Is the era of free internet access coming to an end?
Showing all posts tagged internet
Keeping girls “pure”
Saudi Arabia is one of the most gender-separated nations on earth. The idea, suggested by some leading Saudi bloggers, to “segregate the blogrolls on blogs for the links of female and male Saudi bloggers”, is a sign of religious insanity. One female blogger explains: …A number of bloggers have separated the blogrolls and posted them…
Arrest, detain, torture, kill
How do blogs, new technology and good ol’ fashioned web activism help reporting in conflict zones? Discuss.
Communist Party enforcement
David Bandurski, Far Eastern Economic Review, July: They have been called the “Fifty Cent Party,” the “red vests” and the “red vanguard.” But China’s growing armies of Web commentators—instigated, trained and financed by party organizations—have just one mission: to safeguard the interests of the Communist Party by infiltrating and policing a rapidly growing Chinese Internet.…
The Beijing countdown continues
My following article appears in the Amnesty International Australia’s Uncensor campaign about human rights in China: It is time for Western human rights activists to pressure China in new ways, writes Antony Loewenstein With less than one month until the start of the Games, Beijing is trying to make itself more beautiful. Pollution is still…
Getting out the vote
Although blogs often simply reflect a person’s political bias, they also encourage greater political participation. Discuss.
Jewish self-love revealed
From fundamentalist Jews who fear progress: In unprecedented move, prominent Hasidic community allowed restricted internet use. ‘Internet has become popular but you should know many dangers lurk in it,’ community’s rabbi warns. A first-of-its-kind agreement between Belz Hasidic Court and the internet provider Rimon may soon enable Blez followers to subscribe to the “kosher” internet.…
I’ll blog it for free
Is blogging challenging the reign of serious critical writing in the mainstream media? (Hint: yes, and we should be pleased with this democratisation of opinions.)
The Algerian finger
The situation in Algeria: Any public concert in Algeria is organized by the Ministry of Culture, which has a monopoly on all professional concert equipment and large performance venues. The government also runs the country’s only official radio and TV stations. Some artists are thus not invited to perform, while others are blocked from singing…