At the end of February, the process of cutting down some 400 plane trees began on Belgrade's longest street, the Boulevard of King Alexander. The trees were planted there in the 19th century, and the tree-lined path represented one of the oldest and most beautiful green oases in the center of Belgrade. A municipal company Gradsko Zelenilo, which is in charge of all city parks and tree-lined paths, has announced plans for complete eradication of the trees on the boulevard, explaining that they were old and sick.

This action has caused protests of citizens and a lot of reactions by Belgrade’s writers, artists and other famous people in the press and on the internet. They expressed doubts that all the marked trees were sick. They fear it is yet another excuse for expansion of parking areas or another project that will be revealed only later, after the giant plane trees have been destroyed.

The director of Gradsko Zelenilo, Radovan Draskic, said that the cut had started and that citizens should be aware of the danger of sick trees left standing. The website Balkan Insight published his statement; here is part of it:

We chose this part of the boulevard because it has the most problems. Why? It isn't difficult to prove; when you look at the outside of the [trees], they look healthy, but studies have shown that they are rotting. You can see that a metre or two is healthy and then the rot starts.

A group of citizens who opposed the cut called for a petition to be launched. They sent a letter to the Belgrade mayor Dragan Đilas. Among other things, they wrote:

Besides aesthetic, historical and cultural significance, the trees, as you know, also clean the extremely polluted air in this neighborhood. There are engineers from the Faculty of Forestry and Horticulture among the signatories of our petition. The engineers believe that, contrary to the assertions of the director of Gradsko Zelenilo, the trees are not actually sick, as was the case with certain previous cuts.

A Facebook group titled REMEMBERING BELGRADE CHAIN SAW MASSACRE!!! already has more than 800 members. Here's the group's description:

Belgrade City Hall has cut down over 400 trees in the longest boulevard in the city.
They have given us some lame excuses about “sickness of the trees” But the truth is more ugly.
It is, as you may imagine all about… money

Dusan Pavlovic from the NGO Zeleni Srbije told Balkan Insight that such a decision was tragic, but that it was too late to change anything now:

This shouldn't have happened without consultations with relevant organisations and experts. Now that the damage is done it is too late to stop and therefore we will try to press the authorities to do what they promised to do afterwards, namely plant new trees.

Bloggers also reacted to the event.

Nune Popovic wrote:

[…] If plane trees are really sick and present danger to the lives of Belgrade’s citizens, as mayor Đilas said, and that some of the experts contested […], a logical question arises: why is the study by experts from the Faculty of Forestry […] not revealed? What is the obstacle for an open public discussion about the issue in which the international experts should be included too? […]

[…] Đilas’s behavior looks like he enjoys the requests that are sent to him to check the decision about the cut of plane trees, like Milosevic enjoyed in 1991. When Đilas, as a leader of student protest, asked him to do a favor to his people and withdraw from the power.

That’s why I suspect the decision that the plane trees should be cut is more sick than the trees whose cutting Đilas supports, and instead, it is in the public interest to make sure that everything possible is done so that the trees are treated and saved.

Blogger Srđan Mitrovic writes about the building plan for the Boulevard and explains why more people didn't join the protests:

[…] Sincerely speaking, I would be surprised to learn that any of those who live on the Boulevard participated in the protests. Probably, they can hardly wait for their buildings to be torn down, so that they can get money or square meters from investors [who have intention to make new buildings in the area].

Blogger Albicilla published a few photos from the cut of plane trees and invited citizens to gather next to the Vuk Monument in order to light candles for the trees:

Let's say good-bye to plane trees in a dignified way, with many honors and respects.
Let’s light candles on each venue of their merciless and unfair massacre.

Inviting all volunteers to gather themselves, today, on Sunday, March 7, next to the Vuk Monument, and bring candles, matches and cigarette lighters. […] Let’s send a picture into the world that we regret what's happened to our plane trees and that we are not monstrous killers. […]

Vladimir, a young man (25) from Belgrade’s area Braca Jerkovic, who calls himself as a “self-styled lawyer,” is on duty every night in order to save one of the plane trees in the Boulevard. He is also collecting citizens' signatures in order to petition the municipal authorities to start treating his plane tree. Blogger Albicilla, in another post, published Vladimir's explanation:

I am aware that there is a minimal chance that a plane tree, which is entered in the proposal under the number 191, will survive […]. It’s obvious that those who made a decision about it will go to the end. It is my initiative, no one stands behind me, only my plane tree. Though I don’t live on the boulevard, I can’t be idle. I am hurt when I see how plane trees disappear.

The latest Pew Internet & American Life Project report, “Understanding the Participatory News Consumer,”  examines how Americans are increasingly using their social networks and social networking technology to filter, assess, and react to news.

News consumption is a socially-engaging and socially-driven activity, especially online. The public is clearly part of the news process now. Participation comes more through sharing than through contributing news themselves. Getting news is often an important social act. Some 72% of American news consumers say they follow the news because they enjoy talking with others about what is happening in the world and 69% say keeping up with the news is a social or civic obligation. And 50% of American news consumers say they rely to some degree on people around them to tell them the news they need to know. Online, the social experience is widespread: ! 75% of online news consumers say they get news forwarded through email or posts on social networking sites and 52% say they share links to news with others via those means. ! 51% of social networking site (e.g. Facebook) users who are also online news consumers say that on a typical day they get news items from people they follow. Another 23% of this cohort follow news organizations or individual journalists on Pew Internet & American Life Project Understanding the Participatory News Consumer | 6 ! 75% of online news consumers say they get news forwarded through email or posts on social networking sites and 52% say they share links to news with others via those means. ! 51% of social networking site (e.g. Facebook) users who are also online news consumers say that on a typical day they get news items from people they follow. Another 23% of this cohort follow news organizations or individual journalists on social networking sites. Some 37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commentary about it, or dissemination of news via social media. They have done at least one of the following: commenting on a news story (25%); posting a link on a social networking site (17%); tagging content (11%), creating their own original news material or opinion piece (9%), or Tweeting about news (3%).

The report says:

“News consumption is a socially-engaging and socially-driven activity, especially online. The public is clearly part of the news process now. Participation comes more through sharing than through contributing news themselves.

“Getting news is often an important social act. Some 72% of American news consumers say they follow the news because they enjoy talking with others about what is happening in the world and 69% say keeping up with the news is a social or civic obligation. And 50% of American news consumers say they rely to some degree on people around them to tell them the news they need to know. Online, the social experience is widespread:

• 75% of online news consumers say they get news forwarded through email or posts on social networking sites and 52% say they share links to news with others via those means.
• 51% of social networking site (e.g. Facebook) users who are also online news consumers say that on a typical day they get news items from people they follow.
• Another 23% of this cohort follow news organizations or individual journalists on on social networking sites and 52% say they share links to news with others via those means.
• 51% of social networking site (e.g. Facebook) users who are also online news consumers say that on a typical day they get news items from people they follow.
• Another 23% of this cohort follow news organizations or individual journalists on social networking sites.

Some 37% of internet users have contributed to the creation of news, commentary about it, or dissemination of news via social media. They have done at least one of the following: commenting on a news story (25%); posting a link on a social networking site (17%); tagging content (11%), creating their own original news material or opinion piece (9%), or Tweeting about news (3%).

Public anger continues to spread following the incident which saw governor of Hubei province Li Hongzhong [de] snatch a recording device out of the hands of reporter Liu Jie in between sessions at the ongoing Lianghui.

Taking their cue from a speech from Prime Minister Wen Jiabao leading up to the Lunar New Year about people's need for greater dignity and another last week calling for greater public supervision of the government, journalists, academics and others from across the country have launched a petition demanding Li Hongzhong's resignation.

This follows growing, since rejected, demand since the incident for an apology from Li, perhaps most notably in a March 8 editorial (now harmonious) from Caijing magazine, ‘Would Governor Li please apologize?”. Sophie Beach at China Digital Times has a thorough roundup of the various facets to the story so far.

“This ‘Two Sessions’ recorder is stealing-, grabbing- and governor-proof, perfect for you female reporters…”

The petition was launched Saturday morning with a number of prominent names and over 200 signatories in total by the latest tally; the number keeps growing on a Google Buzz thread, where an English translation of the petition has appeared, reading in part:

In their many weighty opinions on this matter, those from both the news and academic worlds speak now with the same voice, having found, in the shared shame this incident has brought upon them, the resolve to unite in condemning the terrific impact the Li Hongzhong incident has had. Regardless of your medium, be that newspaper, magazine, television, radio or microblog, or be you journalist from north or south, please do not hesitate in your resolve to continue reporting this story as it develops, as this is a battle for all of our rights.

We look to news workers to raise your arms and voice your concerns, at the same time that we welcome citizens to second the points made within this petition. Our tolerance has run its length and extends no further. People need to be reminded that journalists still exist in this world, as well as to be reminded what being a journalist means; more importantly, people need to know that their civil rights still belong to them and them alone. Having witnessed senior official Li's rage, the time has now come for him to see and hear the fury of the news media profession and how far that fury has now spread.

Beijing-based writer, blogger, publisher and Twitter fiend Mo Zhixu offers a bit more perspective on the backlash against Li:

12:38 AM Mar 12th 我觉得吧，省长抢笔事件在推特上也不要太追究了，说到底这事情跟新闻自由也没多大关系，不过是地方大员藐视了一哈中央媒体权威，如果两会自由采访，抢笔事件才与自由言论有关吧

I think with this Governor Li pen recorder-snatching incident, people here on Twitter shouldn't take it too far. All in all, this doesn't really have too much to do with press freedom, it's just a matter of a local government big shot being contemptuous of the authority of central government media. If there were in fact press freedom at Lianghui, then snatching someone's pen recorder would have something to do with freedom of speech.

12:39 AM Mar 12th 没日人民报的证件，连被抢的资格都没有，所以，这事件提升到新闻自由的高度，我看也不靠谱

If you don't carry People's Daily ID, then you don't even qualify to have your recording equipment snatched away. Which is why I think it's way off-base to play this up into an incident of press freedom [infringement]

1:04 AM Mar 12th 我并没有说不应该关注抢笔事件，我只是强调，这事情跟新闻自由关系不大。通过掩盖当下媒体的权力属性，将这个事件包装成新闻自由事件，在我看来是不成立的

I'm not saying attention shouldn't be paid this pen recorder-snatching incident, I'm only emphasizing that it doesn't have much concern with press freedom. It's hard to make that case if you deny the power that [certain] media currently have and repackage this as a press freedom incident

Fox News published a story entitled Saudi Bloggers Shatter the Kingdom's Silence and Censorship. The SUSRIS Blog discusses what went wrong.

The Internet is the tool most feared today by the elites, the media and by the power. It empowers those who otherwise would remain forgotten, oppressed. It is a weapon that gives ammo to those who are protesting for justice, equality and freedom and that shakes the structures of the state – and of companies – which sees no other choice but to censor.

– Brazilian blogger and Global Voices author Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

Today marks the World Day Against Cyber Censorship, an initiative promoted by global NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in support of a single Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to all.   The day will hopefully inspire Internet users to increase their own awareness of online censorship, which is something that many Global Voices authors know all too well.

GV author Lina Ben Mhenni is one such blogger.  She lives in Tunisia, which has been named by RSF as an “enemy of the Internet” several years in a row.  In her own blog, she writes:

Do you know how does it feel to be censored?

Well, I do !
Indeed, I am experiencing this DISGUSTING feeling since February, 24th 2010. That day, back home from work, I was so disappointed when I discovered the horrible “Error 404″ message- a message that stands for a censored web page in my country- when I tried to log in my Facebook and my blog.

Diego Casaes, a Brazilian GV author who wrote this post on the subject linking to bloggers around the world and highlighting Global Voices' many projects, wrote his own prescription for how governments should deal with the Internet on his blog:

I also think that governments should be encouraged not to regulate, but rather give the proper infra-structure and educate people on how to use the web. This way, citizens will trust the government and be able to freely express themselves on the web: this is of utmost importance! On this matter, I also think companies should become  more aware of their influence in society. Google’s decision not to regulate search results in China after having some Human Rights activists’ accounts hacked (follow this link for more information) is a demonstration of  how companies should position themselves.

Today is the World Day Against Cyber Censorship

On his blog, Moroccan GV author Hisham answers the question, “What does anti-censorship mean online?”:

In my humble opinion it means protecting what in some countries has become the last frontier of freedom of expression, which is at the core of all other freedoms; the last place where people can still escape restrictions of oppressive regimes. It means using blogs, videos, pictures, social networks, podcasts and the innumerable tools available online to mobilize people around a cause, expose rights abuses, communicate local struggles and causes to the rest of the world, give voices to the disenfranchised and the minority groups, hold governments accountable, investigate and reveal the truth.

Pakistan is not considered an “Internet enemy,” but its online censorship often affects bloggers heavily. Of his country, GV Advocacy author Awab Alvi writes:

It is my position that the internet should be free and open to the People of Pakistan allowing the people to harness this boundless platform for creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet should be considered as a force for freedom and looked upon as a tool for progressing the growth of a struggling nation.

Lebanon is not engaged in filtering the Internet, but that doesn't stop Layal Al Khatib from speaking out about it on her blog.  This is what being anti-censorship means to her:

Freedom! Our most basic right as human beings! We need to be free to express our feelings, thoughts and opinions with no fear of anyone! Censorship by other parties usually ends up with self-censorship, you’ll end up imprisoning yourself if they don’t do it themselves! Which is more dangerous to me..

Lingua Malagasy translator Tomavana notes that in Madagascar, the problem is not necessarily filtering, but access, reminding us [FR] that censorship is not the only barrier to free expression:

Quant à évoquer cette liberté d’expression à Madagascar, c’est invariablement buter à la réalité des manques de moyens communs aux pays en développement….De plus, avec un taux d'utilisation d'internet de moins de 5% de la population, il s'agit plus d'un avantage supplémentaire que monnaie une minorité de privilégié plutôt que de véritable droit. Je formule cependant le vœu que ces dérives ne puissent servir de prétexte à un musèlement ni une censure d'Internet à Madagascar mais qu'au contraire son accès soit facilité pour le plus grand nombre notamment par une amélioration de l'offre internet accompagnée à une baisse des coûts de connexions.

As for talk of freedom of expression in Madagascar, is invariably up against the reality of lack of resources common to developing countries….Moreover, with a rate of Internet penetration rate of less than 5% of the population, it is more of an advantage to a privileged, moneyed minority rather than an issue of actual law. But I hope that these deviations will not be used as a pretext for MUZZLING or censorship of the Internet in Madagascar but to provide easy access for many, as well as improvement of the Internet, accompanied by declining cost of connecting.

Internet censorship is still a major issue in many countries worldwide. With that in mind, the Paris-based international organization Reporters without Borders (RSF) is promoting its yearly World Day Against Cyber Censorship on March 12th. On the occasion, RSF issued its latest list of “Enemies of the Internet“, where China, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Tunisia are among the most prominent examples of countries censoring the web.

Reporters Without Borders will celebrate World Day Against Cyber Censorship on 12 March. This event is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to all. It is also meant to draw attention to the fact that, by creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom. However, more and more governments have realised this and are reacting by trying to control the Internet.

World Day Against Cyber Censorship Around the Web

Jordanian blogger Naseem Tarawnah on Black Iris urged people to join an online rally for free speech. He says that over the past years there are traces that suggest the country is inclining to tough times for internet users, especially because there are “designs that the government may be planning to implement a “Cyber Law” to regulate the online world“. He calls on Twitter users:

For my fellow tweeps, I can only ask that you come together to tweet those posts produced by the blogosphere, or tweet your own messages in support of a free internet. Perhaps we can use the single hashtag of #FreeNetJo to unite our tweets.

And as Ramy Raoof outlined on Global Voices Advocacy:

Do you believe in Freedom of Speech?

Do you think its normal to be profiled or tracked while being online?!

Do you think it’s your right to enjoy uncensored Internet search & blogging?

Do you believe in Freedom of Information? Right to Access Information?

Do you want to defend an Internet without restrictions and accessible to everyone at anytime and anywhere?

Support the World Day against Cyber-Censorship, 12 March…

Spread the Word!

Global Voices contributor Archana Verma has written a post with thoughts and opinions from the Hindu blogosphere on freedom of speech and censorship. She adds:

India doesn't fall in the category of “Internet Black-Holes,” hence Hindi web-writers haven't written much on it because they haven't faced this problem. However, there are some Hindi bloggers who have reflected on press-freedom from different angles.

On Global Voices Online, we're committed to raising voices that often go unheard by traditional and mainstream media. We know that many governments do not allow its citizens to use the web openly and freely, often practicing censorship and regulating content. Below we can see some of Global Voices' projects to promote freedom of speech, cyber-activism and transparency online.

Global Voices Advocacy

Global Voices Advocacy is where we seek to build a global anti-censorship network of bloggers and online activists throughout the developing world that is dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online. In this website, you'll have access to a myriad of projects that intend to help people fighting censorship on the web, as well as to blog anonymously in areas where internet users are often harassed by the government.

Threatened Voices

Threatened Voices is a collaborative mapping project to build a database of bloggers who have been threatened, arrested or killed for speaking out online and to draw attention to the campaigns to free them. So far, Threatened Voices has already tracked 213 cases of arrested or threatened bloggers, such as the one of Ahmad Mostafa, an engineering student at the University of Kafr el-Sheikh –the first Egyptian blogger to stand before a military court because of his blogging.

Technology for Transparency Network

On the other side of the coin, from Rising Voices, the Technology for Transparency Network, a new interactive website to track online initiatives that promote transparency, accountability, & civic engagement around the world is an example of how freedom of speech can help monitoring governments and deliver correct and non-regulated information to citizens of developing world, as well as observing politicians movements and actions.

On the website, Renata Avila, a human rights lawyer and blogger in Guatemala, has presented the case of #InternetNecesario from Mexico, an online protest on Twitter and other social networks to fight a tax on the Internet issued by Mexico's Congress. This movement is an example of how a non-censored internet can empower citizens to fight for their rights.

As Venezuelan blogger in Paris, Laura Vidal states in her comment review:

This project is an example of how civil society agrees to organize and reunite efforts to respond to a government that acts without consulting, and a press that doesn’t connect the public opinion with the leaders of the country.

Breaking Borders

Finally, Global Voices and Google's Breaking Borders Award is a new prize created by both organizations and supported by Thomson Reuters to honor outstanding web projects initiated by individuals or groups that demonstrate courage, energy and resourcefulness in using the Internet to promote freedom of expression. The prize will honor work in three categories: tools that promote freedom of expression, outstanding work on policy and activism or journalism that contributed an important voice or argument - each awarded with USD $10,000. Results of the award will be made public in May, during the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2010.

–
On this important date for the Internet, we hope for people to urge for change. To fight against censorship and to raise awareness on the importance of a free digital environment. For more highlights on the struggle for freedom of speech on the web visit our page on this subject.

RealNetworks Chairman Rob Glaser thinks that the future of media is in information consumed on “superphones” on the go.

In this world he sees five big opportunities:

1. People want digital persistence: They have an expectation that their content will be available everywhere at any point in time.
2. People want universal access to content across all devices.
3. The industry needs to make discovery easy, which means once people have access to digital content, they need to be able to find their stuff and new stuff they will like using semantic data.
4. There will be new ways to empower social expression and engagement, much in the same way Twitter created a new category of expression and a way to communicate.
5. The digital revolution will be a global phenomenon.

On the occasion of the World Day Against Cyber Censorship being celebrated by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders (RSF) on the 12th of March, netizens across the world are realizing that even in this age internet is not free from restrictions on freedom of expression - a basic human right, which in many parts of the world is being encroached upon by those in power. RSF intends to “rally everyone in support of a single Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to all”.

Internet-surveillance trends around the world are both interesting and surprising. According to the Reporters without Borders, Saudi Arabia is definitely a high internet-surveillance zone. This is one of the few issues on which Saudi Arabia stands together with Iran and Tunisia! The 13 countries that control and block the Internet, including North Korea which entirely controls ownership of the internet-connected computers to a selected few, are – Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The RSF call these countries Internet's Black-Holes.

Image Courtesy - Reporters Without Borders/Internet's Black-Holes

The Reporters without Borders not only identify the countries that block Internet, they have devised a rating of the degree of censorship And the trends are surprising:

• Where do you think the Internet access has no censorship?
  No, it’s not in the North America and the Europe, but in large parts of Africa, parts of South America, Mexico and the Caribbean and in Mongolia!
• Is Australia a free Internet-access zone?
  No, it’s under heavy surveillance – the same degree as in Algeria, Tunisia, Yemen and parts of South-East Asia!
• What about the rest of the world, including the democracies of North America, Europe and India? They are under some censorship, but largely people have a free Internet-access.

India doesn't fall in the category of “Internet Black-Holes,” hence Hindi web-writers haven't written much on it because they haven't faced this problem. However, there are some Hindi bloggers who have reflected on press-freedom from different angles. I reproduce some of their thoughts below:

Mr. Mysterious from Jeddah writes on his Hindi blog about bloggers being imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for talking about human rights violation:

समाचार एजेंसी डीपीए ने 32 वर्षीय फौद अल-फरहान के हवाले से बताया कि पेशे से तकनीकी विशेषज्ञ और मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ता फौद ब्लाग लिखने के जुर्म में पिछले तीन महीने से कारावास में है।
फौद के अनुसार बिना किसी पुख्ता सबूत के और बिना कारण बताए उन्हे गिरफ्तार कर लिया गया। गिरफ्तारी से ठीक पहले अपने ब्लाग पर उन्होंने सऊदी अरब के उन दबंग व्यक्तित्वों के बारे में लिखा था जो उन्हे बेहद नापसंद है। इनमें अरबपति राजकुमार वालिद बिन तलाल और कई नामी मौलवियों के नाम शामिल थे।
सऊदी अरब में ब्लागर्स की इस गिरफ्तारी के खिलाफ बहुत सी आवाजें उठ रही है। ब्लागर्स पर चलाए जा रहे न्यायिक मामलों के बावजूद उनके परिवार वाले और मानवाधिकार संगठन इस मनमानी का डट कर मुकाबला कर रहे है।

News Agency DPA reported about 32 years old technician and human rights activitist Faud-al-Farhan who was imprisoned by the authorities for the “crime” of expressing his ideas on is blog. According to Faud he was arrested without any strong evidence and withou informing him about any reason. Just before his incarceration, he had blogged about those high-level personalities whom he didn't like such as the billionaire Prince bin-Talal and some powerful clerics. There are many voices raised in Saudi Arabia against these imprisonments of bloggers. Despite the court cases being conducted against bloggers, their families and human rights activists are fighting against these bloggers.

Rachna Verma has commented in her Hindi blog on the freedom of expressions and the behaviour of the mediapersons in India, who misuse their freedom of expression to keep themselves in powerful position:

दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा लोकतंत्र हमारा देश और उससे भी बढ़कर उसके नागरिकों को प्राप्त अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता का अधिकार और इसके साथ ही कार्यपालिका, व्यवस्थापिका और न्यायपालिका पर नजर रखने के लिए बना चौथा स्तम्भ यानि मीडिया॥ अभिव्यक्ति का सशक्त माध्यम , लेकिन अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता का पुरजोर बना यह चौथा स्तम्भ ही इस अधिकार पर पक्षपातपूर्ण रवैया अपना रहा है॥ यहां ये साफ कर देना जरूरी है कि यह केवल मेरा अनुभव और व्यक्तिगत राय है॥ हो सकता है कई लोग मेरी इस बात से इत्तेफाक न रखते हो, लेकिन वहीं है ना अभिव्यक्ति है, इसलिए इस अधिकार का प्रयोग करना एक जागरूक नागरिक होने के नाते मैं जरूरी समझती हूं॥

Our country is the largest democracy in the world and more important than that is the freedom of expression granted to its citizens and the Fourth Pillar i.e., the media that has the obligation to keep an eye on the activities of the legislature, the judiciary and the executive. However, media - this strong proponent of the freedom of expression - itself is misusing its freedom of expression in a biased manner. I want to clarify that this is my personal opinion and perhaps many people don't agree with me but I have the freedom to express my opinion and I feel it is essential for me to exercise this right as a conscious citizen.

Another Hindi blog bhadas4media celebrates the lesson taught by the reporters in Gujarat to the Chief Minister Modi's government's attempt to curb the freedom of the press by restricting their entry into government hospitals - a move which was strongly opposed by the reporters and it had to be retracted by the government:

गुजरात के सरकारी अस्पतालों में पत्रकारों के प्रवेश पर लगी पाबंदी जबरदस्त विरोध के बाद सोमवार को हटा ली गई। पत्रकारों ने सरकार के इस आदेश के खिलाफ विधानसभा की कार्यवाही का बहिष्कार किया और सचिवालय में भी हंगामा मचाया। इसके बाद स्वास्थ्य मंत्री जयनारायण व्यास ने इस आदेश को वापस ले लिया और बुधवार को पत्रकारों से चर्चा के बाद ही इस पर कोई फैसला लेने की घोषणा की।

स्वास्थ्य विभाग के उपसचिव आई.एम. कुरैशी ने 2 फरवरी 2010 को एक परिपत्र जारी कर गुजरात के सरकारी अस्पतालों में पत्रकारों के प्रवेश पर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया था। उन्होंने बताया कि मीडिया में कई बार तथ्यविहीन व गलत समाचार दिखाए और प्रकाशित किए जाते है जिससे प्रशासन की छवि धूमिल होती है। अहमदाबाद में नाराज पत्रकारों ने सिविल अस्पताल परिसर में धरना दिया और सरकारी आदेश की होली जलाकर अपना विरोध जताया।

The order to restrict the entry of the reporters into the government hospitals was taken back following strong protests from the press. The reorters abstained from the proceedings of the Lagislative Assembly in Gujarat and also protested in the Secretariat. Following this, the Health Minister took this order back. (The order) had alleged that the media often shows and publishes baseless news which tarnish the image of the government…The mediapersons protested against this and burnt the copies of the official report.

This blog-post supports the protest of the press which resulted in the order being taken back by the Gujarat government by titling the post as “Mediapersons Teach a Lesson to the Autocratic Officials of Modi.”

BBC Hindi News service had also reported the Google Debate in China early this year -

इंटरनेट सर्च कंपनी गूगल ने कहा है कि वो चीन में अपना कामकाज समेट सकती है क्योंकि चीनी मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ताओं के ईमेल कथित तौर पर हैक किये जा रहे हैं…

हैकिंग

वेबसाइट पर हमला करने वालों का प्रमुख लक्ष्य था मानवाधिकार कर्मियों के जीमेल अकाउंट को हैक करना

डेविड ड्रमोंड, गूगल के अधिकारी…

कंपनी की तरफ से जारी किये बयान में डेविड ड्रमोंड ने कहा, “वेबसाईट पर हमला करने वालों का प्रमुख लक्ष्य था मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ताओं के जीमेल एकाउंट को हैक करना.”…

कंपनी को जांच के बाद इस बात की जानकारी मिली है कि कम से कम दो जीमेल एकाउंट को हैक किया गया.

गूगल ने कहा है कि अमरीका, चीन और यूरोपीय देशों के उन लोगों के दर्जनों जीमेल एकाउंट को किसी तीसरी पार्टी ने खोलकर देखा, जो ‘चीन में मानवाधिकार' के हिमायती थे…

गूगल का ये भी कहना है कि इस तरह कि हैकिंग कि घटनाएं कम से कम 20 और कंपनियों के साथ भी हुईं हैं.

Google has said that it can wind up its business in China, since the Gmails of the human rights activists in China are being hacked by the government officials…Google has said that Gmails of dozens of human rights workers from America, Europe and China have been opened by a third party. Google also said that hacking incidents such as these have also happened with at least 20 more companies as well.

For a profile of Tunisia and its comparison with Saudi Arabia, please see my blog-post, where I have discussed the issue, apart from its interesting social profile.

The sharp contrast between these two countries does not make them see eye to eye with each other. They are not on the best of terms. However, freedom of expression is one arena where they seem to stand together, though not by design.

As information like these are emerging, people are raising their voice against the censorship and it is important to support these voices. We need to inform, connect and empower these people to defend an Internet without restrictions and make it accessible to everyone.

A recent decision by the United States Treasury Department to open up closed societies to American technology companies was met, at least for the first few hours, with radio silence in Cuba.

Treasury's intention is to “make sure the information flows,” under the assumption that “it will have political implications in a range of ways.” But the minimal reaction online is indicative of one of the biggest obstacles to this effort: social media works best with internet access.

According to the International Telecommunications Union, only 13 percent of Cubans have access to the web, while the other two countries subject to the ruling, Iran and Sudan, have 31 and 10 percent of their populations on the web, respectively.

Sentiments trickling out of the Cuban blogosphere — including blogs both from the island and from its diaspora–underscore this point. “This will be for the personal use of the dictators, because you aren't allowed to have internet in Cuba,” comments El Colmo at Diario de Cuba.

Juan Rodriguez, also at Diario de Cuba, adds:

La dictadura militar cubana nunca dejara que el pueblo cubano tenga servicios de internet en sus casas:Desde que se implanto la dictadura ‘revolucionaria' de Fidel Castro, al pueblo cubano le han bloqueado los accesos a las fuentes internacionales de informacion…ellos saben que mantener desinformado al pueblo cubano garantiza la sobrevivencia de la propia dictadura.

The Cuban military dictatorship will  never let Cuban people have internet service at home: Since the introduction of Fidel Castro's ‘revolutionary' dictatorship, access to international sources of information has been blocked for Cubans…they know that keeping the Cuban people uninformed ensures the survival of the dictatorship itself.

Lack of access isn't the only factor that may be muting Cuban reaction to the easing of restrictions. As Havana Times writes:

If these countries actually desire to use U.S. internet companies is another subject.

And, taking the prospect of anti-American sentiment a step further, Cuba Journal writes in a post titled “The Arrogance of it All”: 

I say that the new rules will make it possible for the imperialists to communicate better with the mercenaries that they hire inside those three countries.

Stateside, US-Cuba policy blogger Phil Peters praises the decision, saying: 

This is progress; the regulations are catching up to the Secretary of State’s speech on Internet freedom. 

And Bloggings by Boz tweets:

The US lifted all restrictions on internet providers doing business with Cuba. They don't have that excuse anymore.

While it may be difficult to argue against a set of clear and transparent rules for what companies like Google and Yahoo can and cannot do within other nations, this step forward seems to have merely highlighted the lack of larger scale changes that many Cubans and Cuban-Americans may be hoping for.

The thumbnail image used in this post is by manfrys, used under a Creative Commons license. Visit manfrys' flickr photostream.

JanJan, Japan Alternative news for Justices and NewCultures, Japan’s most popular news website based entirely on citizen journalism is about to suspend publication.

At the end of March, the Japanese version of Ohmy News, launched in 2002 and following in the footsteps of its Korean counterpart, will shut up shop. It may be reopened in future, perhaps with a more up-to-date business model.

Many regular readers who received notice from JanJan explaining the decision to suspend the service, have expressed their discontent. Praising the website’s original intent to provide an alternative coverage of issues that major Japanese media fail to cover and to offset the power of entrenched institutions such as the notorious kisha clubs or press clubs.

Devoted readers, like aoki0104, also are worried about the interruption to the portal Za Senkyo (ザ・選挙, The Elections), a complete and regularly updated database with information on politicians and elections throughout the whole country.

市民記者制度を日本ではじめて導入したインターネット新聞であるJANJANから休刊のお知らせがメールで届いた。休刊理由は社会環境の変化や広告収入の減少による経営悪化などとのこと。運営にどの程度のコストがかかるのか知りたいところ。人件費はもちろんのこと、サーバーの維持管理費などの固定的経費を考えるとまとまった額が必要なのだろうけど。特にザ・選挙の閲覧ができなくなるのが痛い。例えば、更新をおこなう必要はないのでどこかの研究機関がせめてデータだけでも引き継げるといいのだけど。過去の選挙データを無料で閲覧できるのは大変有難かった。結局、利用するユーザを巻き込んで支える仕組みをつくれなかったのが敗因なのかな。

I got an email from JanJan, the first internet newspaper to introduce the concept of citizen journalism in Japan, saying that it’s going to suspend publication. The reason seems to be the progressive worsening of the business due to changes in the social environment and reduction of ad revenues. Of course, the personnel and the server maintenance require fixed expenses but I’d like to know more about the management costs. What I am most concerned about is not being able to consult the section “Za Senkyo”. It would have been nice if they could pass the data on to a research institute, even if it wasn't going to be updated. In the past, it was so helpful that I could check election data for free.
Finally, I wonder if the cause of their failure is the fact that they were unable to create a platform that would involve the users more.

‘Note: JanJan will be temporarily suspended' appeared on the JanJan home page.

Also Nishi Hiroshi, a politician from Ibaraki prefecture is a big fan of “Za Senkyo” and JanJan in general.

インターネットの解禁も近くなりつつあるこの時期に、それを牽引してきた貴重なサイトが無くなってしまうという事は本当に残念で仕方がありません。

In an era when there almost all information is available on the internet, it’s really a pity that a website that was one of the most valuable pioneers is going to disappear.

[…]

現職の国会議員や一部の自治体議員についての一覧サイトなどは他にもありますが、全自治体の選挙結果や全ての候補者まで一覧で分かりやすく紹介しているサイトは他にはありません。唯一の貴重な存在だったのです。
それだけに運営する側としては大変なご苦労をされてきたのでしょうけれど…逆に言えばその蓄積は大きな財産であるのは間違いありません。
『ザ・選挙～JANJAN全国政治家デ ータベース』の部分については、最近選挙について積極的になりつつあるYahoo!や楽天とかがスポンサーになってくれないものでしょうかね…。
道のりは険しいでしょうけれど、どうにか復刊（継続）して欲しいサイトです。

Of course there are other sites where it is possible to obtain info on incumbent parliamentarians and officers of local government but there’s no site like this where it’s so easy to find the election results of all the local governments and candidates.
I guess that it must be very hard to manage all that but on the other hand, such a large accumulation of data has tremendous value.
Couldn't Yahoo! or Rakuten sponsor a part of Za Senkyo – JanJan National Politicians Database, since they have both been so proactive during the recent elections…?
I know it’s a difficult path but I really hope the site will be published again or continued somehow.

Learning of the interruption to a media site which relies on nearly 8,000 citizen journalists some bloggers speculated about the cause of it.
Parsley indicates as a possible cause the poor quality of the coverage due to the nature of citizen journalism and the lack of quality control on the content.

　結局のところ、ユーザー個々が良質と見做したコンテンツを検索エンジンで探したり、RSSリーダーに登録したり、iGoogleに登録したりして、自分 なりのプラットフォームをカスタマイズ出来る時代に、メディア自体をプラットフォームとして構築すること自体が時代遅れなのだろう。ユーザー側にアプロー チするためには、いかに良質なコンテンツを多く抱えているか、ということに注力しなければならない中、クオリティコントロールをまったく念頭に置いてこな かった市民参加メディアをどのようにこれからの反面教師としていくのかがポイントとなっていくのだろう。

At the end of the day, now that individual users can search for good quality content, using RSS fees or iGoogle and customize their platform as they like, I find it very out-of-date the idea of building a media site as a platform. In order to attract users, it is a must to focus on constantly providing content with excellent quality. The next step will be to see how much can be learned from a citizens media project that gave no thought to quality control.

Blogger toru_loves_you suggests that licensing its contents under Creative License would somehow have saved JanJan.

乱の末に消えてしまったOhmyNewsから1年近く．
ついに市民メディアの代表格だったJANJANが休刊を迎えることになった．
技術的な遅れ，報道の自主性の広がりが理由に挙がるが，1番の原因は広告収入の減収のようだ．
最近は折込ができるフリーペーパーが増えてきたが，Netの世界ではその実体のなさが命取りになったのだと思う．
手元まで届くかどうかの信頼性というのはやはり大きい．

It’s been only one year or so since Ohmy News disappeared.
And now also JanJan that was the representative of citizen media is going to suspend its publication.
They said that the reasons are out-of-date technology and the increasing independence of people from the media but the first cause is the decrease in advertising income.
Recently free papers with inserts are increasing but the lack of substance on the web is a fatal flaw in my opinion.
In particular, the credibility that stems from being able to hold something in your hand is what makes the difference.

後，広げた風呂敷が大き過ぎたのか，お金がかかるシステムに依存してしまって，休業せざるを得ないというのはもったいない話だ．
今年にはドメインも変わってしまったし，一体，何をしていたのだろうか．
この手のことはCreative Commonsライセンスの元で発展すれば良かったのにと思う．[…]
Creative Commonsライセンスを拒否することは一瞬で簡単にできてしまうが，その傷は徐々に徐々に大きくなる．

Too much dependence on a costly system has inevitably resulted in business failure and this is a pity.
This year the domain changed…what happened, I wonder?
I also think that they should have developed the whole system under a Creative Commons License.[…]
It takes only a split second to say no to such a license, but the loss stemming from that mistake gets bigger and bigger with every passing day.

Finally, harsh is the criticism to JanJan by blogger Ampontan in his accurate and illuminating review of the Japanese media landscape.

The publication, whose slogan was, “Citizens’ media by the citizens for the citizens,” has been around for seven years. They say ad revenue has fallen so drastically the enterprise is now unsupportable.
They’re probably telling the truth about the ad revenue, but they’re not telling us why the ad revenue dried up. Here’s a possibility—the site content wasn’t worth reading. The name JanJan is short for Japan Alternative News for Justices and New Cultures, and I’ll pause a second for everyone to roll their eyes. The articles on the site are just as ploddingly earnest and poorly written as one might gather from that title.
Their one good idea was to compile a database on the nation’s politicians, but only an extreme policy wank or political otaku would have found it useful.
Now, if the citizens had managed to dig up information such as the following [i.e. DPJ Secretary-General Ozawa's practice to buy journalists], it might have turned out differently for them.

Hal Varian, Chief Economist for Google, says, “online news reading is predominately a labor time activity while offline news reading is primarily a leisure time activity. One of the big challenges facing the news industry is increasing involvement with the news during leisure hours, when readers have more time to look at both news content and ads.”

“In my view, the best thing that newspapers can do now is experiment, experiment, experiment. There are huge cost savings associated with online news. Roughly 50% of the cost of producing a physical newspaper is in printing and distribution, with only about 15% of total costs being editorial. Newspapers could save a lot of money if the primary access to news was via the internet.
“New tablet computers like the Kindle, iPad, and Android devices may encourage people to read online news at home in the comfort of their easy chairs. At Google, we certainly don’t think we have all the solutions, but we are definitely keen on working with the news industry to help it attract bigger audiences and generate more ad revenue. Experiments like Fast Flip, Living Stories and Starred Stories may help pull together the at-work and at-home access to the news. Online news access on handheld device like cell phones and tablets is likely to be quite different from traditional newspapers reading, with much more multimedia content, interactivity and reader involvement. The transition to a fully online news will be difficult, but there’s a good chance that we will emerge with a significantly more compelling user experience.

The one year death anniversary of blogger and journalist Omid Reza Mir Sayafi is coming around and the OR318 movement is quite active, raising awareness regarding not only Omid's  death in an Iranian prison but also the risks bloggers take when they decide to write.

On their website march18.org they have gathered blog posts, videos and photographs around freedom of speech, and also have active twitter and facebook groups.

This is one of the videos, uploaded by wunderkindify, where he explains how OR318 came to happen:

Jordan Ess showed his support by taking a picture of himself holding up signs supporting the movement:

Jordan Ess shows support for OR318

How can you participate and let the world know that freedom of speech matters? MEYmedia uploaded a video where they explain the different actions you can take to support the OR318 Movement.

Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines comments on today's appeal court ruling upholding the sentencing of video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli. Adopted as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, the blog posts two video tributes and says that both men are “ordinary people with extraordinary talent” and that “their creativeness has no limits, their thinking has no boundaries.”

KnowTnT.com feels “compelled to write about the elephant - or in T&T, the Manicou - in the middle of the room. Inertia.”

Barbadian bloggers report that three men have been charged with the recent murder of a retired senior police officer.

Rufatagayev tweets that an appeal court in Baku, Azerbaijan, today upheld a previous court ruling sentencing two video blogging youth activists to 2 and 2.5 years in prison. Most observers consider the case again Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli to be politically motivated and Amnesty International have since declared the two men to be prisoners of conscience.

In this shocking video, Joao Frigerio shows how a young murder victim's dog in Curitiba Brazil lay next to its owner's dead body during the police investigation process until the body was taken away. The purpose? To convince people of the unconditional love animals give and promt them into adopting strays. (Caution, the video contains images of a dead body that could be inapropriate for some)

A blogger posted a video address about a policeman who stopped regular cars on the Moscow belt-road to create a “live barrier” and stop an alleged criminal's car. In less than a day after the blog post, the policeman responsible for this unlawful action got a sever warning, expert.ru reported.

HumanRightsUN posts a video of part of the presentation made by Ruslan Asadov, co-founder of the OL! Azerbaijani Youth Movement [AZ/EN], at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy. One of the other co-founders of OL!, video blogging youth activist Adnan Hajizade, is currently in prison on what most observers consider politically motivated charges. OL! has also uploaded an English version of its promotional video. The full segment on Young Rights Defenders and the Blogosphere from the conference (split into ten parts) can be found here.

Jamaica's Active Voice admits she's “quite fascinated by the goings on in Trinidad and Tobago over the last couple of days”, saying, “I'd like to see how the ruling party extricates itself from what appears to be damning evidence of guilt…”; Jumbie's Watch, meanwhile, has “perused the overall picture and realise[d] that this was only the beginning of the massive cleanout required.”