· August, 2011

Stories about Feature from August, 2011

Venezuela: Troubles to access Blogger.com

  28 August 2011

During all the month of August, Venezuelan bloggers have been complaining about difficulties to access Blogger.com services. Citizens claim that, even when the problems have been profusely reported to CANTV (the main, government-owned, Venezuelan ISP), the company has not provided any answer, nor have they solved the issue.

China: State media's anti-rumor campaign

  20 August 2011

The state controlled national television China Central Television (CCTV) launched an attack on social media platform, such as Sina Weiblog [a micro-blogging platform similar to Twitter] earlier in August 2011 accusing the tool for spreading rumors and frauds online. Chinese netizens quickly reacted against the propaganda machine, questioned the political...

United Kingdom: Moves to police social media

  18 August 2011

Following the riots and looting in London and other parts of England last week, UK Prime Minister David Cameron  made a strong statement indicating his government is looking into the legal and technical means to limit access to Blackberry Messenger, even Twitter and Facebook to stop “violence”. So we are...

Iran: Blogger Freed After 25-day Hunger Strike

  16 August 2011

Dr. Mehdi Khazali, a blogger, publisher and son of a leading conservative cleric and former Council of Guardians member, Ayatollah Khazali, was released on bail from prison on Sunday after a 25-day hunger strike. The blogger has raised his voice against the Iranian government for the last two years, and...

Egyptian Activist Questioned by Military Prosecutor

  15 August 2011

The Egyptian activist and one of the founders of the April 6 Youth Movement, Asmaa Mahfouz, was investigated this Sunday by the military prosecution office on charges of defaming Egypt’s military rulers and calling for violence. The accusation of Asmaa was based on an earlier phone interview she had on...

Morocco: Militant Website Sustains DDoS Attack

  2 August 2011

The Moroccan militant website Mamfakinch! has come under a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack this Sunday blocking the access to its main platform for several hours. The website is now back online. What is Mamfakinch! and why has it been attacked?