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Algerian social media influencers stir controversy over role in scamming case · Global Voices
Reda Harbi

Nearly half the Algerian population is connected to the internet. Image used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.
Several Algerian social media influencers have found themselves legally entangled in a scam after they promoted through their various channels a firm's packages to students wanting to study abroad. The firm, Future Gate, was found to have conned over 75 people into paying hefty amounts for nothing in return.
Algeria's news agency said that the company, which used more than one name to trick a larger number of clients, had promised students it would cover their costs and expenses while pursuing their studies in universities in Ukraine, Turkey, and Russia, in exchange for money they paid in advance, which varied in amount depending on the universities they pursue. However, upon arrival at these destinations, students found that only the fees of one academic term had been paid, and no accommodation had been sorted out for them.
On January 15, the investigative judge at the Dar El Beïda Court ordered the arrest of three main suspects in the case, including the owner of the fake company that had allegedly conned the students, as well as a number of social media influencers. Actor and influencer Farouk Boudjemline, alias Rifka, actress and influencer Numidia Lezoul, and Mohamed Aberkan, otherwise known as Stanley were among those arrested. Sixteen-year-old influencer Ines Abdelli was placed under legal surveillance.
The news agency's report, which announced on January 15 the arrests of those accused in the case, said:
كما استعانوا، داخل الوطن، ببعض الوجوه المؤثرة عبر منصات التواصل الاجتماعي للترويج لهذه الخدعة
They also relied, from inside the country, on some influential faces on social media, to promote this scam.
On February 2, the indictment chamber at Algiers’ Judicial Council rejected a request for the release of several social media influencers who were arrested on charges of fraud and defrauding students. Rifka‘s defence team argued that he too had fallen a victim of the scam along with his peers, and that he had, with other influencers, rushed to expose the truth about the case, and expressed solidarity with the tricked students.
Over 26 million Algerians were connected to the internet, out of a population of nearly 44 million people. That's almost half the population, indicating the importance of internet content and its influence on the Algerian population.
With such strong presence of and reliance on the internet, and as with everywhere around the world, many Algerians have managed to shoot to fame and garner much influence among a wide base of youth as their social media accounts acquired millions of followers.
However, with such popularity came much controversy. Such influencers, who have become promoters of various brands and lifestyles, and the conveyers of gossip, have also come under fire from many who deem them promoters of superficiality and habits that breach Algerian traditions and norms.
The ongoing scam is yet another example of the divided opinions about the role influencers play on social media, and how accountable they should be for the brands and entities they promote.
In response to the arrest of the aforementioned influencers, many social media users used the hashtag  #راحو_غلاط or #wrongly_taken to express their solidarity, calling for accountability to be fully placed on the scamming company, and not influencers who they see as victims of their lies.
One such tweet said:
Sending all my support to this good guy @stanleyytalks
may god bless him 💕
Justice for Mohamed Aberkane #FreeStan #FreeStanley #راحو_غلاط pic.twitter.com/q3eEVKFDt9
— 🍓 (@euphoriaberryy) February 4, 2022
While another Twitter user wrote:
هم أيضا ضحية لهذه الشركة الوهمية مثلهم مثل الطالبة اذا كنت اختلف معهم في الفكر و طرح وضد محتوى التافه ليس معنه ان اظلمهم و احسبهم في قضية أخرى بالانتماء لمنظمة إرهابية و متاجرة بالبشر هذا قمة الظلم ظلمات يوم القيامة بغض النظر على انا معهم او ضدهم الحق حق لماذا نهار؟#راحو_غلاط pic.twitter.com/lFH0TIAQEz
— 🇩🇿💌🇪🇭🇵🇸🇩🇿Hajar (@Hajar74401984) February 9, 2022
They too are victims of the fake company, just like the students. Even if I'm against them in their ideology or the shallow content they broadcast, this doesn't mean that I be unjust to them and [support their] arrest them in a different case of belonging to a terrorist group and human trafficking. This is complete lack of justice, whether I'm with or against them. Fair is fair.
Meanwhile, others saw these influencers accountable, arguing that they must face the consequences of what they promote on their channels, including what many saw as superficial content.
One Twitter user wrote:
ايداع ريفكا ، ستانلي ، نوميديا لزول سجن القليعة بتهم تبييض الأموال و المتجارة بالبشر
الاعدام و قليل عليهم
— Leftist (@Che_che1028) January 20, 2022
The detention of Rifka, Stanleyy and Numidia Lezoul in Al-Qaleya prison on charges of money laundry, human trafficking. Death penalty would be too lenient a sentence.
According to local media reports, a police video showed the founder of the scamming company stating the amounts of money he had paid to social media influencers, who he claimed have “blackmailed” him.

author: Reda Harbi


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The police officer who allegedly cut a young Jamaican’s dreadlocks faces no criminal charges, and nobody bats an eye · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Bob Marley's eyes. Image by Garry Knight on Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
On February 9, after a seven-month wait, Jamaica's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn recommended that no criminal charges be brought against the policewoman accused of cutting the locks of a young Rastafarian woman who was held in police custody on July 22, 2021. Before Nzinga King even reached the station, a male officer had reportedly pepper-sprayed her, and she could even be charged with public mischief.
Despite Llewellyn saying she concurred with the report by the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) on both the alleged locks-cutting and the incident that preceded it, and despite her empathy towards King — recommending counselling and suggesting that civil redress could be an option — the INDECOM report has not yet been made public.
Nzinga King was the complainant in this matter. Yet, in the eyes of some reporters and social media observers, she might as well have been the defendant, and been found guilty — a classic case of victim-blaming from certain elements in Jamaican society:
For me, it is not so much about the legal niceties of the matter; it is the question of discrimination and what Prime Minister Andrew Holness calls “unequalness” that truly bothers me.
It also bothers the human rights NGO Stand Up for Jamaica, which stated that it was “shocked” by the ruling, adding that it has witnessed “similar episodes in the past towards minorities and Rastafarian children”:
It is a worrying trend, as victims are blamed for their own trauma. We are appealing for it to stop now before it is too late.
Against this backdrop, King had several counts against her from the start:
She is young. Apart from a privileged few who win awards (and congratulations to them, I hope they make the most of their recognition), young people tend to be neglected and their voices ignored in this society. They rarely have a seat at the table when important issues such as climate change, which will affect them the most, are being discussed; or they are segregated into “youth forums,” “youth parliaments,” and the like; or they are simply labelled “unattached youth” or “youth at risk,” which means that no one knows what to do with them.
She is black. Racism exists in Jamaica; let’s not pretend otherwise, and it works in various ways. A cute, light-skinned “browning” would not get the same treatment from the police or any other agent of the state.
She is poor. She could not pay the fine for breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act (not wearing a mask) and so had to stay in police lock-up for 10 days. Her mother paid the fine a few days later. Poverty is a crime, in itself.
She is Rastafarian. To our great shame, followers of the Rastafarian religion are, in daily life, still scorned and discriminated against in many places and communities. While the prime minister recently apologised for the 1963 state-sanctioned attack on the Coral Gardens Rastafarian community, in which people were detained and their dreadlocks trimmed as part of the state’s discrimination and abuse of Rastafari, have people’s attitudes really changed all that much? The police are no different from some Jamaicans when it comes to discriminating against Rastafarians, ironic, considering it is part of what makes Jamaica world-famous, and is touted to tourists as the essence of our island’s culture and heritage.
She is a woman. Oh, and a “feisty” one at that. The worst kind.
She is a rural dweller. I may be over-reaching here, but it seems that rural folks are generally more marginalised than urban residents. Rural poverty levels have consistently been higher than in towns and cities. When I pass through small, rural communities and see young people sitting under trees, and seniors isolated on their verandahs, I get a sense that they have been forgotten (except at election time, of course). Even during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rush to get vaccinated, they were almost an afterthought.
So here we are, in 2022, back to that “unequalness.”
On May 28, 2021, in the context of COVID protocols, the prime minister said that “the law will be applied equally to everyone.” Three months later, his agriculture minister Floyd Green was caught out enjoying a birthday party during lockdown, and resigned with humble apologies. Earlier this year, the DPP announced that no charges would be laid against him and his fellow revellers, and even prior to this announcement, the offending minister had already been brought back into the fold as a “minister without portfolio.”
While the United Kingdom's Boris Johnson may not get away with his “bring your own booze” sessions, a Jamaican parliamentarian did. And now, a young Rastafarian woman may only have the option of a civil suit, if pursued, against the police officers who may have done her a grave and traumatic injustice.
To me, it is sad, but it is not shocking.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Emma Lewis


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Undertones: What Russian media says about the Russia-Ukraine crisis · Global Voices
Civic Media Observatory

Illustration by Giovana Fleck.
Welcome to Undertones, the Civic Media Observatory newsletter! In each edition we'll analyze an event, emerging trend, or a complex story, identifying key narratives of urgent public interest, delving deep into the context and subtext of local, vernacular and multilingual media. Undertones also offers an entry point into the public datasets that underpin our Observatory work.
The news of thousands of Russian troops deployed along Ukraine’s borders has captivated world headlines for weeks, as Russia demands the withdrawal of NATO's troops from the states surrounding Ukraine. Tensions are increasing as European states consider the prospect of a possible war that could cause as many as 50,000 civilian deaths in Ukraine and turn many more into refugees, according to U.S. reports. In December 2021, nearly 40% of Russians believed that a war with Ukraine was “quite likely,” according to the independent polling agency Levada.
While western media has been raising the alarm over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine since mid-January, Russian state media portrays the events quite differently.
In light of the deployment of Russian troops near Ukrainian borders in December 2021-January 2022, there is growing concern that Russia will invade Ukraine. Tensions between the two countries have been simmering since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and supported the armed separatist takeover of parts of eastern Ukraine. According to Russian officials, Russia’s recent moves are in response to the alleged threat of Ukraine’s possible accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). In December, Russia issued a list of demands to NATO that included a ban on Ukraine's accession to the alliance. The demands were rejected by the United States, the European Union and NATO, which are considering imposing new sanctions on Russia.
Pro-government media have suggested that President Vladimir Putin must use strongman tactics to prevent Russia from being bullied by the West. According to their claims, as NATO has been expanding eastward in contravention of international agreements, Russia needs to show strength so that it is taken seriously on the world stage.
Older people in Russia were more likely (61%) to believe that the U.S. and NATO members are to blame for the escalation of the crisis in eastern Ukraine than younger ones (24%), according to Levada’s December 2021 survey.
Media headline: “Who is really preparing for war in Ukraine: five sure signs”
On January 20, Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP), a leading pro-government tabloid, offered five reasons to believe Ukraine – and not Russia – is preparing for war. The article implies that it is the West and Ukraine that have initiated war talks. The author does not mention Russia’s recent army deployment, nor the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine. More analysis here.
Russian officials and pro-government journalists have been using references to Russia’s history to threaten the West. On Telegram, Russian official Vyacheslav Nikonov – grandson of Stalin’s friend Vyacheslav Molotov – referred to Russia’s “glorious past” and threatened President Biden with a “cold shower,” i.e. nuclear power. The phrase “glorious past” may also evoke the Soviet Union’s decisive role in the victory of World War II. Subtle references to WWII have also been found in other media items and war rhetoric is ubiquitous in state-sponsored narratives.
As Russia’s social and economic fabric has deteriorated, however, and led to growing discontent and the shrinking of Putin’s popularity, fewer people support the kind of war rhetoric that played such a large role, for instance, during the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
In this Facebook video published on January 15, Vladimir Solovyov, news anchor at the government-owned VGTRK media conglomerate, warns the West not to “fight with the Russians,” because Russia will win. More analysis here.
Some commentators have asserted that Putin and his associates in the Russian military have found themselves in a Catch-22 situation. Russian leaders do not want to start an actual war – the costs would be high and the resulting sanctions harmful – but they do not know how to de-escalate. Putin might also be afraid to lose his strongman reputation. For government critic Max Trudolubov, Putin “looks like a monkey that climbed a palm tree but does not know how to climb back down.”
Daily newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK), which is close to the Kremlin's political elite, published an opinion piece by Mikhail Rostovsky arguing that the Russian people do not understand Putin’s military actions and that Russia's foreign policy is “at a dead end.” Without openly criticizing Putin, Rostovsky writes that a war between Russia and Ukraine will do damage not to the West, but to Russia – and that Putin is running out of options. More analysis here.
More recently, pro-Putin commentators have claimed that Russia never had any intention of invading Ukraine and that the crisis has been invented and fueled by the West, specifically the United States.
Some Russian state officials insist that there will be no invasion of Ukraine unless the West provokes it – namely, if NATO does not heed Russia’s demands to stop its expansion. For them, the movement of Russian troops is an internal affair and the crisis is a result of hysteria fueled by Western media.
On January 31, Dmitry Peskov, Putin's press secretary, told Komsomolskaya Pravda that the US invented the Ukrainian crisis. Peskov stated that “the American media has been publishing a very large amount of unverified, distorted and deliberately false and provocative information about what is happening in Ukraine and around it in recent months.”  More analysis here.
Some Russian civil rights activists, members of the intelligentsia, politicians, retired military officers, and civilians believe that Russia should not take military action against Ukraine under any circumstances. But they are having a hard time finding spaces where they can voice their criticism.
The media landscape in Russia is very restricted; most large TV channels and editorial media either belong to the state or are controlled by state-affiliated entities. Most independent media are labeled “foreign agents” and are on the verge of being shut down by the state.
Many people do not dare openly express their views on social media for fear of reprisals. Hence, public statements and petitions remain an important tool of collective action for the Russian opposition, some of whom share memes.
Young users of Tiktok and Instagram appeal anonymously to Vladimir Putin to not start a war with Ukraine with a flashmob of sarcastic videos and comments saying “Daddy Vladdy please no war”. Hashtags include “#vladdydaddy” and “#plsnowar”. The users’ nationalities are unclear. More analysis here.

author: Civic Media Observatory


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Workers in Turkey are pushing back on low wages amid economic crisis · Global Voices
Doga Celik

A screenshot from BBC video. “What do the couriers want? What is the gig courier model?”
Prices are rising in Turkey and people have had enough. The leader of a Turkish opposition party recently tweeted he won’t be paying inflated electricity bills following January price hikes on basic commodities. At the same time, shop owners have been posting their electricity bills on shop windows calling for help, fearing bankruptcy. Meanwhile, scores of couriers, factory workers, and grocery store employees have been protesting across the country demanding minimum wage increases amid soaring inflation rates. For others, the only option remaining as a result of economic hardships is to leave Turkey in search of better employment opportunities abroad.
Across the country, workers are protesting rising living costs and stagnating wages as Turkey faces its worst economic crisis in decades, with the annual inflation reaching 48.7 percent, the highest since President Erdoğan took power two decades ago. Independent economists say the actual inflation rate likely twice the official numbers. As a result, Fitch Ratings, “cut Turkey’s sovereign credit rating further into junk, citing factors including the nation’s vulnerability to high inflation.”
Despite an almost 50 percent increase of the minimum wage in December 2021, and promises by President Erdoğan to protect workers against the soaring prices, Turks continue to grapple with the new financial crisis as purchasing power decreased amid double-digit inflation and price hikes on gas, electricity, petrol, and road tolls as well as food and beverages. According to the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş) “Turkey’s poverty threshold increased to TRY 13,844 in January, more than three times the minimum wage [TRY 4,250].”
It is against this backdrop that workers have taken to the streets in recent weeks, crossing occupational and class divides to demand fairer treatment.
It started with employees at the Trendyol courier service demanding raises in line with the country’s inflation rate and their minimum living costs. They protested by refusing to deliver packages and said they won’t return to work until their demands were met. Days later, the company employing the courier service, the online shopping website Trendyol, caved, promising 38.8 percent salary increases, from TRY 9,500 to TRY 12,500. Their victory triggered a wave of similar protests among other courier and delivery services — Yurtiçi Kargo, Scotty, Surat Kargo, Aras Kargo, Hepsijet, and Yemeksepeti — and in some cases, factory, and office workers too.
Biz direndik, bir olduk, güç olduk, biz kazandık!
Tüm Trendyol çalışanları bundan sonraki süreçte de en ufak hak gaspında bu hesaptan bize ulaşmalı, birliğimizi her bir arkadaşımız için korumalıyız. Karda kışta mücadele eden tüm arkadaşlarımıza selam olsun!#HaklarıVerTrendyol pic.twitter.com/5gJD1X17Ev
— Trendyol Çalışanları (@trendyolcalisan) January 26, 2022
We resisted, we became one, we became power, we won! All Trendyol workers should contact us if they ever face even a minor injustice, we should preserve our unity for every one of our friends. Salute to our friends who are resisting during these cold, snowy times.
Since February 1, couriers serving YemekSepeti, an online food delivery company, have been on strike in front of the Yemeksepeti Istanbul headquarters “demanding a 5,500 lira (USD 400) monthly wage — workers say the company’s most recent pay offer equals the Turkish minimum wage of 4,250 liras (USD 310) — and the right to unionize,” reported AlMonitor news website.
Net 5500 TL maaş ve örgütlenme hakları için @yemeksepeti kuryeleri kontak kapatıyor. pic.twitter.com/hSRORmoYKy
— fırat (@firatfstk) February 1, 2022
For a 5500 TL raise and right to unionize, Yemeksepeti couriers are switching off their ignition.
“We barely make ends meet. I have no savings. After paying the bills, the rent, kitchen expenses, and my child’s expenses, I don’t even have a penny in my pocket at the end of the month,” explained one YemekSepeti courier in an interview with Reuters.
Supporters are currently using the hashtag #SiparişYokYemeksepeti (No Orders from Yemeksepeti) on Twitter. Meanwhile, popular satirical journal Leman released its February 9 issue with a cover dedicated to protesting food delivery service couriers:
Turkey's most popular satirical journal Leman's cover for tomorrow:
‘- Who's that?
– Courier
– What have you ordered?
– Resistance
The wave of strikes led by couriers is now diffusing to other sectors.’ https://t.co/qmEcNR59LQ
— Gato Negro (@KhalilovVusal) February 8, 2022
In an interview with AlMonitor, Erdem Yoruk, an associate professor of sociology at Koc University in Istanbul said, it was normal for strikes to erupt under the current circumstances. “We’re undergoing a really terrible economic crisis, and there’s a rapid rise in poverty and declining wages.”
According to AhvalNews, “Most of the recent strikes happened in companies where service providers are registered as individual contractors instead of employees, which removes most legal protections for the workers.”
In addition to couriers, several factory employees have also been on strike. DERİTEKS union organized a strike with Şimşek Socks, where they eventually got a 70 percent raise. Another sock factory, Alpin Socks’ strike resulted in an increase by TRY 2,500 and the guarantee that those who were on strike won’t be punished in any way. The Turkish labor union, Türk Metal has announced they have reached an agreement between metal workers and employers as well. They obtained a 65.7 percent raise.
Migros, a supermarket chain, is currently the scene of a strike as well. The employees have not accepted the corporate offer of an eight percent raise, and have gone on strike. They are instead requesting a 70 percent increase. On February 8, some 150 employees were detained after staging a sit-in at the store’s warehouse while some 120 were fired from their jobs according to reporting by Gazete Duvar English service. On February 11, the company confirmed it dismissed more than 250 workers.
Employees at Digiturk, a Turkish satellite television provider, are also on strike after refusing an offer of a 17 percent raise.
In addition to workers’ strikes, thousands of Turks took the streets across several cities to protest high electricity bills. According to Gazete Duvar English service, the protests erupted after a 50 percent electricity price hike that came into effect on January 1. “For some businesses, electricity bills tripled within a month. Enterprises are saying that they can no longer cope with the exorbitant prices and have come to the point of bankruptcy,” reported the online news platform. Joining the protests was also Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the head of the Republican People’s Party, who said he won’t pay “his electricity bills until the government reverses price hikes,” according to reporting by Bloomberg.
The most recent group to join the strikes is Turkey’s medical staff. On February 8, the group went on a one-day nationwide strike in an attempt to call for better wages. The strike was initiated by the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) who said in their statement, “We, whose labor is ignored, whose professional values are ignored, whose working conditions are unhealthy, and whose working areas are insecure, say, ‘Enough is enough, now it’s time for Strike!’”

author: Doga Celik


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A school book reignites the debate on homosexuality in Mozambique · Global Voices
Global Voices Lusofonia

The school book, titled ‘The Secret of Life’ | YouTube TV Miramar screenshot (taken by the author himself) Edited by Giovana Fleck
Images of a primary school textbook from the Mozambican school system began to circulate on Facebook on February 9, 2022, stirring debate and discord.
The book in question is about natural sciences and addresses, among many other subjects, themes about the nature of humans and evolution. Usually, its reading is recommended for children between 13–17 years old. The controversy did not fall on the entire textbook but on just one page.
This page recommended approaches to sexuality and sexual orientation. Some Mozambicans consider this subject inappropriate for children of that age. This book has been used without controversy for more than 15 years.
The page states that masturbation should be seen as a normal part of emerging sexuality and suggests homosexuality is a choice that belongs to the individual.
Such statements provoked homophobic comments online. On the pretext of care and protection, many users turned toward homophobia and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment.
Aqui em Moz vai haver guerra por causa de quererem cenas. Esse texto está mto errado, é tendencioso e confunde cabeça de criança ! Esse termo “Amigo homossexual” é o que ? E pra criança pensar q o amiguinho q brinca com ele é mor ? Edjo deixem lá kids fora disso. Livro da 7a pic.twitter.com/y0dHKlp16J
— Jessica Rabbit 🐇 (@jrabbitt5555) February 10, 2022
Here in Moz there will be war. This text is very wrong, it is biased and confuses a child's head! This term “homosexual friend” is what? And for the child to think that the little friend who plays with him is the lover? Leave the kids out of this.
Mozambican Facebook groups were also flooded with debates on the topic. This is what the user António do Rosário Grispos said:
I understand that in the 7th grade book, page 103, there are contents of a homosexual nature. Has there already been a discussion in Mozambique to introduce matters related to homosexuality in the school curricula? Maybe I've been distracted. But, in my humble opinion, a topic of this nature, needs a broad discussion of society as a whole, with the consent of the house that represents us, which is the Assembly of the Republic.
At the end of the day, it is our children that I am being indoctrinated with, and that requires a serious, inclusive, and comprehensive debate. If this national debate has already taken place, here are my apologies in advance.
This opinion was also defended by other users, who thought that by teaching children about sexuality, masturbation, and homosexuality, schools would encourage premature sexuality:
Mozambique has never discussed this issue and taken a position, however, someone, despite consultations with parents and various educational sectors, has already decided that they should teach children to do.
Teach children to respect the differences and the position of each one but do not influence them to follow the path, it is immoral, it is attacking a neuralgic sector in the country without having heard the various sectors of society on the subject. Let's be careful with sensitive topics!
However, there are those who had no issue with the text, ridiculing that the issue was stirring so much debate, even from the Ministry of Education:
Vocês a tentar justificar o porquê daquele conteúdo não pode estar em livro da 7a classe são uma piada.
— Beth M. 🌻 (@BethMuhale) February 10, 2022
You trying to justify why that content can't be in a 7th grade book is a joke.
Some people do not find any logic in prohibiting the subject from being discussed at school, especially since children have access to information about the same subject:
Educar sexualmente, Não.
mas dar telemóvel e tablet e computador sem controlo parental, sim.
You all hypocrites.
— Valter Micas (@tumbeleluane) February 11, 2022
Sexual education, no.
But giving phones, tablets and computers without parental control, yes.
You all hypocrites.
The Ministry of Education gave a statement on February 11 to argue the controversial material should be removed from the school book, essentially banning discussions of sexual orientation and masturbation in the classroom.
After the controversy that was created around the book of the seventh class of Natural Sciences that explicitly addresses sexual themes such as masturbation and sexual orientation, the Ministry of Education and Human Development went public to explain that the book has been in existence since 2004 and that the same will be dropped from the curriculum next year. The Ministry of Education also made it known that this year the topics that are generating controversy will not be addressed in classes.
Thus far, it is unclear how classes on sexuality and sexual health will unfold next year. After the Ministry's announcement, some claimed that the subject can and should still be taught, just in a different way.
A questão não é a relevância dos temas, mas sim como foram abordados.
A linguagem escolhida não foi a melhor. https://t.co/pVy5xgCe53
— Moana👑💫 (@daesymazalo3) February 11, 2022
The issue is not the relevance of the themes, but how they were addressed.
The language chosen was not the best.
Délio Zandamela, a student, argued that while there was no harm in discussing the topic, the  book failed to add adequate context.
There is no problem teaching children about sexuality in school, much less addressing LGBT issues, many of the extreme positions result from ignorance and the void that education has left for many years in not addressing these issues.
Learning about sexuality is not a stimulus to have sex, learning about homosexuality is not promoting it, in fact, no one is taught to be. Keep your hate, educate yourself, it costs nothing. I understand that the text is problematic and empty, this is what should be the debate and not discuss whether or not you can teach 7th grade children.
After the initial statement from the Ministry of Education, teachers and civil society organizations have been largely silent.
However, there were those who suggested that the decision of the Ministry of Education created an opportunity for the country to debate the legalization of homosexuality in the country. Since 2015, homosexuality has been legal in Mozambique after reforms to the Penal Code.
Este livro da *7ᵃ classe do Sistema Nacional de Educação, pagina 103 merece um debate profundo, sobretudo no que a legalização da homossexualidade diz respeito, já que estes dias andamos a discutir nossa cultura… Nos meus tempos os livros não ensinavam essas matérias…. Quantos professores e professoras vão ignorar ensinar essas matérias…
This book from the 7th class of the National Education System, page 103, deserves a deep debate, especially regarding the legalization of homosexuality, since these days we are discussing our culture… In my time, books didn't teach these subjects …. How many professors will ignore teaching these subjects…
One of the main agents for this change is Lambda – an organization of Mozambican citizens that advocates for the recognition of the Human Rights LGBTQ+ people. Since 2007, Lamba has fought for the rights of the LGBTQ+ population and for her own legalization and recognition by the state. During the 2015 campaign, Lambda faced much push-back and was required to legally register with the Mozambican authorities.

author: Global Voices Lusofonia


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After a 12-hour blackout, Trinidadians wonder if their power supply is a shot in the dark · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The moon rising over the silhouetted mountains of Trinidad's northern range on February 16, 2022, during an island-wide blackout. Photo by Janine Mendes-Franco, used with permission.
At about 12:30 p.m on February 16, there was an island-wide power outage in Trinidad, which lasted until approximately 12:30 a.m. the following morning, with some areas of the country getting their electricity supply back sooner; others later.
The Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) stated that “a fault” had developed in its system, causing two major lines 220 KV (220,000 Volt) lines to trip at stations in the south and central parts of the island:
This resulted in system instability and caused all the generating machines operated by IPPs to trip, leading to a loss of supply to all customers in Trinidad.
The sister isle of Tobago was not affected by the blackout. In its statement, T&TEC also placed some of the burden of “get[ting] power back onto the grid for distribution to […] customers” on Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
However, electricity wasn't the only thing that needed to be restored. The outage had a ripple effect, with citizens left without internet and access to data, with many not even being able to make phone calls. Just as distressing was the fact that water supply was also affected, leaving many citizens without two of the most essential utilities. The Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has since estimated that it could take them as long as three days to fully restore the water supply across the island.
In addition, there were traffic delays caused by the non-functioning of traffic signals at major intersections, and online school, which is still the channel by which most children are getting an education, was disrupted.
Some people took the outage in their stride, appreciating the slower pace by making time to admire the moon or watch the dance of fireflies.
Had a gander at the moon last night – in the midst of the island wide blackout pic.twitter.com/AzX6Etof8U
— Maria Rivas-McMillan (@Panyol) February 17, 2022
Others, like Amílcar Presi Sanatan, opted for a humorous approach:
Bout AD Wagon and 4 Wheel Van. Either yuh with a man with generator or a man with solar power #thatisall
For many, the lack of electricity would have been more bearable if the water supply hadn't also been affected:
Can't remember the last time I had to use a bucket of water to get things done….thanks for making sure I have those skills intact TTEC 😂 #noelectricity #blackout #trinidad
— Nicholas Gayahpersad (@nicholasgpersad) February 16, 2022
Other social media users, however, were upset at the situation. On Facebook, Nigel Thompson weighed in:
Lesson:
T&Tec is obsolete and has been for a while now. At least for residential homes.
Everyone should get solar generators for their houses. They are quite attainable now. Get a good electrician who will guide accordingly.
If you can’t get immediately, take your time save your cash, but get it as soon as you can.[…]
Nigel Wall also offered details about a solar-based alternative, though at least one commenter on the thread said the loss of electricity was not a big deal for her, she just wished she had been more prepared. In fact, on some WhatsApp chats and social media pages, netizens expressed frustration over both the frequency of outages and not being properly informed, though Maria Rivas-McMillan had a different perspective:
T&TEC’s Manager, Corporate Communications, did a good interview based on their 1 am release today @tv6tnt Apologized, stuck to known facts, and promised more when details come to hand. She closed by emphasizing that this was an “anomaly” since service is generally reliable 🙌
— Maria Rivas-McMillan (@Panyol) February 17, 2022
Still, this Twitter user was not satisfied:
Soooo ummm what happened? I feel like I deserve an explanation #Blackout #Trinidad
— Selassie Dawta (@superfinelady) February 17, 2022
Facebook user Lara Quentrall-Thomas questioned why there seemed to be “no back-up generators or business continuity plans for our national power supply”, and was curious as to whether customers would be able to claim damages for claim for “ruined frozen food, and sockets and appliances blown when power returned.”
Despite a T&TEC union official pleading with citizens not to blame the blackout on the company's employees, many people wanted answers.
Rhoda Bharath said:
When the press conference is held…and it must be held…spokespersons from TGU [Trinidad Generation Unlimited, which supplies about 50 percent of the country's electricity] are just as necessary on that panel as persons from T&TEC, TSTT [Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago] and WASA to breakdown for us in loving detail what happened from the TGU rumble to an entire island blacking out, taps going dry and telecomms failing.
We already know that what happened yesterday was unacceptable. The country now needs to know why it happened and what is being put in place to ensure it does not occur again.
T&TEC has confirmed it is investigating the incident.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Court in Russia-occupied Crimea sentences freelance journalist to six years in prison · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Protest in support of Vladyslav Yesypenko in Kyiv, Ukraine. Screenshot from video by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
A Russia-imposed court in the city of Simferopol in occupied Crimea has sentenced Vladyslav Yesypenko, a freelance journalist with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, to six years behind bars. Yesypenko had previously been charged with alleged possession and transporting of explosives, a charge he has roundly rejected.
The Simferopol City Court handed down the sentence on February 16 after a closed-door trial which was not open to the press. The prosecution had initially asked the court to sentence the journalist to 11 years in prison.
During the court hearing on February 15, Yesypenko testified that the Russia-appointed Crimean authorities “want to discredit the work of freelance journalists who want to show the things that are really going on in Crimea.”
Yesypenko, who is a dual Russian-Ukrainian citizen, had been working in occupied Crimea for over five years and had regularly contributed to the RFE/RL online project Crimea.Realities which covers daily life on the Crimean peninsula. The journalist was detained in Crimea in March 2021 on suspicion of collecting information for Ukrainian intelligence. While in detention, Yesypenko has reportedly endured torture at the hands of Russian federal security services and Crimean law enforcement.
Dozens of other independent journalists, writers and creatives working in Crimea and occupied eastern Ukraine have faced similar pressures, with some imprisoned and many pushed out into exile.
Yesypenko's case was the focus of last year's Empty Chair Day campaign, organised by PEN America in November 2021 in support of Ukrainian writers and journalists imprisoned for their writing or speech in the occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
Ukrainian Ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova condemned the court sentence, calling the case against Yesypenko “fabricated.” “… the accusations against the Ukrainian citizen are trumped up and politically motivated,” she said on Telegram, demanding Yesypenko’s immediate release.
Denisova also appealed to the international community and human rights defenders to continue to keep an eye on the “systemic violations of the rights of Ukrainian citizens on politically motivated charges by the aggressor country.”
Press freedom advocates such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, along with state officials such as Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and the U.S. State Department, have been calling for Yesypenko’s immediate release in the absence of any evidence of wrongdoing or grounds for his detention.
Other media rights groups, along with the international Media Freedom Coalition, have been calling for the release of all media workers imprisoned in illegally occupied Ukrainian territories, condemning Russia’s and pro-Russian authorities’ efforts, ongoing since 2014, to stifle independent print and broadcast media activity in Crimea and occupied parts of Donbas.

author: Tanya Lokot


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Global Voices seeks an editor to lead our Eastern Europe coverage · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Mural in Chișinău, Moldova. Photo by Filip Noubel, used with permission.
Are you a writer and editor with a deep understanding of and curiosity about all facets of Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine?  Are you excited about shaping ideas into stories, social media posts, and other editorial outputs in collaboration with a diverse community?If you answered “yes” to the questions above, you might consider applying for the position of Regional Editor for Eastern Europe.
The Regional Editor will be responsible both for editing stories written by Global Voices’ volunteer contributors and for writing stories about the region. Global Voices stories focus on topics such as internet culture, freedom of speech online, technology and digital rights, human rights, diversity and representation, and language diversity.
The Regional Editor will also work with a diverse community of contributors who write stories, share ideas for stories, and set the editorial agenda for the region by proposing ideas, sharing knowledge, and providing leads.
Preference will be given to candidates with knowledge of other regional languages including Belarusian, Romanian and Ukrainian.
Global Voices is a global, virtual organization. The engine of the Global Voices newsroom is a team of part-time editors who work with volunteer contributors and translators around the world to highlight stories and perspectives that are underrepresented in international mainstream media.
Candidates must be comfortable setting their own schedules and working in a wholly virtual environment.
We strongly welcome candidates currently contributing to the Global Voices project to apply.
The position is part-time and will be treated as a freelance contract.
Submit a résumé and a cover letter in English that highlights your work and explains why you would be a good fit for the position to  jobs@globalvoices.org, with the subject line: . Please attach your cover letter as a .doc or .pdf file in addition to including it in the body of your e-mail.

author: Filip Noubel


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In Azerbaijan, bizarre video of an MP reading a poem while holding a dinosaur baffles many · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

“trex” by wstuben is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
Tahir Karimli, a member of Azerbaijan's parliament, addressed those who have allegedly issued death threats against him in a viral video that is being shared widely on social media and across local news websites. In his hand, he holds a toy dinosaur, which he symbolically throws away as he begins reading an original poem to his audience. “You, who have threatened me with death, all you will get from this, is to remove a simple person. But instead of me, there will be thousands of young men, raised and who will take our state further. You are a nobody.”
Since its publication, the video has made rounds on social media with many baffled by the video itself, especially the dinosaur toy.
Deyəsən gəlirlər…
Posted by Rabiyya Mammadova on Wednesday, February 16, 2022
The satirical news platform HamamTimes received hundreds of comments after sharing the video on its Facebook page. One user asked, “What does Tyrannosaur Rex has to do with any of that?” Another user wrote, “It will be the dinosaur speaking in the next video.” “Pay attention to the dinosaur, the main secret is there. I feel like in the Fort Boyard games when players search for keys,” wrote another. Others joked the MP was advertising for “Toy Story 5.”
o vaxtı tahir kərimli seçiləndə deyib ki kimin nə arzusu varsa reallaşdıracam, birinci özündən başlayıb, uşaq vaxtı istədiyi oyuncağı alıb
— Dorian Grey (@9DorianGrey9) February 17, 2022
When he was elected, he said he will fulfill all the wishes, starting from himself, buying the toy he always wanted as a kid.
State news agency Azerbaijan Press Agency (APA) published the video with the headline: “Member of the parliament Tahir Karimli responded to those threatening him with a dinosaur.” The agency also reported earlier that, according to the information provided by the Ministry of the Interior, they have not received an official complaint from Karimli about the death threats.
Karimli is a controversial government official who has made remarks targeting LGBTQ+ people and feminists. For instance, he once claimed that the Roman Empire fell because of LGBTQ+ people. In August of last year, the MP reportedly said he “supports the punishment of transgender people and the establishment of morality police in the country.”
He's said that social media platforms were the source of banality and immorality and claimed feminists sought to destroy Azerbaijani families.
“It's taking away our kids. Social platforms like #TikTok damage #humans‘ spiritual perfection.”
⚡ 🇦🇿 MP Tahir Karimli said while recommending a new legislation to regulate #SocialMedia in Azerbaijan. pic.twitter.com/4ZDDs7kMJg
— Mikroskop Media in English (@MikroskopEng) January 28, 2022
He has also voiced opinions about the proper vehicles and housing for MPs: “I suggest building a residential house for the Milli Majlis employees. I have recently happened to be in the car of one of the leaders. My 14-year-old car is better than his vehicle. It is a supreme governing body. Give them good cars, construct buildings,” the MP said in a parliamentary session last year.
Karimli, who describes himself as the solider of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, has been absent from the public eye since the publication of the video.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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In Tajikistan’s mountainous region of GBAO, the power struggle with the capital extends to internet shutdowns · Global Voices
PI

The Pamir mountain range in Tajikistan. Photo credit: Makalu on Pixabay (free to use).
The territory of present-day Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, located in the Pamir mountain range of Tajikistan, and still widely referred to by its Soviet-era acronym GBAO, was a central hub for the ancient Silk Road. To this day, it also remains a contested center of wars for power and influence in Central Asia, which continues to affect the daily life of the local population, known as the Pamiris, just as it did during the 19th century during the Great Game between Great Britain and Russia.
During the 1992–97 Tajik civil war, Pamiri field commanders in GBAO sided with the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), which led to ethnically motivated persecution of Pamiris in the west of the country as well as a supply crisis in GBAO. The civil war ended with a power-sharing agreement under which former UTO field commanders would occupy 30 percent of high-level government posts. However, in the course of the consolidation of President Emomali Rahmon’s power, almost all former leading members of the UTO have been successively sidelined or otherwise politically silenced. The increasingly authoritarian character of the political system manifests in, among other things, more restrictive measures against NGOs, critical journalists and citizens, a ban on the main opposition party (the Islamic Revival Party) in 2015, pressure on independent media, and internet censorship.
In remote GBAO, however, the groupings around current President Rahmon, who emerged as a winner in the civil war, were able to assert their monopoly on political and economic power to a lesser extent than elsewhere. Based on their reputation as defenders of the region during the civil war, some of the former Pamiri field commanders of the UTO retained a certain informal influence (particularly in the regional capital of Khorugh) , their control over weapons and groups loyal to them, and their income sources from drug smuggling with Afghanistan. They maintained a heroic status, particularly among sections of the youth, because they exploited a widespread sense of resistance to undemocratic external rule for their own purpose.
The central government's attempt to eliminate former Pamiri field commanders of the UTO as political and economic actors and thereby impose its own monopoly on power in GBAO culminated in a massive attack by government forces on their respective strongholds in Khurogh on July 24, 2012. The intervention was described as a “special operation” by the authorities in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. The day-long violent conflict in the city left dozens killed and resulted in dozens of casualties and a further alienation of the local population. After the assassination of one of the former Pamiri field commanders of the UTO in August 2012, there were massive demonstrations in Khorogh. Human rights violations during and after the attack were never adequately addressed by the authorities.
On May 21, 2014, an amateurishly executed and bloody attempt by security forces to arrest or liquidate a local suspect of drug smuggling in the city center during rush hour, in which three civilians and a policeman were killed, resulted in an angry mob setting fire to three government buildings in Khurogh. Political demands against arbitrary violence by security forces were expressed in a demonstration that lasted several days.
During a visit to Khurogh in mid-September 2018, President Rahmon blamed the provincial government and security forces in GBAO for an allegedly deteriorating security situation in the region. He gave them a one-month ultimatum to deal with a “handful of criminals,” by which he most likely meant former Pamiri field commanders of the UTO. He also gave permission for the military to be deployed. Subsequently, many high-ranking officials in both the provincial government and the security forces in GBAO were replaced.
In october 2018, Rahmon appointed Yodgor Faizov as the new governor for the region. Faizov is an Ismaili, a member of the Shi'a school of Islam school that dominates in the region, and a native of GBAO.  He built his career within in the Aga Khan Foundation, an influential Ismaili NGO, and served as a mediator as its highest representative in Tajikistan during the 2012 conflict, which explains this popularity among the GBAO population. However, the central government maintained a  massive military presence, and the alleged threat to law and order posed by organized crime in GBAO remained a strong and uniform theme in pro-government media.
Civil society representatives inside and outside GBAO soon reacted and published a petition on the Change.org website on October 14, 2018, expressing concerns about the situation in the region and opposing the use of military force in the fight against drug trafficking and the possession of illegal arms.
On November 6, 2018, a demonstration against the massive presence of security forces in Khurogh took place. It was triggered by non-fatal shootings of a group of young men by security forces, and motivated by the growing frustration of many residents of with the militarization of the city. Eventually, the situation calmed down at least on the surface, mostly thanks to a mediation by Governor Faizov.
The establishment of the inter-agency committee on law and order enforcement in GBAO in September 2018 resulted in a wave of arrests, particularly of young male Pamiris, leading to repeated demonstrations and clashes between the Tajik-dominated security forces and Pamiri civilians. Moreover, three military checkpoints still remain in place in central Khurogh, visibly demonstrating the military presence in the city.
The situation is further destabilized by the collapse of the elected government in Afghanistan and the takeover by the Taliban in August 2021. The Tajik government is reacting to the attempts by people to flee Afghanistan with a strict policy of sealing the border and repatriating refugees. Alleging the danger of infiltration by armed groups from Afghanistan, the government further strengthens the military presence, which has a negative impact on the fragile domestic political situation in GBAO.
Tension resurfaced in the region in 2021 due to new changes in power relations.  On November 5, 2021, President Rahmon decided to remove popular Governor Faizov and replace him with Alisher Mirzonabot, the mayor of Khurogh who made his career in the domestic intelligence agency. At the same time, the city experienced an increased military presence in addition to the existing military checkpoints.
On November 25, 2021, State Committee on National Security forces sought to arrest Gulbiddin
Ziyobekov, a young man from the village of Tavdem in Roshtkala district (approximately 20 km
east of Khurogh), who was accused of coercing an official in February 2020. The latter was alleged to
have sexually harassed a local girl from Tavdem. During this operation by the security forces, Ziyobekov was fatally injured under contested circumstances.
As a reaction, a demonstration by residents of GBAO began in front of the regional administration
building in Khurogh. They demanded an investigation into the circumstances of Ziyobekov's death, the withdrawal of most of the military stationed in Khorog, the dismantling of the military checkpoints in Khorog, and the removal of the newly-appointed Governor Mirzonabot.
Two demonstrators were killed and several injured by shots fired by security forces into the crowd. Members of security forces and Governor Mirzonabot were also injured during the events. Reacting to the demonstration, the authorities immediately blocked the internet in GBAO on November 25, 2021
Internet access has not been restored in Khorog and the neighboring districts of GBAO since
November 25, 2021. This has had serious implications for the education, banking and economic
spheres and undermined the confidence of parts of the civilian population in promises made by the authorities. The regional authorities have justified the fact that the internet has not been
restored with the alleged fear that “certain groups in Europe” might instigate further conflicts.
The central authorities also continued to intimidate and prosecute protesters. On December 9, 2021, an article in a governmental newspaper announced the beginning of investigations against protesters by the public prosecutor. Many people who had taken part in the demonstrations of November 25–28, 2021, were summoned for interrogation by the State Committee on National Security. A travel ban was imposed on some of them and criminal cases for cutting trees, that we used to block access, were started against 13 of them. In cooperation with Russian law-enforcement which is present in Tajikistan, the Tajik authorities also took legal measures against several prominent youth representatives from GBAO who live abroad.

author: PI


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The cinematic grand finale of Nigeria’s late star actress, Rachel Oniga · Global Voices
Ayọ̀délé Ìbíyẹmí

Nollywood's Rachel Oniga (1957-2021). Image by Culture Custodian, used with permission.
This article by Ayọ̀délé Ìbíyẹmí was previously published on Culture Custodian. An edited version, with some contextual additions, is re-published here with the permission of the author and the original publishers.
Until her death on the last day of July 2021, Rachel Oniga (1957-2021) was one of Nigeria’s most prolific movie stars, making her one of the few actresses qualified to be called a “Nollywood Mother.” For close to three decades, she took on all kinds of mother roles in Nollywood movies, delivering each role with panache and ease.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s go back to the beginning. Oniga started her Nollywood career as a costumier. Prior to this, she had worked briefly at Ascoline Nigeria Limited, a Dutch consultancy firm.
As a costumier, she was hired to assist the costume department on the set of Tade Ogidan’s “Owo Blow.” With some experience from acting in the 1996 blockbuster “Onome,” she was chosen to play the lead role when the lead actress did not show up. Oniga delivered a great performance in the social drama that exemplified the plight of many Nigerians in the '90s. The rest is Nollywood history. The memorable acting she delivered in the role as the widowed mother of young children launched her career as one of Nollywood’s finest mother figures.
Oniga, who died at the age of 64, was accomplished in an industry that moved too fast and forced stars to act in too many movies. She was not the most popular actress in the industry but she was modestly popular and created an enduring impression. Her popularity is hinged on her ability to make an impression on her audience. She was also remarkable because she succeeded in the Yorùbá section of Nollywood despite not being of Yorùbá heritage.
Her hometown of Eku in Delta State is closer to Asaba, the commercial nerve centre of another section of the movie industry. But she did not break out in Asaba as a regional champion; she broke out in Lagos, the actual headquarters of the industry.
Another of Oniga’s remarkable performances came in “Oduduwa,” the story of Yorùbá’s divine founding king. Her performance in the movie took her place as a Yorùbá actress to a whole new level.
Oniga's age and place in the industry made her play the role of mother in several movies and it was a full-circle moment seeing her take on the role of mother again in one of her last movies, this time as a well-to-do, Ikoyi-based widowed mother of three grown men.
Released five months after her passing, Oniga’s latest project entitled “A Naija Christmas” is arguably Nigeria’s first Christmas movie. Although we have had movies featuring the holiday season in Nigeria, this Netflix film was designed solely in the spirit of the holiday — it was Nigeria’s way of joining the Western culture of Christmas movies. With Christmas being the most popular holiday period globally, marking the end of a Gregorian year, and a huge celebration for Nigeria’s over 80 million Christians, a Christmas holiday movie was a welcome addition.
“A Naija Christmas” is the simple but enchanting story of a mother’s desire to become a grandmother. Starring Oniga as the wealthy mother of three single men, the movie is the story of an Igbo family living in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos. The first son, Ugo is a playboy music executive heavily in debt, followed by Obi who is unable to decide which woman to settle down with, and Chike, who is having an affair with a married woman.
The family drama is enjoyable with a smart combination of archetypes that are relatable. When the mother declares that the family house would go to the son who marries first, Ugo reaches out to his old flings in an attempt to marry, inherit the house and sell it to pay off his debts.
Desperate to find a wife, Ugo crosses part with Ajike, a singer who represents the members of the aspiring “lower class” who are always useful to the “upper class.” She is an important member of the church choir who comes from Mushin, a low-income area of Lagos where the church women’s group intends to hold their Christmas outreach. The tension between the rich and the urban poor in Lagos is laid bare in the movie, albeit in a simplistic, unsophisticated way. The characters from poor backgrounds are stereotyped in their portrayal and Ajike’s character as being from the area is not totally convincing.
One of Nigerian actor and film producer Kunle Afolayan's strengths is his understanding of actors’ abilities and his casting. Lateef Adedimeji, who usually plays the role of Yorùbá Nollywood’s social conception of an “effeminate” man did so well as the “hard” Tony Torpedo, a loan shark who extorts his debtors. Adedimeji combined his on-screen persona with the interpretation of the role and delivered to viewers a sociopathic loan shark who cries at some point. Other characters also deliver their roles convincingly and like all holiday movies, the knotty situations in the plot are all resolved.
Segilola Ogidan’s performance as Ajike is highly commendable and this might be her own “Owo Blow” moment as she steals the show in all her scenes. Even though it is not her debut, this might be the movie that introduces her to a wider Nollywood audience as a versatile actress. Nonetheless, the star of the movie remains Oniga who delivered her role like she knew it was a valedictory performance. Her demise makes it easy to interpret the acting in that way, but the delivery is normal for her — she has done it in over 100 movies locally and internationally for almost three decades, in both Yorùbá and English languages.
In one of fate’s many attempts at humour, Oniga had her breakout role as a poor widow in “Owo Blow” and ends her career as a wealthy widow in “A Naija Christmas.” Apart from Oniga, the only other similarity between the two movies is Pat Nebo, Nollywood’s longest-serving set designer. Oniga’s husband in “Owo Blow” died in prison but her husband in “A Naija Christmas” did not even feature in the story. In real life, Oniga was divorced before she became a public figure.
Oniga stayed working until her passing, refusing to drop the ball until her very last role in this year's “Chief Daddy 2: Going For Broke.” You can also find her in recent movies such as “Progressive Tailors Club” and “My Village People.” As several iterations of Nollywood history come out every now and then, we hope Rachel Oniga continues to get her due as one of the actors who gave Nollywood a solid footing in the country and globally.

author: Ayọ̀délé Ìbíyẹmí


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Seven African comics and graphic novels that center Black experiences are being adapted to film · Global Voices
Njeri Wangari

“Ireti” is billed as the first “African female superhero.” Image Source Comic Republic. Used with permission
When “Black Panther,” an American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics eponymous character, debuted in 2018, it marked a major milestone as one of the first Black heroes in mainstream American superhero films. With its enormous success, the hit film also highlighted the representational void in how Africans are portrayed in Hollywood and the comic genre.
While locally produced superhero comics written by Africans for Africans have been gaining fandom since the late 1980s, the popularity of African comics skyrocketed in 2016, largely due to the rise of superhero films, such as those made by Marvel Studios.
Captain Africa was the first African comic and superhero comic to go global. Written and illustrated by Ghanaian Andy Akman in the 1980s and published by African Comics Limited, a Nigerian publisher, its acclaim slowly waned in the 1990s  until it quietly faded into oblivion.
Despite its disappearance, Captain Africa became the foundation that inspired a new generation of independent artists and comic publishers around the continent. These African comic creators have been telling stories that appeal to a real African readership who yearn for more diversity, representation, and authenticity in their stories.
Blank Panther smashed the glass ceiling for African superheroes and set a precedent for how African and Black comic creators could “transition” their comic heroes from print to screens to tap into the booming geek market and a legion of global fans.
In October 2020, Warner Brothers announced that it would adapt a feature film version of “BLACK,” a comic book created by Kwanza Osajyefo and Tim Smith 3. “BLACK” tells the story of how one young man survives a violent event only to realize that he has powers. He’s soon pursued by a secret consortium that wants to control his abilities. The comic explores a dual reality where only Black people have superhero powers.
If you’ve not read BLACK by Kwanza Osajyefo, Tim Smith 3, and Jamal Igle, you should order a copy now. It’s a book perhaps more than any other made for this moment, supposing what would happen in the real world if Black people and only Black people suddenly manifest superpowers. pic.twitter.com/Qgt37ps4rO
— Comics Bookcase (@ComicsBookcase) June 3, 2020
Kwanza, who began his career as an intern at Marvel Entertainment, came up with the concept for “BLACK” over a decade ago and was able to print the comic’s six issues following a Kickstarter campaign which helped him and his co-creators raise USD 90,000 to launch the project.
The series received critical acclaim and has become a prime example of diversity and representation in comics. The creators are already working on the sequel, “WHITE,” which explores what happens when America finds out about Black people with superhero powers.
“AYA“ is a 2013 French animated film directed by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie based on their graphic novel “Aya of Yop City.”
Before its adaptation into film, “Aya of Yop City” had become a hugely popular comic series translated into 15 languages about life in 1970s Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Published between 2005–2010, the series contains six volumes tracing author Marguerite Abouet’s childhood memories. Marguerite grew up in Yopougon, a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Abidjan.
Following the film’s release, it soon became a winning blend of a soap opera and a comedy, earning a nomination for a Best Animated Film French César Award in 2014.
“Malika” is an African Historical Fantasy Graphic Novel inspired by a real 16th-century West African warrior, Queen Amina of Zazzau.
The film adaptation of “Malika” premiered on YouTube In October 2019 following a Kickstarter campaign that helped raise USD 10,000 from 285 backers. Though it did not receive the runaway success of adaptations such as Aya, it received rave reviews from critics and fans.
The comic, which was released in March 2016 in three volumes, follows the exploits of Malika, the nation’s Queen and military commander, who struggles to keep the peace in her ever-expanding empire.
The comic was created by Roye Okupe who hails from Lagos, Nigeria. His passion for animation led him to found YouNeek Studios in 2012, a venture that would allow him to pursue his dream of creating a diverse library of superheroes.
YouNeek has since raised more than USD 70,000 on Kickstarter to adapt their other comic book series such as “E.X.O.,” “WindMaker,” and “Iyanu” into films.
“Ireti” is billed as the first “African female superhero” feature film. Nigeria’s Comic Republic — Africa’s largest publisher of independent comics — signed a production deal with Emagine Content and JackieBoy Entertainment to greenlight the flick.
The brainchild of Michael “Balox” Balogun with illustrations by Yussuf Adeleye, “Ireti” tells the story of Ireti Bidemi, a university student in Ibadan, Nigeria, who fights crime in style after being blessed with the powers of an ancient warrior-queen.
While “Ireti” is the first of Comics republic’s catalog set for adaptation to film and TV, many more are in the works, including “Aje,” a fantasy comic inspired by Yoruba spirituality and mysticism, and “The Vanguards” inspired by an Avengers-style team of superheroes.
Considered to be one of the most circulated comics in the world with more than 1.4 million copies sold in 16 countries every month, “Super Strikas” is a pan-African association football-themed comic book series that has been in publication since 2000.
First published in South Africa, the comic’s distribution spread to the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa by 2002. It is arguably the first African comic to enjoy immense commercial success in the form of global headlines, sponsorship, product placements, as well as full-page advertisements.
The title became an animated TV series in 2009 produced in Malaysia by Animasia Studio and South Africa’s Strika Entertainment.
“Supa Strikas” combines humor, action, technology, and exploration in the context of football matches. The story centers around the team’s youngest striker, Shakes, whom many believe is the best striker in the world. The themes explored include self-actualization, fair play, teamwork, and respect.
“Strike Guard” is an ebook comic series set in Lagos, Nigeria, which revolves around a fictional character named Bolaji Coker an undergraduate student who is possessed by the Yoruba demi-God Ajagbeja. He has the chance to come back to life with Ajagbeja’s spirit using his body as a host. Young Ayodele agrees and becomes the Lagos crimefighter, Strike Guard.
Rooted in Yoruba spirituality and culture, the series also incorporates the contemporary African lifestyle and was created by Ayodele Elegba- a seasoned veteran in the Nigerian comic and animation industry who began his comics career as a writer in 1999.
The first animation short of Strike Guard was produced by SPOOF! Animation in 2016. It premiered at the 2017 Lagos Comic-Con.
Yasuke, the Netflix anime series inspired by the African Samurai
Whereas “Yasuke,” the Netflix Anime series about an African Samurai that premiered in April 2021, doesn’t strictly fit into this category of comic books that have been adapted to film, it is worthy of a mention.
Yasuke was an African who became a samurai of one of medieval Japan’s most famous warlords in 16th-century Feudal Japan. He transformed through centuries into the mythical legend featured in numerous manga comics and into a popular culture icon outside of Japan.
Following its premiere, The Yasuke Netflix series was hailed as a “full-circle moment” among Black anime fans. Its significance as a turning point in the depiction of a Black animation hero has further reignited the discourse on the representation and stereotypical characterization of Black characters in cinema.
This article had erroneously credited Somto Ajuluchukwu as the creator of the Strike Guard comic series, it has since been updated to credit Ayodele Elegba as the creator.

author: Njeri Wangari


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In Hong Kong, foreign domestic workers face an ’emerging crisis’ as COVID-19 limits housing, travel options · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

J in her previous employer’s home. Photo via Hong Kong Free Press. used with permission.
The following report was published in Hong Kong Free Press on February 17, 2022. It is republished on Global Voices via a content partnership agreement.
A 35-year-old Filipina foreign domestic worker who had her visa application denied was forced to live on the streets of Hong Kong for two nights after testing positive for COVID-19. The case has generated widespread sympathy and complaints about Hong Kong's insufficient resources for migrants. It comes as a migrant workers’ support group warns of an “emerging crisis.”
J, who wished to remain anonymous, told HKFP on Thursday that she had been living in a park in Hong Kong's Yau Ma Tei district since testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. She was scheduled to fly back to the Philippines on Wednesday following a visa denial.
J was asymptomatic and was told by the hospital to quarantine at home as the hospital was at capacity. However, the 35-year-old did not have a place to return to as she had resigned from her previous employment over poor living conditions and was denied a visa to work for a new employer. Domestic workers must legally “live in” with their employers.
The migrant worker reached out to the Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions (FADWU) for help, and the group provided her with a tent, a sleeping bag, facemasks, some cleaning supplies, as well as some food.
“I’m freezing because of the weather [it’s] very cold,” J said. “I really don’t [know] what to do.”
Temperatures in Hong Kong are expected to drop to 10 degrees Celsius during the weekend.
In a press statement addressed to the Director of Immigration Au Ka-wang, FADWU said they tried calling the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), but the line was occupied.
The group said they also tried calling the Home Affairs Department’s “StayHomeSafe” hotline but was told that “the hotline only provides support to home quarantine people who have been issued with a home quarantine order by the Health Department.”
Supplies given to J by the FADWU. Photos via the Hong Kong Free Press. Used with permission.
FADWU said that J terminated her contract with her previous employer after the employer did not provide her with reasonable accommodation.
According to a video seen by HKFP, J had to sleep on the floor next to a shoe cabinet, washing machine, and dryer.
Another NGO, HELP for Domestic Workers, has since contacted J. The group’s Executive Director Manisha Wijesinghe told HKFP that there was an “emerging crisis” after the government increased testing and more domestic workers tested positive.
“So in the last two days, we have got quite a number of crisis phone calls from domestic workers who have tested positive for Covid, and [are] having difficulty finding places to stay,” said Wijesinghe.
The executive director said that the organization was also dealing with other five cases of foreign domestic workers struggling to find shelter. She said that three of the five cases were eventually sent to the government’s quarantine facility at Penny’s Bay, while the other two workers had to sleep overnight in hospital carparks.
Wijesinghe said that one of the two workers was on her way back to the Philippines when she tested positive during her pre-flight test, while the other was told by her employer not to return to the residence after she tested positive.
“We understand the increasing number of cases and issue, but I think with these domestic workers not having a place of residence to go back to, the fact that they’re sleeping out means it is a danger to the general public as well, because these are Covid-positive patients who may be engaging with the larger population, and increasing the possibility of infection,” the executive director said.
The group said they received help from government departments, but the authorities were “completely overwhelmed” and multiple calls were needed to order to get through.
Wijesinghe said that they were looking at a more sustainable solution in the long run. Apart from assisting with permanent accommodations, the group is also providing temporary measures including tents and sleeping bags, as Wijesinghe urged people to support their initiatives.
Caritas Medical Centre in Sham Shui Po. Photo: Kenny Huang / Studio Incendo. Used with permission.
“I think the way the Omicron wave is going, this is just the tip of the iceberg and this will be an emerging problem over the next few weeks,” said the executive director.
HELP for Domestic Workers later told HKFP they would assist J with accommodation from Thursday night.
Eni Lestari, the chairperson of the International Migrants Alliance, said that her group also received calls from Indonesian migrant workers after they tested positive, and is currently facilitating at least two cases.
Lestari said that the group eventually contacted the Indonesian consulate after calling the department, and the consulate eventually put one of the workers in a designated quarantine hotel.
Eni Lestari, chairperson of the International Migrants Alliance. Photo: Candice Chau/HKFP. Used with permission.
The migrant activist said that a lot of foreign domestic workers had to rely on their employers for information about the Covid-19 pandemic and the latest social distancing rules.
“The community are in the dark… we are in the dark on all the new changes of information but also on what to do,” said Lestari.
The chairperson also said that more domestic workers had been denied their day off since the Omicron outbreak, and even when migrant workers were given days off, often they were told to stay near the household.
Hong Kong reported 6,116 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, all but nine originated locally. pic.twitter.com/D1lxp0iW5S
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) February 17, 2022
Lestari also said that there was a double-standard when it came to employers of foreign domestic workers restricting social events: “What is the difference between you going out, going to the office, meeting your friends – some still go to yum cha, you still hang out with friends… [and] with us? So I think that’s one thing that Hong Kong employers must really consider…” said Lestari.
Hong Kong has recorded 37,071 infections and 242 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic over two years ago.
HKFP has reached out to the Department of Health for comment and received no response as of the publication of this article.

author: Hong Kong Free Press


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Is authorizing the passage of Cubans through Nicaragua a political tool? · Global Voices
Luis Rodriguez

Illustration by Giovana Fleck
This article was written anonymously by an author in Cuba, using the fictional name “Luis Rodriguez.”
Following the thwarted rallying cry for change that took place on November 15, 2021, and the exile of leader Yúnior Garcia Aguilera, it appears that the spark of rebellion and opposition has been subdued in Cuba. The country's prospects could not look worse: inflation shot up and the scarcity and need for medicine and food have worsened. The inefficiency of the Cuban government, coupled with the U.S. blockade, has exacerbated our humanitarian crisis.
In a setting where the quality of life continues to deteriorate, many Cubans have chosen to flee the country at whatever cost. As in previous years, emigration continues to be a way of escaping, before both the economic and political crises completely engulf the nation.
The number of Cuban migrants detained at the U.S. border doubled between 2020 and 2021. This reached a peak in December 2021, when a total of 8,199 Cubans were detained. Daily, hundreds of Cubans look for flights to Managua, Nicaragua.
Many analysts both on and off the island have interpreted Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's unexpected announcement on November 22, 2021 to authorise free visas to Cuban citizens wishing to travel to Nicaragua as a political favour to Cuba. It is seen as a ploy to lessen the internal pressure Cuba has faced since the protests of July 11, 2021, and to encourage those likely to be involved in new social protests to leave the country. Officially, the measure was granted to “promote commercial exchange, tourism and humanitarian family relations.”
According to independent journalist Yoani Sánchez, the director of media platform 14ymedio, whose access is blocked on the island:
With the move it has just made, the Cuban regime is ensuring that Joe Biden will soon have a headache, and there will be a major internal discussion due to the sizeable increase in the number of migrants from the island. At the same time, it is ridding the country of the most nonconformist and rebellious within the national territory, those who could lead the next social outburst in the style of the one that occurred on 11 July.
This strategy from the Cuban regime is nothing new, although it has always tried to show the world an image of loyalty to socialism. Both the Mariel crisis of 1980 and “los balseros” in 1994 have served the regime as a way of reducing the internal discontent that totalitarianism has always caused in Cuba.
Brian Latell, a former scholar at the University of Miami's Institute of Cuban and Cuban American Studies has defended this thesis. He stated in his biography of Fidel Castro that the migratory exoduses of Cubans to the United States have historically been the strategy utilised by the Cuban regime to export discontent.
Until 2015, the majority of Cubans attempting to reach the U.S. relied on Ecuador’s decision not to require visas for Cuban citizens, and this predictably spurred a wave of Cubans migrating with the aim of reaching the U.S. In this context, many Cubans have lost their lives and were victims of criminal groups dedicated to people trafficking.
Similarly, Nicaragua had acted as a kind of containment wall for irregular migration to the U.S. in Central America. Arturo Cruz, the former Nicaraguan ambassador to the U.S., led negotiations with the U.S. in 2008, aiming to control drug trafficking, terrorism, and migration.
In 2019, following a relaxation in the process of granting visas and the shortage of goods in Cuba, trips to Nicaragua to buy products that are impossible to obtain on the island became notorious for Cubans. Now, with the decision that came into effect in January 2022, when flights resumed after pandemic restrictions eased, Cuban migrants would save around 1,600 kilometres on their journey to Mexico.
Some analysts, including Yoani Sánchez, allege that behind this decision lies another objective: to use Nicaragua as a springboard and generate a new migration crisis for the U.S. on its border with Mexico. This idea is supported by the Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who said:
This summer, I expressed my concern and warned that the Cuban regime would use mass migration as a weapon after the historic 11 July protests. The Ortega-Murillo regime is aiding the Cuban dictatorship by eliminating the visa requirements, to instigate mass migration to our Southern border.
In 2017, then-U.S. President Barack Obama put an end to the policy of “wet foot, dry foot” for Cubans, which for 20 years had allowed Cubans to stay in the U.S., even if they had migrated irregularly.
But for journalist Yoani Sánchez, “the US administration may take the matter in a very different way to the one Havana projects, and the escape of thousands of Cubans would also leave many effects on an already ageing society.”
The most anticipated consequences of this crisis are on a social level; even if the Cuban regime manages to temporarily ease internal pressure and the new waves of opposition it has been dealing with, it will cause even greater demographic damage to the nation with the fastest-growing aged population in Latin America. Currently, there are many professionals and young people who are selling their homes and properties to afford a journey full of various obstacles and dangers.
If the Cuban regime does not see this exodus as the most visible signal for the political change that Cuba needs, it could lead not only to its political suicide but the continuous agony and suffering of a nation.

author: Luis Rodriguez


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Pacific media groups rally behind suspended Papua New Guinea journalist · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A Photo of journalist Sincha Dimara and EMTV News from a post by Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Journalist Sincha Dimara, one of the most well-known journalists in Papua New Guinea, learned on February 7 that she was suspended for three weeks without pay. Dimara is the Head of News and Current Affairs at EMTV, Papua New Guinea’s main public television news channel.
EMTV’s parent company, Media Niugini Limited (MNL), issued the suspension order after Dimara was accused of insubordination and damaging the reputation of the company. The allegations stemmed from Dimara’s decision to report on the ongoing court proceedings against Australian hotelier Jamie Pang whose charges related to producing, trafficking, and distributing narcotics were dismissed last month. Despite his acquittal, Pang was detained for breaching immigration law and firearm offenses.
EMTV released three reports about Pang tackling his legal status, lapses in the police investigation, and his employees’ concerns — seemingly questioning how the government handled the situation. This, apparently, did not sit well with a government minister who “requested” MNL do something about it. The Papua New Guinea government indirectly controls the EMTV through MNL.
The memo regarding Dimara’s suspension was leaked to the public and drew widespread condemnation in and outside of Papua New Guinea.
On February 8, the Interim Chief Executive Officer of EMTV claimed through a press statement that the “memo was taken out of context.”
At no time were EMTV's Journalists restricted nor stopped from reporting unfolding stories on the detained resident.
The memo was a result of alleged insubordination by staff towards verbal lawful instructions to drop stories sympathizing with Pang. EMTV is a responsible organization and will not be seen to sympathize with persons with questionable character.
The memo did not in any way restrict the journalists’ freedom of press, rather the memo was circulated to staff with the view to properly scrutinize the content of the news stories before they were aired that day.
But the Media Council of Papua New Guinea described the official’s reasoning as “shallow” and “bordering on intimidation of EMTV News Staff.” It also reminded MNL that other local media companies made similar reports about Pang:
The Council would also like to highlight that all Media houses reported the story of Pang being acquitted by the Courts, and the concerns of his employees.
It warned against “undue political influence” in the EMTV newsroom:
To resort to suspending its head of news for reasons of performing and complying to a ministerial directive based on personal or emotional reactions to social media comments about a story, reeks of undue political influence, and sets a dangerous precedent as the country moves into an Election Year. A time when strong independent news assessment will be key in news coverage.
Pacific media groups and journalists rallied to support Dimara, who has been with EMTV for 33 years. On Thursday, February 17, journalists from EMTV’s national news team staged a walkout to protest Dimara’s suspension.
#PapuaNewGuinea🇵🇬: [UPDATE] EMTV news team stage a walk out in protest of chief editor Sincha Dimara’s suspension. The team have condemned the “endless intimidation” of the news service and vowed not to return until “the wrongs have been righted.” https://t.co/jitbhtAKFG
— IFJ Asia-Pacific (@ifjasiapacific) February 18, 2022
Other news personnel took to social media to criticize the suspension. Journalist Scott Waide criticized the actions of the Interim Chief Executive Officer of EMTV:
The suspension of EMTV News Manager, Sincha Dimara, reeks of external influence on the company's top management.
A CEO is a buffer between staff and any external pressure. You need a heart of steel and buckets of bravery to fend off political pressure.
There is another way to correct coverage that does not “fit the aspirations” of a news organization – it's called LEADERSHIP.
Journalist Tania Fewec Bale lauded Dimara’s decision to continue reporting on an issue that can affect public interest:
When a TV CEO comes down to the newsroom and pulls a story for anything other than legal reasons, that is a direct breach of media freedom. When a newsroom runs the story anyway, that's NOT insubordination, that's upholding media freedom. That's a warrior move Sincha Dimara.
Pacific Freedom Forum co-chair Robert Iroga called for the reinstatement of Dimara:
We stand in solidarity with our EMTV wantoks [close comrade], and all our media family across Papua New Guinea who work in often difficult situations, to ensure the people are informed and know what is happening. Reporting the proceedings of court cases is an important part of the news cycle and the public interest, and we hope Ms Dimara can be reinstated quickly.
Kora Nou, president of the Pacific Islands News Association, noted that there are other ways to address the problem related to the news coverage without suspending Dimara:
From the letter of suspension of the head of News & Current Affairs, Ms Sincha Dimara, it is fair to say that the management has reacted quite harshly by suspending her without pay. The news selection on the Pang court proceedings and subsequent suspension of Ms Dimara could have been better dealt with internally.
He urged Pacific media members to defend press freedom:
In light of the current situation at EMTV in Papua New Guinea, I encourage all news organisations to always uphold and protect your editorial independence at all cost; this is what defines you as an independent and impartial media outlet.
MLN has faced criticism in the past for suspending and silencing journalists. EMTV News Chief Neville Choi was suspended in 2018 and fired in 2019 for “insubordination” after releasing a number of critical reports related to the APEC summit and national Defense Force spending. After his dismissal, the newsroom went on an all-out strike, and he was reinstated two days later. Similarly, senior journalist Scott Waide was suspended in 2018 after criticizing government spending.
Meanwhile, Pang continues to face additional charges as reported by the police.

author: Mong Palatino


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Russian influence in North Macedonia is particularly present around key political events, disinformation researcher says · Global Voices
Metamorphosis Foundation

Rosana Aleksoska. Courtesy photo used with her permission.
This interview conducted by  Ana Anastasovska was originally published by Truthmeter.mk. An edited version is republished here under a content-sharing agreement between Global Voices and Metamorphosis Foundation.
The NGO MOST, based in Skopje, North Macedonia, recently published the study “Disinformation and information distortion in North Macedonia,” which analyzed dominant narratives in 2020 in a sample of 2,658 articles from 211 portals and Facebook pages and groups. Fact-checking service Truthmeter.mk talked to Rosana Aleksoska, one of the authors of the study, about the main properties of ongoing disinformation campaigns that undermine democracy.
Truthmeter: What are the five general or 5D techniques of disinformation?
Rosana Aleksoska (RA): The Five Disinformation Techniques is a concept that originally included four elements: Dismiss, Distort, Distract, and Dismay. With the addition of the fifth element, Divide, the initial concept evolved into the 5D of misinformation.
Dismiss: if someone does not like criticism then, instead of facts and arguments, they attack with insults. Women in politics, marginalized groups or smaller ethnic communities are often the targets of such insults.
Distort: twisting the facts to produce a half-truth, which is more dangerous than a completely fabricated lie. One example is distortion in the reporting about the July 2021 Black Sea Incident involving British warship HMS Defender and Russian navy. Over 70 percent of articles about the event in North Macedonia contained only the Russian side of the story. Only 19 percent used information from British sources, often manipulated in favor of the Russian narrative.
Distract: defocusing the public attention from certain key events, or historical achievements, like the flood of disinformation about the harmfulness of the 5G network in North Macedonia around March 27, 2020, the day it became a member of NATO.
Dismay: when a country pursues a policy and chooses a course that is supported by the majority of citizens, as North Macedonia has chosen Euro-Atlantic integration, and then dismay happens by third countries that dislike the chosen path.
Divide: it uses every opportunity to divide citizens along political party, ethnic and religious lines, as well as between countries.
Front page of MOST study “Disinformation and Information Distortion in North Macedonia,” Dec 2021.
The use of these techniques is followed by the amplification of the disinformation via a number of known and anonymous pro-Russian and anti-Western portals, each tied to well-developed social media infrastructures.
The study, published by Fighting Fake News Narratives (F2N2) project in December 2021, analyzed the information on the assistance provided to deal with COVID-19 from various countries and international entities. It noted that articles related to aid from China and Russia were largely amplified through the social media networks, resulting in a much higher number of Facebook posts about the aid from these countries than other countries and entities, disproportionate to their real contribution.
Truthmeter: According to the 2021 Media Literacy Index,  assessing the potential for resistance to fake news in 25 European countries, North Macedonia is at the bottom — a position it has held since 2017. What are the main sources of disinformation in North Macedonia and why is our country at the bottom of the list?
RA: Our report lists the reasons why North Macedonia is at the bottom. One of them is [the low quality of] education and, consequently, the high level of distrust in science.
In addition to media literacy, it is worth mentioning the GLOBSEC research on the vulnerability of Central European and Western Balkan countries to the influences of Russia and China, in which Macedonian society is in the middle of the ladder with a vulnerability index of 40 out of 100. Factors contributing to this situation include the fragmentation of society, political polarization, as well as [exploiting] ethnic and religious differences…
In terms of sources of disinformation, our study identified several groups of pro-Russian and anti-Western portals with a well-developed Facebook disinformation infrastructure.
Truthmeter: Is there a foreign influence in North Macedonia and how is it reflected?
RA: Of course, there is. What we have noticed is that this influence extends to key periods and events for the country, especially when it comes to Euro–Atlantic integration. At every key event in this process, disinformation campaigns or information operations have been reported to distract attention from these historic achievements, attacking the West, and discrediting various figures, including Western institutions.
What is important to note is that this harmful foreign influence comes from authoritarian and liberal countries and it can be characterized as “sharp power.” This means that, while these authoritarian regimes suppress freedom of speech and violate human rights in their countries, they also abuse open democratic societies by promoting and imposing illiberalism and authoritarianism abroad. This “sharp” authoritarian influence in the young and vulnerable democracies of the Western Balkans penetrates or perforates their information space, trying to influence citizens through manipulation and distortion of information.
This process takes place through multiple agents of influence and information operations, both foreign and domestic, who are positioned at different levels and with different roles. The primary focus of disinformation narratives in North Macedonia, and in the Balkans, is to further polarize and divide.
Truthmeter: The study places particular emphasis on anti-EU and anti-NATO propaganda in North Macedonia. How did you notice it and how is it placed in the Macedonian media?
RA: As I said, one of the disinformation techniques is a distraction, which was especially noticeable in our country during key achievements or events related to Euro–Atlantic integration, so we witnessed two disinformation campaigns directed against the EU and NATO, respectively.
The first, ironically titled “Blanket for You,” was part of the anti-EU narrative “EU does not help North Macedonia/the Balkans” and aimed to downplay EU assistance to North Macedonia in dealing with COVID-19.
It followed the announcement from the then EU Ambassador, Samuel Žbogar, that North Macedonia would receive assistance through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, which included, among other things, 1,000 blankets. An immediate anti-EU narrative “Blanket for You” emerged in the form of campaign with ironic twist of the slogan “EU for you.” This can be interpreted as an attempt to cover up the information that North Macedonia received 66 million Euros from the EU to deal with the new coronavirus, a fact willfully ignored by all actors involved in the campaign.
The second campaign was conducted around March 27, 2020, the day when North Macedonia joined NATO. It was aimed at distracting the public from this historic achievement, which is a strategic goal of the country since its independence and has consistently high support from citizens. Unfortunately, this well organized and coordinated campaign incited fear and panic by claiming that NATO is imposing the 5G network. Another Anti-NATO narrative further exploited the COVID-19 pandemic by attempting to discredit the Defender Europe 20 military exercise [as a superspreader event], through disinformation that alleged arrival of 70,000 US troops in Germany has caused panic across Europe.
These two examples show that the topics used for disinformation are most often emotional, something to which people react, such as their health, or the health of children, security, identity issues, interethnic relations, etc.
Truthmeter: Currently, the situation with Russia and Ukraine is top news. Is there a glorification of Russia in North Macedonia? What do the narratives in the public and media space reveal?
RA:  Most of the narratives directed against the West, the US, the EU or NATO, include direct or indirect promotion or glorification of Russia. A number of factors are (mis)used, such as the legacy of communism, Slavic origin and religion, and the openness of democratic societies.… These  disinformation and propaganda operations are often based on reinforcing existing misconceptions and biases.
Russian attempts to expand its “sphere of influence” to the region can't be reconciled with the fact that almost all Balkan countries have already become NATO members.
Russia applies similar strategies as against Ukraine. There, in addition to the hybrid war waged since the occupation of Crimea in 2014, the Kremlin promotes narratives that a sovereign state should not to run its foreign policy according to the interests of its citizens, but according to Russian interests. All this, from the suffering of Ukrainian citizens, with more than 14,000 lives lost, to violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, is contrary to the basic principles of international relations ensuring peace and security.
The glorification of Russia, among other things, is carried out through interconnected networks of foreign and domestic agents of influence, that often act very subtly.
One of the latest examples is [belittling] reactions to the 24 January statements by the Minister of Defense Slavjanka Petrovska that North Macedonia respects and supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and that, as part of NATO the Army is considering troop deployment scenarios.
What was surprising is that certain structures in society still behave as if North Macedonia is not a member of NATO, although it will be almost two years since its accession to NATO. NATO is above all an alliance, which means that we have entered into a defense-security alliance with the other 29 member states and of course, we should take part in any defense operation that NATO is undertaking or plans to undertake.

author: Metamorphosis Foundation