UAE: Activist Arrested for his Tweets

Saleh Aldhaifairi's tweet on getting arrested

With the birth of the Arab Spring, the United Arab Emirates’ authorities seem to be intimidated by any voice asking for reforms and change. The start was with the arbitrary arrests of five activists for signing an online petition and keeping them illegally in custody for months before giving them a ‘pardon’ as part of the annual national celebrations. Shortly afterwards, seven political activists were stripped off their citizenship after an issued order by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the UAE. Lately, a new case of violation of free speech came out after the arrest of Saleh AlDhufairi, an Islamist calling for change.
In his last tweet , AlDhufairi (@SalehAlDhufairi) wrote that he is being arrested from his house in Ras Al-Khaimaa. Dubai police issued a statement explaining:

Dubai Police Spokesman announced that Saleh Al Dhafairi has been arrested on charges of incitement. According to the Dubai Police statement, Al Dhafairi has been accused of incitement through writing or verbally spreading ideas that damage national unity or social peace. The spokesman confirmed that Al Dhafairi will be referred to the Attorney General after 48 hours, stressing that the law punishes sedition-makers. He added that what the accused has done falls under the jurisdiction of the federal law.

In response, Al-Islah Islamic group issued a statement condemning the arrest of AlDhafairi saying those arrests will not stop their demands and that they refuse the acts of stripping citizens off their citizenship or arresting them. Al-Islah indicates that when arrested, AlDhafairi asked for his arrest memo, and in response, state security police broke into his house and arrested him.

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  • […] the United Arab Emirates, Saleh AlDhufairi was arrested for advocating social reform through twitter, joining 12 activists who were either […]

  • […] advocates for political change over Twitter has been charged by the government with incitement, and tweeted about his being […]

  • […] advocates for political change over Twitter has been charged by the government with incitement, and tweeted about his being […]

  • […] for political change over Twitter has been charged by the government with incitement, and tweeted about his being […]

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World)报导,美国城市圣何塞计划在市中心铺满免费wifi无线网。为了凑齐铺设网络的费用,圣何塞将协助当地政府在市中心的工作,并鼓励小型企业在此地发展。在海盗湾(Pirate Bay)负责人被最终定罪,以及MegaUpload负责人被逮捕之后,文件共享服务的境况正发生巨大的转变,以致用户不得不寻求更分散更匿名的方式来存储文件——Torrent Freak认为,RetroShare是经得起时间考验的客户端软件。跟darknets一样,海盗湾也在探索发射具有GPS导航系统的低轨道遥控飞船,并在其上搭载分布式服务器系统。位于伦敦的某智囊团已经测试了这项技术。创作公用许可证(Creative Commons Licenses)正在与具有资质的大学和技工学校寻求合作,希望它们向全世界的学生提供有正式学分的免费课程。来自弗吉尼亚共和党的众议院多数党领导人埃里·克康托(Eric Cantor)正在Facebook上推广一个新平台,“公民共保”(Citizen Cosponsor)。通过这个平台,用户可以公开支持某项法案,并且定期收到关于此法案的最新消息。出版与研究• Petros Losifidis: Mapping Digital media: Digital Television, the Public Interest, and European Regulation• Lee Rainie and Aaron Smith: Social Networking Sites and Politics• Scott J. Shackelford: In Search of Cyber Peace: A Response to the Cybersecurity Act of 2012• James Curran: Why Has Internet Changed So Little?• A new study about mobile penetration in China found that the country’s rural population drove an annual 8 percent increase in mobile-only Web usage, which accounted for 38 percent of China’s Internet users in 2011.• A report from the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) revealed that blocking VoIP and Peer to Peer traffic were two of the most common methods for the Internet Service Providers in Europe to manage Internet traffic.RSF.orgMost of this report was researched, written, and edited by Weiping Li, Mera Szendro Bok, James Losey, and Sarah Myers.Pakistan’s anti-censorship activists recently proved how coordinated, global and local action can make a real difference.Last month, Pakistan’s government publicly solicited proposals from companies around the world to create an automatic URL filtering system to block “objectionable” content. The request triggered a wave of protests which began with the local group Bolo Bhi and spread quickly to international groups like Access Now who wrote letters to tech companies’ CEOs urging them not to bid on the project, and launched online petitions which gathered tens of thousands of signatures. The Global Network Initiative (GNI), Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Bytes for All, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, all issued statements urging technology companies to consider the impact of the tender on the human rights of citizens in Pakistan.Their message was received and absorbed at least by some. Five of the eight companies petitioned, including Websense, Cisco, Verizon, Sandvine and McAfee, have declined join the Pakistan government’s censorship attempt. On the other hand, Huawei, Blue Coat, Netsweeper, and ZTE did not respond to calls from the advocacy groups before the deadline of the proposal on March 16. Now the Express Tribune has reported that as a result of the protests, the Pakistani government may step back from its censorship plans.More broadly, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has voiced its concern over challenges to freedom of expression and the Pakistani government’s plans to censor the media and the Internet. It “demands the media, civil society and the people in general must be consulted before any changes are considered in the law. The media should do more to counter radicalisation and intolerance. It regrets that the misuse of blasphemy laws and the official apathy and appeasement of extremists have continued.”More censorship newsMarch 12, marked the World Day Against Cyber Censorship, and the publication of the annual “Enemies of the Internet” report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). According to the list, Bahrain, Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam were named as the worst offenders in online censorship, while other 14 countries, including Australia and France, are “countries under surveillance”, which means that the citizens of these countries are also facing increased censorship.Although RSF does not rank the countries listed as the “Enemies of the Internet”, Matthias Spielkamp from the German branch of Reporters Without Borders pointed out in an interview by Deutsche Welle that China and Syria “would be candidates for a top 3”.Some organizations and companies such as The Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Google also released statements against censorship in observance of the day.The government of Iran is moving forward with plans to build a domestic Internet meant to shield the Iranian people from “harmful” content online. Amnesty International recently published a briefing paper outlining the tightened cyber control by Iranian government.The Tajik government requested the country’s Internet Service Providers block Facebook and four news websites. According to media report, the blocking was the result of the publication of some sensitive articles which criticized the government.Facebook and Google have begun their trial in India over the objectionable content on their websites.According to a study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University, the Chinese censorship mechanism used on the popular microblog platform Weibo has been quite nimble and adaptive. The study outlines for the first time the ways in which the censorship system functions on this new media platform.Sina Corp, the company which owns Weibo, estimated that 60% of its microblog users will complete the real-name registration process by the deadline of March 16.PayPal announced a policy that it would not process transactions for ebooks which contain erotic content. However, the decision spurred a backlash from free speech advocacy groups. Facing the criticisms of conducting censorship, PayPal finally stepped back and allowed sale of legal fiction with erotic materials.ThuggeryA UAE Islamic activist who advocates for political change over Twitter has been charged by the government with incitement, and tweeted about his being arrested.Hamza Kashgari, the Saudi journalist who was facing the death penalty for his tweet about the Prophet Muhammad, is reported to be released soon. Also in Saudi Arabia, three managers of news websites have been held in prison for covering pro-reform protests.SurveillanceAccording to Reuters, a document revealed that through a third party, Iran still can obtain equipment that allows the country to surveil its citizens, which is currently banned as an export by the United States (U.S.) government. The Chinese company ZTE Corp has sold surveillance systems to Iran’s largest telecoms firm. The surveillance system consists of hardware and software products from American companies such as Microsoft Corp, Hewlett-Packard Co, Oracle Corp, Cisco Systems Inc, Dell Inc, Juniper Networks Inc and Symantec Corp. Iranian leaders have pushed further to demand a new institution to police the Internet to increase the country’s capacity to surveil its peoples’ online activity.Following the steps of Albania, Portugal and Spain, French National Assembly passed a law to launch a new ID card program by which the French people will be issued new ID cards with chips storing biometric information. French parliament members have expressed strong opposition to this new law and referred it to the French Constitutional Council. The Council will ultimately decide whether the new law would contradict the French Constitution.Eva Galprin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation reported about new malware which monitors users’ computer activity and sends the information back to a Syrian IP address. Her article offers information on how to detect if your computer is infected and how to respond.The French technology company Amesys, which developed the surveillance system for the toppled Gaddafi regime, has been reported to sell its Internet-interception business to a party which is still unknown to the public.  Netizen activismSyrian citizen journalists were awarded Reporters Without Borders’ Netizen 2012 Prize for shedding light on the struggle that millions of Syrians face.Al Jazeera has launched an online platform “Uganda Speaks” to let Ugandans to speak up for themselves and offer feedback on the Kony 2012 controversy. The New York Times has analyzed the growing number of tweets and video views of the Kony 2012 video which has gained over 100 million viewers in four weeks.Alex Howard explores the links between journalism and data in the case study of “Homicide Watch“, a data journalism project which started out as a spreadsheet and became an opportunity for community members to share info about open case homicides.Connecticut’s lawmakers have proposed a bill which would have users pay a 6.35% sales tax on any digital downloads.National policyAdvocates at EFF are concerned that “The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (H.R. 3523), introduced by Rep. Mike Rogers and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, allows companies or the government free rein to bypass existing laws in order to monitor communications, filter content, or potentially even shut down access to online services for “cybersecurity purposes.”Meanwhile the White House announced export control changes to support Internet freedom in Iran. In an effort to “support the free flow of information to citizens of Iran,” the U.S. Treasury Department issued new guidelines regarding services and software that can be offered to Iranians under the current sanctions against Iran, provided they are offered free of charge. The list includes communications software for instant messaging, data storage services like Dropbox's cloud storage, browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome, document readers and RSS readers for news story feeds.The Thai government has blocked 5,000 web pages that contain content deemed to insult the royal family.A German court in Hamburg ruled last week that the popular file-hosting website, Rapidshare must filter files uploaded by users.PrivacyGoogle requires cookies for log-ins from mobile devices.Privacy advocates have pushed the FTC to investigate Google’s bypass of Safari privacy settings after discovering a special code which allowed ads to be served up to users after setting their browser to block cookies.A security breach in England has compromised more than 8,000 student emails which were sent out by Student Finance England as part of a mass email distribution following a blunder by staff.A round-up of Facebook’s new privacy rules points out bans on pseudonyms and multiple accounts, a requirement to keep your data up-to-date, and allows friends to give apps permission to access your data.European Commissioner Vice President Viviane Reding has suggested that the Obama Administration take a stronger regulatory approach and protect consumers better by governing how ISPs and content providers handle personal data protection.Job seekers are reporting that they have been asked by potential employers to share their personal Facebook password during the application process.As the Obama Administration pushes for privacy reforms to protect their users the Obama reelection campaign is spending millions to gather and use personal data for the purposes of outreach to potential voters. Privacy advocates are calling this a form of digital snooping and are discouraged that President Obama’s reelection campaign is asking Google and Facebook to change their privacy policy.Internet governanceThe International Telecommunications Union (ITU), whose treaty does not include Internet governance, is planning a meeting of member nations to discuss whether it should. The Center for Democracy and Technology warns that the top-down regulatory approach would silence the voice of global civil society in Internet governance debates. Cynthia Wong of the Center for Democracy and Technology analyzes the great need for better mechanisms at the ITU so that civil society can get more involved in upcoming discussions the ITU plans to have on how the Internet will be regulated.The Council of Europe passed their Internet Governance Strategy, a framework for discussing human rights for the Internet. The goals of the strategy include protecting the universality and openness of the Internet, protecting the freedoms of Internet users, and advancing data protection. The strategy also includes working with a range of partners, include the International Governance Forum, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Global Network Initiative.ICANN released guidance on the seizure or takedown of domain names. The thought paper describes the process of registering domain names and outlines questions that should be prepared in the process of requesting information about a domain or seeking removal.CopyrightBeginning July 12, Internet Service Providers in the United States will begin policing Internet traffic at the behest of the RIAA. The system will offer six strikes with penalties beginning with warnings and education and could result in termination of service. EFF cautions that the agreement lacks due process and does not offer protections to users who may be falsely accused.A New Zealand High Court has declared that the seizure of of Kim Dotcom and Megaupload’s asset was null and void, creating the possibility that founder could see his property returned. However, it is yet to be seen how U.S. authorities and what impact this could have on other file lockers. Additionally, a German court ruled that rapidshare must do more to monitor the types of files uploaded by end-users.In India a court has ordered ISPs to block access to 104 websites accused of offering pirated music. Torrent Freak reports that the enforcement will include DNS and IP filtering as well as deep packet inspection as a backup. Pinterest, a popular website where users can highlight interest in media such as photos of products address copyright concerns noting that the website is protected by safe harbors in the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and rights holders recognize the website’s value in driving traffic to other websites.A Brazilian performance rights organization tried to collect fees from bloggers, but met fierce objection from users. The organization finally admitted its “error.” In Germany the Internet community is protesting a draft law that would similarly require websites to pay media firms for content.ACTA, a trade agreement that has received significant backlash around the world for its overbroad approach to intellectual property enforcement, is facing significant resistance by the European Commission. Techdirt reports the agreement may no longer have sufficient votes.The Modern Poland Foundation, an organization that has pushed back against ACTA in Poland, has announced the Future of Copyright contest in order to develop ideas for a copyright system for the digital world.CybersecurityMore details on the Lulzsec hacker turned FBI informant have emerged including claims that Hector Xavier Monsegur, commonly known as Sabu, has been involved in computer attacks since the late 1990s. Reuters reports that Sabu’s involvement with the authorities has created created concerns in the hacktivist community.A new Linux distribution called Anonymous-OS, an operating system built on Ubuntu, was released. The build includes “research tools” that could be used to attack websites and raised concerns that the software could include malware.CompaniesMozilla CEO Gary Kovacs suggested in a conference that understanding how to use the Internet is a basic skill for government staff.Two of China’s most popular video sites, Youku and Tudou, have signed an agreement to merge, as China’s web consolidation continues.Wired explores the “Homeless Hotspots” program at SXSW, funded by a marketing firm called BBH Labs, and describes some of its problems.Yahoo! has filed a patent lawsuit against Facebook for what infringing on what Yahoo calls the “foundations of their business” which include patents Yahoo has on technologies for advertising, privacy, social networking, messaging and allowing users to customize their Web experience.Google has filed a patent which will allow the company to serve up ads based on background noise that can be heard on the cell phone.Arabic Twitter has launched and is welcomed by Arabs who want to communicate easier in Arabic through the platform.Cool thingsA new feature on the WordPress app on iOS will allow bloggers to upload photos directly from the Camera+ app to their blogs.The city of San Jose is planning to offer free wifi access throughout its downtown area, according to PC World. The city will pay for the cost of the network by helping the government’s work in the downtown area and encouraging the growth of small businesses.The file-sharing landscape is changing in response to the final Pirate Bay verdict and arrests in the MegaUpload case, pushing users to find more decentralized and anonymous sources – RetroShare is one such future-proof client, TorrentFreak says. In addition to darknets, the Pirate Bay is exploring creating a decentralized server system though low orbit GPS enabled drones, a project that has already been tested by a London based think tank.Creative Commons licenses are enabling partnerships of accredited universities, colleges and polytechnics to provide free learning for students worldwide with opportunities to formal academic credit.House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is promoting a new Facebook platform called “Citizen Cosponsor” which allows users to show their support of a bill and receive periodic updates on its status.Publications and studiesPetros Losifidis: Mapping Digital media: Digital Television, the Public Interest, and European RegulationLee Rainie and Aaron Smith: Social Networking Sites and PoliticsScott J. Shackelford: In Search of Cyber Peace: A Response to the Cybersecurity Act of 2012James Curran: Why Has Internet Changed So Little?A new study about mobile penetration in China found that the country’s rural population drove an annual 8 percent increase in mobile-only Web usage, which accounted for 38 percent of China’s Internet users in 2011.A report from the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) revealed that blocking VoIP and Peer to Peer traffic were two of the most common methods for the Internet Service Providers in Europe to manage Internet traffic.作者 Rebecca MacKinnon · 译者 Sue Wong · 阅读原文 en · 则留言 (0) 分享: HEMiDEMi · MyShare · Shouker · facebook · twitter · reddit · StumbleUpon · delicious · Instapaper本文由自动聚合程序取自网络,内容和观点不代表数字时代立场2012年4月19日 上午 12:20作者: Chinese Netizens分类: 网刊精选标签: 伊朗, 印度, 宪法, 网络审查, 网络监控 阅读所有评论 (0) 阅读所有评论 相关文章2012.06.24 孙骁骥 | 中国与印度的差距在哪2012.06.22 金融时报 | 印度正被中国甩在后面2012.06.19 法广 | 印度: 印度释放被囚的八名台湾男子和藏人高僧2012.06.19 中国向联合国提议审查互联网2012.06.18 法广 | 印度/藏人: 大宝法王亲密助手被捕涉巨额财产不明罪2012.06.14 中宣部:印度逮捕了8名中国公民2012.06.14 央廣 | 印度5月通膨升至7.55%2012.06.14 法广 | 印度/中国/台湾: 印度逮捕八名被误认为中国间谍的台湾人2012.06.13 明報 | 印度軍艦抵達上海訪問[16:38]2012.06.08 自由亚洲 | 印度藏人学子展开转经大游行声援自焚同胞 西藏流亡政府称关闭西藏不会解决危机(组图)2012.06.07 信息社会研究所: 网民权利通讯(总第十一期,2012年5月号)2012.06.07 中国新网络信息管理法或加强网禁2012.06.04 微博红人@作业本 因悼念六四账户遭封(附“检讨书”)2012.06.02 六四周年临近 新浪微博悄然撤下“蜡烛”表情2012.06.01 自由亚洲|新浪新规再阻微博言论 网民见招拆招突破钳制2012.05.31 中美宪法的几个不同2012.05.31 谷奥:Google.com.hk 为防止搜索关键字被墙使出绝学!2012.05.29 网站,审查,反动与其他2012.05.28 自由時報 | 抗衡中國 印度總理訪緬2012.05.25 国新办:美国严格限制互联网编辑推荐 在政府食堂吃饭被拘留 素颜格格:大明英烈传(三十六)大风波始末(十) 路透社:胡锦涛场内奢谈包容 场外警方狂喷胡椒镇压 商务部:供港物资特事特办 确保安全稳定 鑒定官員名錶,資料是否可靠?“花果山總書記”答問 真相与清算:有关李鹏日记、陈希同亲述 【纽约时报】朝鲜挑战中国耐心 王缉思:宽容的界限是“普世价值”——在学生毕业典礼上的讲话 唐人: 香港辛酸艱困十五載 更多 » 香港回归十五年 纪念“六四”二十三周年 重庆书记薄熙来被解职 盲人律师陈光诚 数字时代"真理部指令"项目 数字时代"敏感词开源研究"项目 数字时代"河蟹档案"项目 GFW Blog功夫网与翻墙 五毛大观 支持中国数字时代 – 买草泥马T恤衫! 精彩视频网络漫画真理部指令 黑龙江:“拉萨3.14打砸抢烧事件”专题 更多 »火帖回放: 卫报:中国的防火长城上的漏洞 美国之音 | 对比新闻 : 中国两会年年开,今年看点在薄王 回顾2011年重大群体事件 (百多图) 爱思想 | 沙叶新:吃饱了,撑着呢(上) 敏感词更新:“新京报”与“京华” 成新浪微博最新搜索敏感词 更多 »推荐网站GFW Blog功夫网与翻墙, 天安门母亲, 推特基地, 西厢导航, 译者, 突破网络审查, Oh My Media, GreatFire.org数字时代Google+(官方帐号)创作共用版权声明 电邮服务手机二维码关于我们订阅我们 […]

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