October, 2008

Stories from October, 2008

Deprived of using the university dormitories because of blogging

  26 October 2008

Ahmed Abdel Kawi , meeting all the necessary conditions to use his university housing, so, the decision of his exclusion was strongly condemned by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information’s Legal Aid Unit for Freedom of Expression, which issued a statement saying:

Malaysia: Home Minister admits Internet news is now mainstream

  21 October 2008

Malaysia's Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, was reported to have said that Internet media is no “alternative media” as more and more Malaysians were obtaining news and information from the Internet. He said this at after giving the keynote address at the Colloquium on Media Policy in Malaysia, organised by the...

Malaysia: Blogger's bail extended

  18 October 2008

Blogger kickdefella, who was arrested for seeking the public to post the Malaysian national flag upside-down, has had his bail extended to Nov 21. Kickdefella, or Syed Azidi Syed Abdul Aziz, was arrested on Sept 17 was freed three days later on police bail. He was called in by the Commercial Crimes Investigation...

Malaysia: Yet another blogger rebuked

  17 October 2008

Deputy Chief Minister, Alfred Jabu Numpang, of the Malaysian state of Sarawak, has criticised blogger, Joseph Tawie for a posting on the latter's blog. Freelance writer and blogger Tawie accused Sarawak state leaders of suppressing allegations of sexual abuse of Penan women in his blog, The Broken Shield. A blog post urged...

Australia embraces web censorship

  17 October 2008

The issue of internet censorship generally involves countries deemed non-democratic or “repressive” (something I discuss in my new book, The Blogging Revolution.) We regularly read reports about the regimes in China or Iran blocking countless “subversive” websites for overtly political gain. Alas, a growing number of nations in the West...

Worldwide protest against surveillance: Freedom not Fear 2008

  15 October 2008

Surveillance and data retention is a problem that deserves Global attention, even for developing countries. In developing countries protests for such causes are sometimes not among the list of priorities, such as poverty, hunger and violence, which are the major concerns. Not quite. In Peru, breaking news points to surveillance coming from the government, and recently in Guatemala, the President himself was under heavy surveillance.

Livejournal inaccessible in Kazakhstan

  14 October 2008

Kazakh Internet users seem to be unable to access the popular blogging platform and social network Livejournal through Kazakh major ISPs. According to Reuters Canada, only a small number of Kazakh Livejournal bloggers still can access the website through smaller ISPs or through the use of proxies. Livejournal.ru, however, seems to be accessible.

The Blogging Revolution: from Iran to Cuba

  9 October 2008

Antony Loewenstein, a Sydney-based freelance journalist and blogger, has recently published his new book: The Blogging Revolution. This book talks about the impact of blogging on six countries: Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China and Cuba.

An Egyptian blogger is out of jail provided that he stop blogging

  3 October 2008

After being in jail for more than 2 months, the Egyptian blogger Mohamed Refaat was set free. Mohamed told Add-Dostour daily newspaper that the state security officers insisted that he will not go out of his detention custody till he sign a paper saying he will never update his blog neither heis Facebook account , nevertheless dealing with humanitarian NGOs or journalists.

Malaysia: Outrage at racist blogger

  3 October 2008

Blogger “Sammy”, reported to be a 22 year old employee in a Kuala Lumpur advertising firm, was reported to have posted anti-Indian sentiments on her blog, Life is a Drama. The blogger posted her comments after she claimed her mobile phone was stolen by two alleged Indian youths when she was...

Malaysia: Bloggers seek RPK's release at PM's Eid'ul Fitri celebration

  2 October 2008

Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, unwittingly had more than 50 activists at Eid’ul Fitri celebrations at the Putra World Trade Centre on October 1st. About twenty of these were bloggers, led by blogger and lawyer, Haris Ibrahim, who wanted to personally tell the Prime Minister they wanted the Internal Security Act (ISA) repealed, and that all detainees, including Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK), be released.