Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Cuban Bloggers Challenging Government Censorship
Cuban bloggers are using the web to challenge government control over freedom of expression. Here are a couple of examples of these "Blogueros Cubanos" [click on the British Flag icons for english translation.]:
Yoni Sanchez 's Generacion Y.
Miriam Celaya's sin EVAsión
Readings on Cuba & the Internet:
Claudia Cadelo, "Cuba: Bloggers Gather In Spite of the Challenges," Global Voices Online, January 1, 2009.
Edan Ring, "Cuba's next revolution," Haaretz, January 10, 2009.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), "Anyone can browse the Internet... unless they are Cuban," May 20, 2009.
Committee to Protect Journalists Special Report: "Chronicling Cuba, bloggers offer fresh hope," September 10, 2009.
Video on Cuban Bloggers & Internet Access in Cuba:
This Video was posted on YouTube and also on Reporters Without Borders shows a Cuban citizen trying to access the Internet at the hotel Melia Cohiba on May 9, 2009. The YouTube desciption attributes it to a cuban blogger, Yoni Sanchez of Generacion Y.
"Restricción del acceso a Internet para cubanos en el hotel Melia Cohíba"
Description posted on YouTube:
"Ayer sábado 9 de mayo, me fui al hotel Meliá Cohiba para comprobar si siguen las limitaciones de acceso a Internet para cubanos. Varios amigos me habían dicho que la medida limitadora se había echado atrás pero quería comprobarlo por mí misma. De manera que Reinaldo y yo fuimos e hicimos este pequeño video.
La turista que aparenta leer el Granma soy yo. Yoani Sánchez, Generacion Y."
Committee to Protect Journalists Video Report on Cuban Bloggers:
Blogueros Cubanos from Committee to Protect Journalists on Vimeo.
Yoni Sanchez 's Generacion Y.
Miriam Celaya's sin EVAsión
Readings on Cuba & the Internet:
Claudia Cadelo, "Cuba: Bloggers Gather In Spite of the Challenges," Global Voices Online, January 1, 2009.
Edan Ring, "Cuba's next revolution," Haaretz, January 10, 2009.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), "Anyone can browse the Internet... unless they are Cuban," May 20, 2009.
Committee to Protect Journalists Special Report: "Chronicling Cuba, bloggers offer fresh hope," September 10, 2009.
Video on Cuban Bloggers & Internet Access in Cuba:
This Video was posted on YouTube and also on Reporters Without Borders shows a Cuban citizen trying to access the Internet at the hotel Melia Cohiba on May 9, 2009. The YouTube desciption attributes it to a cuban blogger, Yoni Sanchez of Generacion Y.
"Restricción del acceso a Internet para cubanos en el hotel Melia Cohíba"
Description posted on YouTube:
"Ayer sábado 9 de mayo, me fui al hotel Meliá Cohiba para comprobar si siguen las limitaciones de acceso a Internet para cubanos. Varios amigos me habían dicho que la medida limitadora se había echado atrás pero quería comprobarlo por mí misma. De manera que Reinaldo y yo fuimos e hicimos este pequeño video.
La turista que aparenta leer el Granma soy yo. Yoani Sánchez, Generacion Y."
Committee to Protect Journalists Video Report on Cuban Bloggers:
Blogueros Cubanos from Committee to Protect Journalists on Vimeo.
Labels: blogging, Censorship, Cuba, Internet
Net Control: Resources for News about Internet Censorship around the World
Here are some of the best online resources for following the news about government censorship and surveillance:
OpenNet Initiative [Read "About ONI"] The ONI Newsreel compiles the latest news about internet censorship and surveillance from around the world.
Reporters Without Borders has an "Internet" page with all of the latest reports of internet censorship.
OpenNet Initiative [Read "About ONI"] The ONI Newsreel compiles the latest news about internet censorship and surveillance from around the world.
Reporters Without Borders has an "Internet" page with all of the latest reports of internet censorship.
Labels: Censorship, Internet, links, Net Control
People's Republic of the Grass Mud Horse?
A video of the "Grass Mud Horse Song" became a big hit in China in January of 2009. Some analysts have interpreted this song as a protest against censorship. According to Michael Wines,
"The grass-mud horse is an example of something that, in China’s authoritarian system, passes as subversive behavior. Conceived as an impish protest against censorship, the foul-named little horse has not merely made government censors look ridiculous, although it has surely done that.
It has also raised real questions about China’s ability to stanch the flow of information over the Internet — a project on which the Chinese government already has expended untold riches, and written countless software algorithms to weed deviant thought from the world’s largest cyber-community."You can read the rest of Michael Wines article here:
Michael Wines, “A Dirty Pun Tweaks China’s Online Censors,” New York Times, March 12, 2009.
Watch “The Song of ‘Grass Mud Horse (草泥马)’" Video (Warning Explicit Captions.)
More articles about the Grass Mud Horse:
Xiao Qiang, "Music Video: The Song of the Grass Mud Horse 《草泥马之歌》" China Digital Times, February 8, 2009.
Oiwan Lam, “China: More on Grass Mud Horse,” Global Voices Online, March 2, 2009.
Oiwan Lam, “China: Goodbye Grass Mud Horse,” Global Voices Online, March 18, 2009.
CNN Report explaining 'Grass Mud Horse' phenomenon, featuring Rebecca MacKinnon
Grass Mud Horse Cartoon Video on YouTube:
Labels: Censorship, China, Grass Mud Horse, Internet, Net Control
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Net Control: Chinese Internet Censorship
To keep up with the latest news about censorship in China start with the New York Times' Internet Censorship in China
Listen to Jane Macartney reporting from Beijing shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen square protests: "Chinese censors cut off Twitter, Hotmail and Flickr" (The Times of London, June 3, 2009.)
Rebecca MacKinnon teaches at Hong Kong University and writes about the internet at her blog RConversation. She is a great source for the latest discussion of what is going on in China:
Rebecca MacKinnon, "China's Censorship Arms Race Escalates" (CircleID, September 29, 2009.)
Listen to Jane Macartney reporting from Beijing shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen square protests: "Chinese censors cut off Twitter, Hotmail and Flickr" (The Times of London, June 3, 2009.)
Rebecca MacKinnon teaches at Hong Kong University and writes about the internet at her blog RConversation. She is a great source for the latest discussion of what is going on in China:
Rebecca MacKinnon, "China's Censorship Arms Race Escalates" (CircleID, September 29, 2009.)
Labels: Censorship, China, Net Control
