Rayna St

PhD & Science Geek // writing in English, French, Bulgarian // author for GV Advocacy, GV Online, FutureChallenges // interested in Middle East politics & internet freedom // working to empower women in science & tech // former research associate at UNESCO // human rights activist // human being

My personal blog (science, personal opinions)
Randoms I see are captured here
I tweet here

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Latest posts by Rayna St

MENA Netizen Report: Porn Edition

  14 November 2012

Most of this month’s report was researched, edited, and written by Rayna St, Nermeen Edrees, and Hisham Almiraat. After a YouTube trailer named “The Innocence of Muslims” sparked a widespread wave of protests in the region earlier this year, various actions by MENA governments were undertaken to strictly regulate online...

Egypt: Online Porn, Here to Stay?

  9 November 2012

The ongoing battle over the future Egyptian constitution and the more-than-a-month long strike of Egyptian medical workers are among the most pressing issues in the country at the moment… or are they? The Public Prosecutor apparently decided the people needed more drama and announced Egypt would start blocking porn sites.

Egypt To Block Porn Sites… Again

  8 November 2012

On Wednesday, November 7, the Egyptian Public Prosecutor decided that online pornography was “inconsistent with Egyptian traditions and values.” He ordered a general ban of all porn sites in Egypt.

MENA Netizen Report: Blasphemy Edition

  15 October 2012

We continue our monthly exhaustive MENA Netizen Report with the current 'Blasphemy Edition.' It discusses the repressive online policies that ensued the turmoil caused by the YouTube movie 'The Innocence of Muslims." The report continues with an overview of various national policies and related thuggery cases.

MENA Netizen Report: We Won't Give Up

  14 September 2012

Our first edition of the MENA Netizen Report received an enthusiastic welcome from readers, demonstrating that this regionally-focused report fills an important gap. In addition to the usual sections, this month's edition contains a 'Worth reading' paragraph.

Middle East and North Africa Netizen Report: First Edition

  16 August 2012

In this first edition of the Middle East and North Africa Netizen Report, we look at various threats facing netizens in the region, from the widespread use of a surveillance tool called FinFisher to new censorship measures facing Jordanian Internet users. The edition also covers issues in Bahrain, Iraq, the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Syria, Morocco, and more.

Big Brother Awards Requite Privacy Invaders

  30 April 2012

The Big Brother Awards created by the organisation Privacy International in the United Kingdom to shame privacy invaders are now held in many countries across Europe and around the world. Germany held their 2012 ceremony only few weeks ago.

We the terrorists…?

  2 February 2012

This is how the FBI can consider everyone liking his/her online privacy. Katitza Rodrigez was depicting very finely and accurately the current state of privacy fights right before International Privacy Day. The latter was just few days ago, on 28th January. And here comes the FBI now with a very...

The Arms Race Over The Internet Rages Onward – part 1

  9 January 2012

2011's Chaos Computer Congress (CCC) was on his 28th edition named “Behind Enemy Lines”. The 28C3, as it is called for shortness, was thus constituted by a myriad of talks and workshops discussing what is to be behind enemy lines. To put it clearly, this idiom is quite ambiguous: for repressive governments, the freedom fighters are the enemy, and vice and versa.