and once it is over a summary post of the participating posts is published. That is what follows.
We begin this summary with someone from home. Laura Vidal, Global Voices author for Venezuela, published a post in her blog Sacando la lengua (Sticking out Your Tongue) where, apart from inviting other bloggers to participate in the Carnival, reflects on what Venezuelans write -or do not write- on the Internet. Among other things, she says [es] :
¿Hasta qué punto refleja la blogósfera de Venezuela la realidad del país? ¿Sobre qué conversan los venezolanos que escriben en línea? … la política, que desde hace tanto convertimos en chismes comentados con bases tan profundas como el rumor se ha vuelto el punto central de una dinámica de diálogos y discursos prestados en las que la comunicación corta la comunicación. Así sale la pregunta ¿Sobre qué no escriben los venezolanos? ¿Llegará la censura sin necesidad del piloto automático? … ¿De dónde sale lo que decimos? ¿Pensamos lo que publicamos? La población venezolana alucina con las innovaciones tecnológicas y adora comunicarse ¿Pero qué se dice?
Flor Peña, who blogs on Twitter Adictisimos, tries to answer these and other questions about the behavior of Venezuelans. She does so in a general way including some information, in her post “Complete Free Will Through the Web 2.0″ [es]:
con la llegada del internet la facilidad de comunicar y transmitir información se ha vuelto infinita, los límites parecen no existir y depende de cada individuo el determinar el uso que le hará al servicio … Pueden ver las Estadisticas en Venezuela de usuarios en internet AQUI … (pero) antes debe haber confianza para llevar a cabo una acción, sea cual sea. En el conocimiento colectivo siempre hallaremos la razon del porque el mundo es ovoide y no totalmente redondo…
Sol, from the blog Tengo que decirlo (I have to say it), travels on an introspective journey to find answers to why we express ourselves and what can constitute a limiting factor of our reality and our freedom, in her post “Journey to the Depth of My Inner Self” [es]:
Los gobernantes, los políticos de oficio, que se cierran alrededor de sus creencias y dogmas se constituyen en propietarios de una verdad que creen debe ser única e indivisible, no contentos con ello en algunos casos pretenden imponer ideologías caducas que mutilan la libertad de pensamiento y nos obligan a padecer el abismo de la exclusión … el avance tecnológico y el sometimiento a la velocidad de la información que se sucede a cada instante de nuestra vida obliga a reflexionar sobre nuestro ritmo vital. “Es un tesoro vivir sin prisa” comenta Antonio Más en su espacio virtual y es demasiado cierto, la mayoría de nosotros en ocasiones tenemos esa sensación de que nos llevan empujados y no hay nada mejor que darnos el chance de disfrutar del libre albedrío.
Dulce Penélope is a blogger from Crónicas de una Mujer Solterísima en Caracas (Chronicles of a Very Single Woman in Caracas) and in a didactic post called “Implicit Challenges for Citizens in Freedom of Expression as a Human Right” [es], after presenting some general matters relating to freedom of expression, the access to public information and citizen journalism, she concludes that one must educate others to reach a democratic citizenry.
De nada sirve que el ciudadano conozca que debe defender la libertad de expresión, el acceso a la información pública, el acceso y uso a Internet, debe ser conciente que es necesario recibir una adecuada formación sobre estos temas, no solo a nivel jurídico sino conocer que esta ocurriendo en otros países en torno a estas temáticas. Si bien organizaciones civiles en Venezuela como Espacio Público y Provea han hecho esfuerzos al respecto, es necesario que las universidades y en las comunidades los ciudadanos fomenten la importancia en la educación para la ciudadanía democrática, que preservar la democracia no se limita sólo al voto, al contrario el ciudadano tiene en sus manos herramientas vitales que le permiten fiscalizar la gestión de los organismo públicos, además la comunidad es la única barrera que puede frenar de forma contundente las limitaciones y censuras que un gobierno pueda imponer para frenar el libre ejercicio de la libertad de expresión.
An event took place in Venezuela during the Blog Carnival which determined what some participant posts focused on: the ban on violent images ruled by a tribunal in Caracas. The blog Colegio Nacional de Periodistas seccional Costa Oriental del Lago, sent us this post [es] for the Carnival:
La junta directiva de la seccional Costa Oriental del Lago del Colegio Nacional de Periodistas (CNP COL) rechazó la decisión judicial que prohíbe la publicación de imágenes consideradas violentas en los medios impresos venezolanos, a la vez que aseguró que la medida podría repercutir en la autocensura, en el cercenamiento de derechos fundamentales, como el de expresión y el de la ciudadanía a estar informada, y en el peor de los casos, cierre de empresas de comunicación.
Lycette Scott from El Blog de la Negra shows her deep concern about the measure and reflects on the real motives and implications of the measure, and on the attitudes of politicians, in the post “Freedom of Expression?” [es]:
¿es posible dejar de publicar noticias sobre violencia en un país donde cada día hay muertes violentas producto del hampa común y en muchos casos también a mano de la policía? pero más allá de eso ¿es posible c**plir con la prohibición sin menoscabar la libertad de expresión? … El problema de fondo aquí no es la foto, no es la situación de la morgue, no es la inseguridad, no es la indiferencia gubernamental ante todas estas situaciones, no es que los chamos se afecten sicológicamente … el problema en definitiva es un gobierno y una ciudadanía que se sienten incómodos cuando se les ponen las verdades en la cara, porque tanto a la sociedad como a los políticos les encanta ignorar lo que sucede a su alrededor, es más chevere y más cómodo saber que las cosas suceden pero hacerse los locos
Euped Rodríguez also posted on the issue in the blog Escritos sin papel (Writings without paper). The post “Freedom of Expression and the Internet: New Challenges” [es], aside from informing us about the realm of freedom of expression on the Internet in Venezuela compared to the rest of the world, points out that:
Con una nueva esfera pública en la cual miles de personas expresan opiniones, información, reflexiones y análisis a través de la red, (se) ha generado una comunicación más transparente, directa y democrática que se está efectuando en el país y en diferentes partes del mundo. Una esfera pública que favorece al desarrollo de la democracia permitiendo que cada persona sea participe en los distintos hechos y toma de decisiones de una comunidad, región o país. Sin embargo, si dicho espacio es restringido se rompería con uno de los principios fundamentales de vivir en un país libre … Aquí en Venezuela estamos en una constante guerra de información, existen dos bandos: oficialismo y opositores. Cada uno favorece a su lado, utilizan las herramientas tecnológicas para defender lo que creen. Cada usuario de internet se ha dedicado a funcionar como portavoz de información, de generar contenidos.
Finally, in the blog Anotaciones al borde (Side notes), Kira Kariakin, its author, published the post “Rotten Town” [es], where she talks about the ongoing violence in Caracas and the context under which the aforementioned prohibition was set, and concludes that:
Aún contamos con este territorio de nadie y de todos de internet para poder acceder y difundir las informaciones que intentan ser acalladas por el gobierno en el mundo analógico. Han habido amagos de censura y amenazas con leyes improcedentes y punitivas hasta ahora sin mucha factibilidad de aplicación. En este caso, la caducidad de los medios tradicionales se cancela en los digitales porque la gente puede acceder a los contenidos, y difundirlos viralmente por mucho tiempo. Ello no es fácil de controlar. Videos como el de OneChot, los de Cuatro, la risa de Izarra en CNN y la primera plana de muerte de El Nacional quedan en la red para la reflexión.
We are very grateful to all those who participated, maybe taking time off other activities, and getting over fears, real or otherwise, that are perceived in the Venezuelan blogosphere. We also thank those who helped us spread the word about the Carnival in their blogs, and Twitter users that re-tweeted our annoucement. I also want to thank those who took the time to read this post and enjoy some very diverse blogs. I strongly recommend a trip through all of them, a great sample of the Venezuelan blogosphere that hopefully will not keep going unnoticed by the general public. See you in the next Carnival!
Ali Abdulemam at the Arab Bloggers' Workshop in Beirut, 2009
Outrage over the arrest of a Bahraini human rights activist has sparked an outpouring of support from bloggers and human rights advocates around the world.
On September 5, Global Voices Advocacy reported the arrest of Bahraini blogger and Global Voices contributor Ali Abdulemam for allegedly “publishing false news” on BahrainOnline.org, the platform he co-founded in 1999 (the site is currently down and it is suspected that authorities have gained control of the password). The arrest, thought by many to be part of a larger sectarian c****down in Bahrain, has sparked a solidarity campaign, a Facebook group of support, and a petition. International groups, including Human Rights Watch, FrontLine Defenders, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, and Reporters without Borders have condemned the arrests.
Who is Ali Abdulemam?
Ali Abdulemam co-founded BahrainOnline.org in 1999 and as the site grew to become #1 in Bahrain, subsequently ascended to become one of the country's top bloggers. In 2005, he was arrested along with two of his colleagues, and released 15 days later. He joined Global Voices Advocacy in 2008 and attended that year's Global Voices Summit.
Sami Ben Gharbia shares more about the blogger:
Ali Abdulemam is a leading Bahraini blogger and Global Voices Advocacy author, and founder of Bahrain’s popular BahrainOnline forum. He a pioneer among Arab activists, using the internet to militate for peaceful reform. He inspired many young Bahrainis and Arabs to use the internet to express themselves and engage in spirited debate.
Mauritanian blogger Nasser Weddady, on his blog Dekhnstan, writes of Abdulemam's character:
Ali is a free-thinker, a father of three children, and more importantly the kind of voices for reform the West has been eager to see emerge in the region. His arrest is yet another blow to a growing movement for civil rights reform across the region. I hope he will not be forgotten like many other young Arabs whose only crime is to want to have a voice.
Hussain Yousif, who was arrested along with Abdulemam in 2005, had this to say of his close friend:
Ali is looking for change. The change Ali believed in is not impossible and is not diabolical. Ali wanted to give the people the chance to express thier feeling and dreams, to discuss and negotiate, to correct each other mistakes and to learn to respect each other. That was his project in Bahrain in online forum more than 10 years ago.
An Outpouring of Solidarity
Bloggers from across the Arab world and beyond have expressed their support for Abdulemam. Bahraini blogger Mahmood, of Mahmood's Den, wonders what this means for Bahrain's bloggers and activists:
Abdulemam joins tens, possibly hundreds, more apprehended Bahrainis all accused or charged with some malicious intent against the ruling regime. According to most operating human rights organisations in the country, they have had their rights violated and some even went as far as accusing the security services of applying systemic torture on some of those incarcerated.
I fear that this latest development further degrades the country’s reputation and gives some credence to the charges of it being an enemy of freedom of expression and that of human rights too.
Guatemalan blogger and GV contributor Renata Avila had this to say of the circ**stances:
Mi amigo, el bloguero de Bahrain Alí Abduleman, fue arrestado por “difundir información falsa”, una tendencia que se esparce peligrosamente en todos los rincones del mundo, ante gobiernos represivos que no aceptan la mirada crítica de los ciudadanos. Espero sea liberado pronto, que se respete el debido proceso, que se cuide de su integridad física y no se sea sometido a tratos crueles, inhumanos o degradantes.
On her blog A Tunisian Girl, GV contributor Lina Ben Mhenni writes:
Hardly does the sun rises without learning about the arrest of a blogger or online journalist . Examples are abundant Fatma Arabicca , Zouhair Makhlouf , Abdulsalam El Baroudi , etc…
…I hope that Ali will be released soon . I also hope that he will be in a good health.
Sonam Ongmo, a Bhutanese blogger based in New York, reflects on the situation on her blog Dragon Tales, writing:
As I write this, I count my blessings. There are many who on this very day cannot be facing the same. For instance a blogger colleague from Global Voices Ali Abdulemam from Bahrain. He was arrested earlier today by Bharaini authorities for spreading “false news” on his blog which has since been taken down by the authorities. I saw the message this morning and did the little I could - tweeting and posting this on FB. But now that I have time to sit down and think about my own situation its made me think of others who have not been so lucky.
Photo by Jillian C. York
Generation Y blogs about the “great surprise” of receiving the 2010 Prince Claus Award, saying: “I’m only going to focus on the satisfactions: the growing alternative blogosphere, the c****s that have opened in the wall, the Podcast I just inaugurated a few weeks ago, and all the text messages I’ve received to congratulate me…”
Annasoltan informs the readers that the government of Turkmenistan decided to ban the popular social networking site and instant messenger agent.mail.ru.
By Marietta Le
While a group of activists and representatives of Roma organizations was rallying [HUN] in front of the French Embassy in Budapest on Saturday, another group gathered at Heroes' Square to hold the first ‘Day of Heteros**ual Pride.'
Proszektura wrote this [HUN] before the heteros**ual pride day:
[…] All this came to my mind because tomorrow, on Saturday, will be the big event, the hetero pride day. Last year the police didn't allow it. The new regime does. So tomorrow will be the hetero colds' pride day. Where the petition of the participants will be received by Dóra Dúró and Előd Novák [both politicians of Jobbik, the far-right party]. As the only married couple among the members of Parliament. (Maybe D. D. will stylishly receive in a swimsuit Csaba Koletár–whose idea was the pride day–when giving her the petition?) Reportedly, the petition will ask the Parliament to modify the law, so the right of assembly could not be practiced without limitations hurting the sensitivity of the majority. If a minority wanted to hold an event like that, the law enforcer would sign such a location to it where the sensitivity of the majority would be less hurt. […]
Városi Ellenállás blog (”Urban Resistance”) explained the goal of the petition in this post [HUN], and shared their stance on the g** pride march which is held yearly at the same location in Budapest.
[…] The goal of the civil initiative organized by Csaba Koletár was not to allow the use of public places for g** marches, and not to allow the limitation of the right of assembly and free speech for normal people. […]
Some of us also had a lap of honour there because we felt it a duty bound to be there, and say no to a thing which totally contradicts normal people's value system. The problem is not if someone has a different s**ual behavior, but if he provokes in public, hurts common moral standards and common sense of taste. If homos**uals did not express themselves this offensively to the majority society, and did not promote how trendy the thing they do is, then probably no-one would care about it. In turn, this whole thing is pouring on us as a disgusting ‘advertisement' campaign from every source of the media, and we will not ignore it, neither now, nor in the future. […]
Bloggers of Mandiner were also at the heteros**ual march and shared a short report with photos [HUN]:
[…] At the demonstration held with higher number of policemen on call than needed, but fewer than normally at Jobbik-smelly events, there were some 80 people, so the homos**ual marches evidently beat the heteros**ual [considering the number of participants]. So typical that the couple Előd Novák-Dóra Dúró appeared at the beginning of the event, said a speech, and then after some walk, they disappeared very fast. They would have been stupid to march the distance with a handful of miserables in the cold. Beyond Oktogon [square], evidently there were more from tourists who thought the proud Hungarian heteros were another loud group of tourists. […]
Mj and Margaret shared some photos on their blogs here and here. The latter uploaded videos to YouTube as well, one of them showing the pride marchers leaving Heroes' Square:
By Oiwan Lam
A Chinese writer, Xie Chaoping, was arrested by Shaanxi Police for his book on “The Great Relocation”. ESWN has translated the story.
By Gabriel Nada
After calls from many important Jordanian internet news publishing organizations, the Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists مركز حماية وحرية الصحفيين, human rights groups, media and legal activists, as well as individuals concerned with censorship issues and freedom of speech and expression, some important modifications have occurred to Jordan's new first-of-its-kind Information Systems Crime Law قانون جرائم انظمة المعلومات summarized in this Aramram Feature.
Filling a Legal Vacuum
Prior to this piece of legislation, no law or legal framework had existed to specifically deal with “cyber crime”, including issues relating to child pornography, exploitation of mentally or emotionally disabled persons, and spreading of information designed to harm Jordanian economic and political interests.
The initial framework was intended to create a legal basis for dealing with all issues related to criminal activity specifically based on the web. However, civil watchdog groups reacted to the initial powers granted by the first draft (such as search of premises and computers without a warrant) and demanded clarifications so that the newly created powers would not be misconstrued and misused to target news sites and the free expression of ideas.
Full Spectrum Reactions
Reactions to the new law have been mixed. Some see it as a step backwards, such as this Aramram user writing as Anti-7afartalism, commenting on the Aramram site regarding the above video:
hadi el qawaneen el jdeede 7atat el urdunn fee qa2emet el dowal el mota5alefe o a3da2 el internet b3d ma innu el urdun mn asr3 edwal ele intshar el internet feha o atwal shari3 lal internet cafe kan 3ala ginis ….y3ni el wa7ad badal ma yitawrr 3m berja3 la wara o hai el fdee7a weslat lal Washington Post !!! la2eno el urdun m3roof 3nha inha the most free arab country fa keef beseer hada el 7aki!!!
However after the adjustments, others are waiting to see and spreading news of the ammendments via twitter. noor JoJo (nrbi2) tweets:
أهم التعديلات على قانون جرائم انظمة المعلومات المؤقت .. ونص القانون بصيغته النهائية ammonnews.net/article.aspx?a… via @AddThis .. eli b7b yeqr2
abeeryarmouk also tweets:
http://bit.ly/bDuLb9 الأردن/ نقيب المحامين : تعديلات قانون جرائم انظمة المعلومات انهت الجدل الدائر حوله
and SamirKassireyes tweets:
الحكومة الاردنية تعدّل قانون “جرائم أنظمة المعلومات” بعد انتقادات وضغوط محلية http://www.skeyesmedia.org/?mode=newsdetails&id=2283
Government response to Criticism and Pressure
Some see the receptiveness of the government to creating changes in the law in reaction to activism as a positive step in building relations between the internet community and the law. Blogging on Jordanoholic.com, Rani Dababneh writes:
In reference to [Jordanian Bloggers Meet the Minister of ICT on first Cyber Crime draft Law in Jordan], we got notified that Cabinet approved the Information Systems Crime Law of 2010 on
Aug 3, which will take effect after 30 days of issuance. Information Systems / Cyber Crime Law, and Reasons Thereof are below in Arabic: [English Version will be provided soon]UPDATE: Jordan Government, on August 29, endorsed the final draft of the Information Systems Crime Law (Cyber Crime Law) after ammending several parts of the legislation that drew controversy and criticism from various human rights and media activists.
From his blog at Osamaa.com, Osama Romoh أسامة الرمح also shares the view that the government's inclusion of bloggers in the process and their willingness to listen to the concerns of civil liberties groups is a positive step. He writes:
في نقطة رابحة تُضاف إلى رصيد المدوّنين الأردنيين والمدونات الأردنية للإعتراف الرسمي بهم، قامت وزارة الاتصالات وتكنولوجيا المعلومات بإشراك عدد من المدونين في مناقشة مسودّة قانون الجرائم الالكترونية
The blog Radical Justice العدالة الراديكالية carries the full text of the final version of the new law as well as the specifics of the changes that were called for by public pressure.
By Keta Haluha
In the last year and a half there has been something of a surge in the use of the social media by Timorese. This is due less to an increase in users, but an increase in use by existing users, both Timorese inside and outside the country. Although there have been dramatic drops in internet access prices by Timor Telcom in the last 6 months, which suggests more people might be getting online.
While blogs are proliferating, Facebook appears to be increasingly the platform of choice.
This should come as no surprise given that Timor Leste's neighbour Indonesia, has the fourth largest number of facebook users in the world, with 14,000,000 as of December 2009. One source states that Indonesia is third, with only the US and UK exceeding it.
Indonesians are also the fastest growing group of facebookers in the world with a 1,500% increase in 2009. Despite the fact that Indonesia invaded Timor in 1975 and brutally occupied it until 1999, resulting in over 150,000 deaths, its social and economic ties to Timor remain deep and entrenched.
Internet penetration in Timor-Leste is still very low when compared to other countries. According to Internet World Stats Timor-Leste has a population of 1,131,612, while the capital city has a population of 166,903 ('07). However, it states that TT says that there are only 1,800 Internet users as of Sept/09. This means that only 0.2% of the population has access to the internet. For background one can read “Timor: 9 years of Internet, still one ISP and a huge digital gap” by Global Voices Contributor Sara Moreira
However, with an increasing population of Timorese, who have one of the highest birth rates in the world, both inside and outside the country Facebook use is clearly on the rise. With 4,000 students in Indonesia there appears to be direct correlation.
The Media - first in.
Timorese media have been among the most active. One of the first major users of Facebook in Timor-Leste was the weekly newspaper Tempo Semanal, its Facebook site launched in late 2008 jumped to over 2,000 friends in its first 6 months and now tops 5,000. No doubt it might be alot more if it got more serious about social media. One thing is for certain Tempo Semanal and its editor Jose Belo, have lead the charge on web media in Timor-Leste, with aggressive reporting and an active online presence through the web-blog version of the print paper and a big facebook following.
J. Belo as FALINTIL 20 Aug 1996 - attack on Indonesian Army (ABRI).
J. Belo as Editor of Tempo Semanal, and Facebook Fanatic
Tempo Semanal on Facebook - with permission from Tempo Semanal
Other media outlets have followed suit. CJITL - Centru Jornalista Investigativu Timor-Leste has a Facebook fanpage with 673 fans, Timor News Net has over 1,728 friends. There is even Tau Matan ba TVTL / Media Watch group.
Opposition Politics
Soon after the media got involved in spreading their message via Facebook politicians realised its power. Probably the first, and certain one of the most active on Facebook has been the Member of Parliament Arsenio Bano (Vice-President of the Opposition party FRETILIN). Bano's Facebook is used to highlight Parliaments work as well as promote anti-government news and information as put forward by the Opposition. It has proved popular, and now numbers over 5,000 friends in less 12 months of use.
Member of Parliament Arsenio Bano on Facebook - with permission.
Bano Facebook photo - Parliament Defence and Security Committee Questions Police Commander Longuinos Monteiro - with permission.
Other Opposition Members of Parliament are also getting in the Facebook game to play politics; FRETILIN Member of Parliament Jose Teixeira, with 1,109 friends, aired a police brutality video on Facebook ending up causing a storm in Parliament in December 2009. FRETILIN MP Osorio Florindo da Costa is also a facebooker. TATOLI, a FRETILIN leaning political blog has recently taken to posting facebook comments online - in this case relating to accusation and counter accusation to and from the Timorese Foreign Minister. Meanwhile Agio Pereira, the Government's Chief Spokesman keeps a much lower profile on facebook.
Social Media and Political Celebrities
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has a fanpage with over 2,436 fans.
Chief of the Defence Force Maj-General Taur Matan Ruak has a fanpage with over 3.600 fans. Some people in Timor-Leste are hopeful the General will stand for President one day.
Deputy Prime Minister Mario Carrascalao has a page here with 615 fans, and a counter page “SAY no to Mario Carrascalao” fanpage with over 1,705 fans here.
Interestingly, now deceased rebel leader, Maj Alfredo Reinado has a fanpage with just 101 fans.
Below is just a very very small sample of Timor-Leste related Facebook activity, groups, fanpages etc
Business
East Timor Business, East Timor Tourism, K-LINK INTERNATIONAL, BRANCH TIMOR LESTE, Timor Leste Management Society, Peace Dividend Marketplace Timor-Leste, Roberto Carlos Hotel - Lospalos/Timor Leste, the Ministry of Tourism Commerce and Industry (MTCI).
Sport
The Dili Marathon, Timor-Leste Dive Club, Timor-Leste national football team, the Tour de Timor.
Society and Culture
Kafe Timor ( Café Timor/Timor Coffee), Justice NOW for East Timor's war crimes (1975-1999), East Timor Student In Java, Community District Manufahi Group, Timorese Students In The Philippines, I am Timorese, Schools of Esperanca in Atauro, Timor Leste, Friends of Lospalos, Amazing Timor Photographs, Baucau, TIMOR LESTE Pride!, Rede Feto and IT Ba Futuru. And here is a new one about Aussie commandos in Timor-Leste during WWII, Timor Sparrow Force.
Social Media and Telcoms
Social media relies on good service providers. Reflecting a general discontent with the monopoly held by Timor Telcom a host of anti-Timor Telcom Facebook pages and groups have appeared in the last 18 months.
Ijiji Aumenta tan operador Telekomunikasau iha Timor states in its leader that:
TT besik tinan 8 ona hari ‘i iha Timor maibe ne rede seidauk bele tama subdistritu hotu, nia kualidade rede la diak. Ijji atu aumenta tang operador 3 iha Timor. atu bele fo benefisiu diak ba timor oan tomak.
Other Facebook groups opposed to the ongoing Telcom Timor monopoly include AKSAUN 50.000 PESOAS FACEBOOKERS ANTI TIMOR TELECOM (2,500 members), Why Timor Telecom sux?!, New Timor-Telecom's SLOGAN, to name just a few.
The future.
Certainly most people in Timor-Leste have no idea what Facebook is.
With poverty being endemic and internet access ridiculously poor Timorese are not yet “online”. One of Timor-Leste's most famous former FALINTIL resistance guerrillas, Lere Annan Timor, likes to joke that the first time he saw a computer in 1999 he thought it was a television.
Brigadier General Lere Annan Timor
However, there can be no doubt that the future of social media in Timor-Leste is going to be one of growth. As the access to technology expands the young population of Timor-Leste (with 50% being less than 17 years old) will take to it like ducks to water. As they are already.
Is a Twitter revolution next? Perhaps, as Timor Telcom is now advertising 3G networks coming soon in Dili, Baucau, Gleno, Aileu and Los Palos. Thats over half the population. There are already more than a few people in Dili with smart phones waiting for it to happen - not least of all the politicians. With a Blackberry Bold dropping in price from $600 in January 2010 to less than $300 in September 2010 - its just a matter of time before we see smart phones in the hands of people in the mountains. Just a matter of time. With rising salaries, a wave of public spending in play the cash to buy is increasingly there.
One has to wonder what social, political and economic change will occur as a result. While there has been a huge increase in the use of social media in Timor-Leste in the last 2 years its impact is likely quite minimal in the short term. But with a general election to be held in 2 years time there may be room yet for it to potentially play a role.
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