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Cambodia’s Freedom Park, a Site of Protest and Symbol of Free Expression, Reopens · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Dismantling the barricades: Designated place of peaceful demo re-opened to public #FreedomPark #Cambodia #HumanRights pic.twitter.com/QcvDzW3cem
— Rebecca Corn (@BecCorn) August 6, 2014
Police removed the barricades and razor wires surrounding Cambodia’s Freedom Park in the capital city of Phnom Penh after local authorities ordered its reopening. The park was closed to the public in January when it became the main site of protest actions against the government.
The opposition has been staging mass actions since last year after it rejected the July election results. It also boycotted the Parliament and called for an independent probe of the election process. The opposition accused the ruling party, which has been in power for more than three decades, of using fraud and violence to rig the polls.
Anti-government protests gathered strength when the opposition supported the strike of garment workers who have been demanding an increase in their monthly minimum wages. In January, protesters clashed with the police which led to the death of five garment workers. The government ordered the dispersal of protesters inside the Freedom Park and it outlawed the holding of public rallies. It also closed the park citing threats to national security.
On July 15, some opposition members tried to reclaim the park through the “Free the Freedom Park” action, but they were quickly apprehended by the police.
But on August 6, the Phnom Penh City Hall issued a statement allowing the reopening of the park after it claimed that “security and order had been restored” already:
Now that security, safety and public order have been restored to normalcy, the authorities have decided to open Freedom Park from today.
In the past, the park was abused, provoking incitement that led to violence, killings and destruction of public and private properties. Those abuses were contrary to the law on peaceful demonstrations and that was why the authorities decided to close the park.
Many cheered the removal of the metal barricades that blocked the park.
Awesome. MT @Sokha1510: The barbed wire being removed from #PhnomPenh #FreedomPark, August 6, 2014. pic.twitter.com/lmE4HIQP1u #Cambodia
— Tweet Cambodia (@tweetcambodia) August 6, 2014
Freedom park has been released. The wire barricades surrounding are already removed.#politicskh pic.twitter.com/QPiBYtfJU6
— OU RITTHY (KHMER) (@ritthyou) August 6, 2014
After months of government crackdown on #CNRP protests, the barricades were taken down this morning at #FreedomPark. pic.twitter.com/aXxOxVdlEy
— Thida Leiper (@thidaleiper) August 6, 2014
CNRP is the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party.
The opening of the park is seen as part of the agreement between the ruling party and the opposition after the latter decided to finally end their 10-month long boycott of the Parliament. A day before Freedom Park was reopened, the 55 opposition lawmakers took their oath as new members of the National Assembly.
CNRP's lawmakers at the National Assembly pic.twitter.com/I6GssEsG8f
— Alex Willemyns (@alexwillemyns) August 5, 2014
Some opposition members were at the Freedom Park to witness the removal of the blockade.
Marking the end and the beginning, #musochua and her #CNRP colleagues celebrate the reopening of #freedompark pic.twitter.com/aWlhcE9EqX
— Thida Leiper (@thidaleiper) August 6, 2014
Mu Sochua is an opposition lawmaker. She vowed to lead protests in the park if the agenda for reform of the opposition is ignored in the Parliament.
It is hoped that the reopening of the Freedom Park, which has become a symbol of freedom of expression in Cambodia, will lead to greater recognition of the people’s democratic rights.

author: Mong Palatino


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Caribbean Court of Justice Mired in Controversy · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press says that few people realise “that the vaunted Caribbean Court of Justice carries no actual power or authority”, partly because compliance with the court's decisions is apparently voluntary. Comparing the institution to a toothless bulldog, the post went on to provide links to reports on several incidents that are allegedly affecting the integrity and performance of the court, including lawsuits from former employees, a legal battle with a daily newspaper in Trinidad and Tobago, and quite damningly, reports of mismanagement and judicial misconduct.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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China Tightens Its Control of Popular Messaging App WeChat With Real-Name Registration  · Global Voices
Abby Liu

WeChat logo. Photo by Flickr user ldjjj. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
China’s Internet authority has issued a new rule mandating that all messaging app companies require users to register for services using their real names. The change is likely intended to target China’s most popular messaging app, WeChat.
The rule from the State Internet Information Office announced on Aug. 7, 2014, says that users can still use nicknames on their public profiles, but must use their real names when signing up for services. The office says the rule aims to “further promote the healthy and orderly development of public information services, protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations, and safeguard national security and public interests.”
The new regulation also says only official media accounts can post political news; other public accounts wishing to publish political news will now need to seek prior approval. Public WeChat accounts are typically used by individuals or companies to share news with subscribers. With the popularity of WeChat, they have become a major source of news for Chinese people.
WeChat has grown popular since 2012 and now has almost 400 million active users. During the WeChat crackdown earlier this year, over 100 public accounts were shut down.
WeChat has multiple privacy settings ranging from Peer to Peer Chat, to secret groups, open groups, public platforms where people can subscribe to friends’ news feeds. Despite the fact that WeChat is notorious for its spying practices, many Chinese activists still use the tool for communication, as it offers layers of privacy (or at least, a feeling of privacy) that services such as Sina Weibo do not.
Some see yesterday's change as a violation of privacy, and many worry that it could be used to track down users who help spread news critical of the government. An authority from the State Internet Information Office was quoted by Beijing News as saying, “The regulation helps protect the citizens’ freedom of expression.”
Since May 2014, parent company Tencent has been attempting to verify the real identities of the users behind public accounts by forcing the public account holders to upload their ID and mobile phone information. Before each message was sent to subscribers, the public account runner has to scan his or her own personal WeChat code. This way, Tencent can always find out whoever spread the “illegal”  message.
The same announcement was made about Twitter-like service Sina Weibo last year. Although people have found ways to circumvent the rule, the serious crackdown on public accounts on Sina Weibo had a chilling effect all over the country. With the new crackdown on mobile apps, people are likely to watch their words before they post anything sensitive on WeChat.

author: Abby Liu


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Chinese Soldiers Are Dancing to Viral Hit ‘Little Apple’ to Convince People to Enlist · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Screenshot from the Chinese Ministry of Defense's “Little Apple” recruitment video.
The Chinese Ministry of Defense is the latest to try their hand at the “Little Apple” music video meme, dubbed by some as China's “Gangnam Style,” with a version that promotes enlistment.
The video, which was released on on July 27, features footage of military jets and rockets as well as soldiers performing the dance seen in the original.
Charle Liu from the Nanfang.com translated the lyrics. The chorus goes:
There is no greater glory than to enlist in the military
Because a dream perseveres
It signifies that it is more valuable
Because a dream perseveres
It can reap lofty goals
Every young person has their own dream
Each dream has its shining glory
http://youtu.be/Oc9wXhi23V4
“Little Apple” is a music video produced and performed by Chopstick Brothers (Xiao Yang and Wang Taili) to promote the film “Old Boys: The Way of The Dragon.” The video parodies classic love stories including those of Adam and Eve and couples who were painfully separated during war in Korea. Some media have called “Little Apple” China's answer to Korean K-pop's “Gangnam Style.”
The song's chorus, translated into English, goes:
You are my little little apple
How much I love you, still not enough
Red smile warms my heart
Light my life's fire fire fire fire fire
You are my little little apple
Like the most beautiful clouds in the sky
Spring comes again
Flowers are in full bloom on a mountain slope
Planted hope will reap
A version of the video with English subtitles and sung in English is available on YouTube.
Since its release in May, the video has inspired many flash mobs and mash-ups. Perhaps the most well known one is a spoof of Kim Jong-Um — the North Korean leader's face along with Osama Bin Laden's and U.S. President Barack Obama's are superimposed onto existing footage of dancers.
The video, which was made by a Chinese web user, reportedly angered North Korea. Korean paper The Chosun Ilbo reported that the government was “furious” and asked China to ban the video from spreading. The Chinese government refused, and the story and video attracted worldwide attention.
The original “Little Apple” peaked at number one on the CCTV Global Chinese Music Chart for many weeks. Not everyone is a fan — some critics have described the song as trash with “brainwash tactics” in its musical loops.
As for the Chinese military's version, most of the comments on social media point out that the armed forces’ intention is to create a cute soldier image to appeal to young people. It is still difficult to tell whether the strategy is effective, but it reflects how Chinese political propaganda authorities are desperate to find a way to connect with younger generations.

author: Oiwan Lam


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How Much Infuence do Travel Blogs Have? · Global Voices
María Romina Mascareño

GV contributor Laura Schneider posts on her blog a survey by travel bloggers to know how much influence do travel blogs have when traveling.
You can participte and send your own survey until September 1. The results will be published on the network website..

author: María Romina Mascareño


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More Than a Half Century Later, How Should Jamaica View Its Independence Day? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican Independence Day celebrations. Photo taken from the WAVE: Galleries, Museums, Archives of Wolverhampton Flickr page. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Jamaica achieved its independence from British rule 52 years ago. Like the citizens of most Caribbean states, Jamaicans today wrangle with the ripple effects of the region's history, including social and economic challenges.
Like many other regional territories, Jamaica was “discovered” by Christopher Columbus for the Spanish crown in the 1490s; its indigenous population was effectively annihilated, either intentionally or as a result of diseases that the Spanish brought with them. Midway through the 1600s, the island was seized by the British and remained under colonial rule for the next two hundred years as a pawn in the heinous transatlantic slave trade, during which African slaves were brought to the island, primarily to work the sugar estates.
Emancipation in 1834 brought an economic, social and mental shift to Jamaica and the region as a whole, and signaled the beginning of the separation process from their collective — and forcibly adopted — mother country. These Caribbean territories began to make their intentions known as early as 1958, when they joined together to form the West Indies Federation, which was to function as a single-state political entity that would operate free from British rule. The arrangement failed — partly due to Jamaica's dissatisfaction with how slowly the process of gaining independence was going — and the federation was soon dissolved, allowing each member nation to forge ahead with breaking the chains of colonial rule on its own. Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago were the first to succeed, becoming independent states on Aug. 6, 1962 and Aug. 30, 1962, respectively. Other islands would follow suit well into the early 1980s.
But the road to self-governance has not always been smooth. The Westminster parliamentary system, which is strongly based on public opposition, didn't necessarily translate well to the psyche of a region that endured hundreds of years of human rights abuses and is still suffering its effects. The learning curve for a people who historically never had a say, continues to be a steep one, especially in a climate where corruption was already entrenched.
On the 52nd anniversary of their country's independence from British rule, a pair of Jamaican bloggers have reflected on the meaning of the occasion.
Jean Lowrie-Chin, whose post listed many of the island's achievements and compared its gains with what she deemed other less fortunate countries, cited a strong democracy, freedom of the press and citizens’ resourcefulness in the face of economic hardship as noteworthy things to celebrate:
I will listen to no ‘grinches’ today, those cynics trying to steal my joy in Emancipation and Independence. We keep talking ourselves into this ditch of despair, instead of raising our voices in thanks for our many blessings. If you think we are badly off, please check the international newscasts, where countries are at war and an airplane of ordinary passengers with everyday plans is shot out of the sky.
Her compatriot Nadine Tomlinson wrote about the country's progress and wondered whether “the child” that Jamaica was in 1962 would be proud of “the adult” it has become. She agreed with Lowrie-Chin that some of the island's greatest resources lie in its people, but suggested that Jamaicans are still held back from reaching their full potential, thanks to “psychological slavery”, adding that she saw “a dire need for an evolution of the collective mentality.”


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Mexico’s Minimum Wage is Criminally Low. Is It Unconstitutional? · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

A few of the items in an average family's food basket.  Photo courtesy of Juan Tadeo.
In Mexico, the working minimum wage varies geographically. In regions designated “A” (like Mexico City and various towns in the border states of Baja California, Nuevo León, and Sonora), people earn 67.29 pesos (about $5 USD) for an 8-hour workday.
How many workers in Mexico must subsist on this kind of pay? Journalist Juan Pablo Becerra Acosta has the answer:
No pocos ciudadanos. De acuerdo a los datos más recientes del INEGI, 6.7 millones de mexicanos perciben un salario mínimo. Eso representa 15.1 por ciento de la población ocupada en el país.
It's more than a few. According to the most recent data compiled by INEGI [the National Institute of Statistics and Geography], 6.7 million Mexicans earn minimum wage. This represents 15.1% of those employed in the country.
This statistic, incidentally, does not include people whose pay is off the books.
According to Article 123 of Mexico's Constitution, the country's minimum wage should be sufficient to provide the head of a household with the means to satisfy the family's material, social, and cultural needs and to ensure that any children receive an education.
In reality, however, what minimum wage salary afford Mexico's workers on a daily basis?
It turns out that 67.29 pesos is not enough to buy a single kilogram of average quality beef, the price of which is about 80 pesos (or $6 USD). On the other hand, the wage is enough to buy a kilo of tortillas, a kilo of eggs, and a liter of pasteurized milk—all of which are considered basic food items in the Mexican diet. With a somewhat happy belly, however, there is little money left over for other basic necessities, like transportation.
A one-way ticket on the Metro, one of the principal modes of transportation in the Mexican capital, runs 5 pesos. That means people in Mexico City spend at least 10 pesos a day—almost 15 percent of the minimum wage income—getting to and from work. In other words, after a full day of working for minimum wage, the average Mexican would not be able to buy a hamburger, french fries, and a beverage combo, the cost of which is closer to 70 pesos ($5.26 USD).
Fast food court in Mexico. Photo by Juan Tadeo, used with permission.
It is interesting to compare minimum wage with the earnings of public servants. During a month, an employee on minimum wage receives $2,018.70 pesos ($151.00 USD approximately) while the President Enrique Peña Nieto makes $142,117.76 pesos a month ($10,685.00 USD) according to official records. Talking about public servants of lower rank, a doctor working in the National Cancer Institute as head of a department, earns $28,027.09 pesos a month, equivalent to $ 2,107.00 USD.
One Twitter user made the following comparison:
#salariominimo en #mexico pic.twitter.com/8AYppcLEC1
— Maria (@Solociudadana) July 28, 2014
Caption reads: “$65 pesos for an 8-hour day would be $6 dollars in the U.S. vs $10 dollars for an hour of work would be 125 pesos in Mexico. But when Mexicans complain, they are told to stop being troublemakers and get back to work.”
Mexican Senator Alejandra Barrales of the leftist Party of the Democratic revolution recently shared the following data:
De 2000 a 2011 México tuvo el menor crecimiento salarial comparado con países de América Latina. #SalarioMínimo pic.twitter.com/sZQBuc5mBs
— Alejandra Barrales (@Ale_BarralesM) August 4, 2014
From 2000 to 2011 [during the PAN administrations], Mexico had one of the lowest wage growths of any Latin American country.
Barrales’ remarks responded to claims by the opposing National Action Party (PAN), which has positioned itself as a defender of Mexico's downtrodden workers. Commenting on the PAN's proposition to review wage rates, Twitter user Fher Garcia writes:
Si los panistas realmente quieren hacer algo por el #SalarioMinimo probablemente deberían empezar ellos ganando sólo eso
— Fher García (@fhergarciav) August 4, 2014
If members of the PAN really want to do something about the minimum wage, they should probably start by trying to live off it themselves.
If we consider what a person's salary ought to cover, based on the letter of the law, and contrast that with what a day's minimum-wage earnings actually buy, it raises serious concerns about how Mexico's current minimum wage fuels the profound class divisions that plague Mexican society today, perhaps violating the country's Constitution.

author: J. Tadeo


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Some See a Political Ploy in Trinidad & Tobago’s Proposed Constitutional Reform · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Photo taken from The Commonwealth's flickr page. Used under a CC BY-NC 2.0 license.
Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has tabled constitutional reform to the country's Parliament that would include a ten-year term limit for the office of prime minister (consecutive or not), the right to recall members of Parliament, and automatic run-offs when no candidate has more than 50 percent of the vote.
Many are observing this move with a healthy dose of skepticism. The People's Partnership (a coalition arrangement among various political parties headed by Persad-Bissessar) had outlined constitutional reform as a priority when they ran against the incumbent People's National Movement in 2010, but is only just getting around to doing anything about it. With general elections due next year and labour strikes, corruption scandals, escalating crime and concerns about the country's security forces overstepping their bounds a reality, this sudden interest in reforming the country's constitution — ostensibly to put more power in the hands of the people — reads to some like an act of desperation. Some suggest that it is an attempt to boost the government's approval ratings before citizens go to the polls, while others see more sinister motives.
The watchdog group SpeakOutT&T, which enjoys more than 10,000 likes on Facebook, questioned the timing of the proposal:
Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar wants to distract us from the embedded corruption of senior officials of her Govt in the $400M LifeSport programme […] so she has now come up with a half-arsed ‘Constitutional Reform’ distraction to get us all outraged and talking again.
Folks, by now you should realize there is a common pattern here. Every time there is a scandal with this government, another DISTRACTION comes up. But this time they're hoping this distraction could benefit them. […] Anyone who has any shred of common sense can very easily rip the inadequacies of the proposed changes apart. It's nothing but a shoddy attempt at trying to regain marginals that you lost or will not win.
The Eternal Pantomime, a blog which keeps a close eye on politics, admitted that it was wary of the government's intentions, but was even more concerned about the section dealing with run-off elections:
Third parties traditionally have the most impact in marginal seats, the majority of which are along the East-West corridor. Although, for a brief period, Jack Warner’s ILP looked like it could make inroads into the UNC support base, [see Global Voices’ coverage here] it now seems to have lost steam. Third parties and independent candidates also tend to offer alternatives to members of the electorate that are tired of the predatory politics currently on offer.
The blogger, Rhoda Bharath, foresaw a few challenges with the proposed constitutional amendments: voting along ethnic lines could become even more well rooted; any contender from outside a well-entrenched political party would need deep pockets to give the major players a run for their money, thereby limiting the electorate's options; and there would be a delay — as much as 15 days after a general election — “for winners to be announced, a Prime Minister to be appointed and a Cabinet to be sworn in, regardless of the fact that in essence we would have already selected a winner by casting votes.”
On Twitter, the reaction was mixed:
Don't be fooled: the PM's submissions on constitutional reform only serve to consolidate the two party system. #trinidad #politics @msjtnt
— Mark Langat (@MKLangat) August 5, 2014
“Constitutional reform is a distraction” smh I like idea of proportional representation, term limits & recall. #Trinidad
— Samuel Mohammed (@samuelmohammed) August 5, 2014
Interestingly, Trinidad and Tobago's close neighbour, Barbados, seemed to think the twin island republic is in an enviable position. Barbados Underground, one of the country's popular political blogs, wrote:
Barbadians were promised a Republican form of government in 2005 under a Barbados Labour Party government, 10+ years later this promise among others made by elected officials remain unfulfilled. It is a problem Barbadians have become frustrated by […] reflected in the increasing number of eligible voters who have deliberately not exercised their right to vote […]
In the face of evidence that any system is not working efficiently, sensible managers of the system will make changes. […] Yet we continue to hold up a system that is falling short as sacrosanct. Who will bell the cat? […] Against the background that change is needed to make our political system more relevant, the Kamla Persad-Bissessar Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) led government decision to propose constitutional reform is noteworthy. The T&T experience has been eventful compared to Barbados but there is no reason why learnings from T&T should not engineer proactivity on our part.
With the many missteps of the current administration, Trinidadians and Tobagonians may not exactly feel the same way.

author: Matthew Hunte


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Not a Peep From Turkey’s ‘Penguin’ Media About the Opposition · Global Voices
Ahmet A. Sabancı

After the Gezi protests, the Turkish mainstream media earned themselves the moniker “penguin media” because of their pro-government messaging and skewed portrayal of the protesters.
A depiction of Turkey's media as a penguin. Shared via a Gezi Park Pinterest account.
When Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his candidacy for the 2014 presidential election, to be held August 10, many expected a second wave of media manipulation. Once the electoral race began in earnest, the media failed to prove them wrong.
Most of the corporate mainstream media in Turkey appear reluctant to publish stories about other candidates. Rallies for the two opposition candidates Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu and Selahattin Demirtaş, who few think pose a major challenge to Erdoğan, typically attract a handful of reporters,compared to the droves that attend public gatherings for Erdoğan or his working visits across the country.
It is Erdoğan's meetings that claim the headlines, which themselves rarely differ significantly across outlets:
Cover of nine “different” media outlets in Turkey. Emotional, soppy headlines about Erdogan IST rally. MT @UOzkirimli pic.twitter.com/LmDVFM8x6r
— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) August 4, 2014
The bias on Turkish state television (TRT) is even clearer.
Statistics below show that TRT and its sister channels give almost six times more coverage to Erdoğan than one of his his two opponents, Selahattin Demirtaş. Demirtaş singled out TRT chief İbrahim Şahin for blame, warning him: “When I become president, I will fire you.” Şahin retorted: “If you continue to talk like that, I'll cut your broadcasts.”
Şahin's response stirred a political debate about subjectivity in the media, but deputy prime minister Bülent Arınç leaped to his defence: “Of course TRT will focus on Erdoğan [instead of other candidates]. He is the prime minister. Who are they?”
This is a screenshot from a one week report on TRT Haber (TRT News) channels concerning broadcasts about the three presidental candidates.
In the last few years, a growing number of journalists have accused Erdoğan and his AKP (Justice) party supporters of demonizing independent media:
PM Erdogan says @TheEconomist‘s Turkey correspondent @amberinzaman is “a militant pretending to be a journalist”. Crowd boos her. #Turkey
— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) August 7, 2014
Erdoğan's critics say the Turkish premier himself increasingly ignores invitations to speak to independent television, preferring to bask in the glow of the friendly coverage and staged Q & A sessions provided by channels aligned to him.
The following tweet mocks the supposedly cosy relationship between NTV news anchor Oğuz Haksever and Erdoğan:
Oğuz AKsever sorusuyla Erdoğan'ın elindeki kitabın TEK işaretli sayfasını buldu. Afedersiniz İnanılmaz… pic.twitter.com/hTrUfawQCM
— zaytung (@zay_tung) August 5, 2014
Oğuz Haksever found the page bookmarked in Erdoğan's book with his question on it.
In this grim media atmosphere, satirical outlets with large online followings such as Zaytung, have gained popularity. Here Zaytung tweets:
— zaytung (@zay_tung) August 4, 2014
TRT viewers were shocked to find out there are three candidates in the election.
There is also no hiding place for Erdoğan in the International media. For example, the latest installment of The Economist's Week Ahead podcast features the magazine's Turkey correspondent Amberin Zaman and her concerns over creeping authoritarianism in the country. Russian journalist Leonid Bershidsky, meanwhile, writes that Erdoğan is becoming more and more “Putinesque” as time goes on:
Like Putin, Erdogan distrusts social networks, believes his opponents are traitors and invokes external threats to reinforce his popularity at home.

author: Ahmet A. Sabancı


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Will Russia Start Blocking Websites in Real Time? · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Could real-time Internet filtration be coming to Russia? Images mixed by Kevin Rothrock.
With the RuNet already plagued by Roskomnadzor blacklists, blogger registration, and the blocking of Twitter accounts with no discernible justification, Russia now wants to introduce an automated real-time filtering system that will block websites that contain “harmful content.”
The proposed plan would add a second layer of censorship to Russia's already-pervasive website blacklist system, under which ISPs are required to block all websites containing “calls to riots, extremist activities, the incitement of ethnic and (or) sectarian hatred, terrorist activity, or participation in public events held in breach of appropriate procedures.”
According to an ITAR-TASS report, Russia would require ISPs to install “smart filters” that would screen and block “harmful content”, which would presumably be identified based on a pre-determined list of keywords. The “smart filtering” idea and its technical details have been proposed by the Safe Internet League, a Kremlin-loyal NGO partnering with several large Russian ISPs.
Safe Internet League executive director Denis Davydov explains that existing blacklists are not great at filtering out dangerous content, and says their system, once installed at the level of ISPs, could analyze web content in real time and easily block offensive pages:
“Мы предлагаем ввести предустановленную фильтрацию интернета, которая позволяет автоматически в режиме реального времени определять содержимое страницы, запрашиваемой пользователем. Система оценивает содержимое страницы и определяет категорию, к которой относится информация. В случае если категория является запрещенной, система автоматически блокирует интернет-страницу”.
We suggest introducing preemptive Internet filtering, which allows us to automatically determine the content of the page queried by the user in real time. The system evaluates the content on the page and determines the category which the information belongs to. In case the category is forbidden, the system blocks the webpage automatically.
The typically snarky personalities of the RuNet thought the League's new initiative would do nothing to create a safer online environment — instead, the added layer of algorithmic bureaucracy would only contribute to the existing limits already imposed on netizens in Russia, and would make the users work even harder to access their preferred content.
Photographer Anton Martynov mockingly suggested that Russia was succeeding in its bid to “solve the Internet”:
Во всём мире бьются и не могут решить, а Лига безопасного интернета в России нашла решение: http://t.co/zXUV1FjkzW — ура, слава России!!!
— Anton Martynov (@podakuni) August 4, 2014
The world over is struggling and can't figure this out, but the Safe Internet League in Russia has solved it: http://t.co/zXUV1FjkzW – hooray, glory to Russia!!!
Blogger Ilya Varlamov was incensed at the new filtering initiative:
Лига безопасного интернета предлагает ввести в России предфильтрацию контента“ Успокойте их кто-нибудь, а?
— Ilya Varlamov (@varlamov) August 4, 2014
Safe Internet League proposes implementing pre-filtering of content in Russia. Somebody please calm them down, would you?
Internet entrepreneur Gaidar Magdanurov thought the Safe Internet League's efforts were entirely counterproductive:
“Лига Безопасного Интернета” продолжает бороться с Интернетом – http://t.co/tWOpMBLIGt
— Gaidar Magdanurov (@gaidar) August 4, 2014
“Safe Internet League” continues to fight the internet – http://t.co/tWOpMBLIGt.
Earlier this summer, Duma deputy Yelena Mizulina  had already proposed an automated Internet filtering system in an attempt to protect the minds of Russia’s youngsters. Mizulina demanded that the Internet service providers block “adult” Web content by default in an effort to create a “Clean Internet.” Consumers would be allowed to opt out of the filtration system, but only by making a special request to their ISP.
Davydov says developers at the Safe Internet League have already tested their two-step filtration model in Kostroma and Omsk regions, as well as the Komi Republic, and have found it works quite well (or so he says). Should the system go into broader use, it will generate a significant escalation of state attempts to control the Russian Internet. Users have found multiple ways of getting around blocks generated by blacklists, using VPNs and other circumvention tools to view their favorite blacklisted websites. If the “smart filtering” system is indeed implemented, one can only guess how quickly Russian netizens will learn to work around the new, ever-pervasive Internet controls.

author: Tanya Lokot


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Indigenous Libraries As Social Venues · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

Library of National Autonomous University of Mexico. Image by Esparta on flickr (CC BY 2.0).
“One thing is that books satisfy users’ curiosity, and a very different one that is that it might represent the identity of the community them belong to”. Argentinian librarian Daniel Canosa questions the role and function of local libraries. On Infotecarios network he writes:
Las bibliotecas indígenas, [deberían] generar conocimiento desde la participación local y comunitaria, ofrecer un modo de entendimiento, que es a la vez una manera de construir identidad. El tema es si lo que ofrece la biblioteca representa lo que cada comunidad sabe y conoce, si lo que construye el bibliotecario con su comunidad permite una genuina afinidad con la memoria histórica del pueblo. No se tratan de ideas nuevas, pero es necesario avanzar interpelando las mismas.
[…]
Si las bibliotecas difunden la producción de la gente de su lugar de pertenencia, entonces no sólo las elites tendrán presencia en el mundo de la información.
Indigneous libraries [should] generate knowledge from local and community participation, provide a way of understanding, that in time is a way of building identity. The thing is if what libraries provide represent what each community knows, if what a librarian builds with their community allows a true affinity with people's historic memory. This is not about new ideas, but things should move forward questioning those ideas.
[…]
If libraries spread people's production from their own places, then not only the elites won't be then only ones in the world of information.
The author highlights the fact that burning libraries, as happened in the past, eliminates peoples’ memories and therefore their identity. He also highlights the works by Colombia Indigenous Peoples Basic Library, puts into question publications by Abya Yala Ecuadorian publishing house and presents an instance of “social inclusion” with Eloísa Cartonera Cooperative from Argentina.
Read more about this, visit Daniel Canosa's personal blog or contact him on LinkedIn.

author: Milton Ramirez


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Investment Deal with China Leaves Jamaicans With More Questions Than Answers · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

I AM SO FLABBERGASTED: WHO gives a FOREIGN government the RIGHT to CHOOSE WHICH LAND IT WANTS?
As part of an investment exchange, the Jamaican government has agreed to give 1,200 acres of land to the Chinese government – wherever it wants. Cucumber Juice has critical questions that she feels the government must answer: What is the value of the land? How will it be used? What if it's already occupied? She concludes that “Jamaica is for sale, is being sold, and is not at all as independent as its citizens and residents like to think.”


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Religion and Spirituality Get Tech Savvy in India · Global Voices
Alka

A sadhu in India goes hi-tech with a mobile camera. Image by utilitarian via Flickr. CC BY-NC
For millennia, one key feature of India has always been its multiple religions and spirituality. So it isn’t very surprising that tech entrepreneurs and start-ups have cropped up with the arrival of the 21st century, looking to quench India’s spiritual thirst in cyberspace.
Indians spend about 30 billion dollars on Gods, temples, and pilgrimages annually. Many of them, however, aren’t always pleased with the experience. There are often long, tiring queues at overcrowded temples, where people are pestered by touts, who can spoil an entire outing. It was after one such visit to a temple that Goonjan Mall, an entrepreneur in his mid-twenties, launched OnlinePrasad.com. Goonjan was trying to partake of some prasad — a food offering made to a deity and received by the faithful seeking blessings — but the temple's ambiance put him off completely. Goonjan Mall told Iamne.com about his new venture:
“The idea that religion must be simplified and technology was the perfect tool came in a flash,” he said. He quit his job as a senior analyst at Bain & Company, pulled together some investment cash, and launched the website. Today, his website is estimated to attract an average 2,500 daily visitors, to whom he sells and home-delivers prasad from over 50 temples in India. The company also organizes poojas or prayer rituals at several temples and sells other religious items, as well.
Siddharth S Singh, an associate professor of marketing at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, says of the sudden spurt of such online portals:
The dot-com bust of the early 2000s affected many online businesses. There were fewer consumers transacting online. That has now changed. Now, the potential to grow is good.
It isn’t just religion that’s finding a place in the online world. Yoga and meditation have taken to the Internet, too, with the number of guided meditations and online yoga programs growing dramatically in the last few years.
Screenshot of Isha Kriya Website
Isha Kriya, a guided meditation venture launched in 2011, is one of the most popular websites, and “meditators” frequently share users’ experiences in regular updates on Twitter. Maura Manzo, a yoga teacher and co-founder of the Yoga Home studio “Beyond Asana,” tweets about her first few days practicing Isha Kriya:
On day 8 of 2x/day #ishakriya meditation practice via @SadhguruJV. You can download it here for free: http://t.co/BNLxr7WFu9
— Maura Manzo (@mauramanzo) November 18, 2013
Proud Ummah, a website that organizes pilgrimages to Hajj and Umrah, is another service making waves online. Founded by Abid Khan, a former Google employee, it offers a pilgrimage kit with 25 products, including essential items necessary to complete the pilgrimage. It has also positioned itself as a one-stop guide on everything related to pilgrimages.
Screenshot of the Proud Ummah Website
On the whole, the public has welcomed these new websites. Some reactions are more flippant than others. Ina Bansal, a communications and PR manager, comments in a tongue-in-cheek way:
Religion e-commerce on the rise as ventures like #OnlinePrasad, #ProudUmmah take off http://t.co/DJKh4symXc Divine Intervention? Maybe.
— Ina Bansal (@InaBansal) March 6, 2013
These websites’ target audiences seem to find the virtual experience preferable to more traditional alternatives. Ayesha Fathima, a housewife who made the Haj pilgrimage in 2013, certainly had good things to say about Proud Ummah:
I found the information I needed and also saw the kit, now I don't have to go to multiple shops to get everything.
Another blogger writing about Online Prasad and similar ventures recently summed up public opinion on this issue. He is enthusiastic, but sounds a note of caution:
I do like the idea of taking care of the prasad and pooja online. However, I do hope that these entrepreneurs not forget that ethics are more important than just profits and cash flow. In a way, these businesses are marketing “God’s” products, and no one is really comfortable bargaining with a god or temple. So I hope these enterprising people do not take undue advantage of this fact and go overboard.
Internet and online commerce is set to grow in the years to come in India, where mobile devices are proliferating in both urban and rural areas. With the popularity of religion and spirituality unrelenting in India, there's no telling how high the ceiling is on related e-commerce.

author: Alka


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TJournal’s Vadim Elistratov Says It’s a Political Time to Be Russian · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Vadim Elistratov (center) battles against political polemics. U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki (left) vs. Vladimir Putin (right). Images mixed by Kevin Rothrock.
What follows is a full English translation of an article by Vadim Elistratov that appeared in Russian on the website TJournal on August 8, 2014. Elistratov shares personal observations about the creep of politics in Russian daily life, saying the recent barrage of oppressive laws (regulating the Web, banning popular food imports, and so on) is changing the tone of the country's social discourse. Elistratov ties the situation on the Russian Internet to struggles in the offline world. For that reason, RuNet Echo is making the article accessible to English speakers.
Vadim Elistratov, July 4, 2013. Facebook.
“You Never Can Tell” by Vadim Elistratov
TJournal’s chief editor explains why staying quiet about politics is wise, but is becoming more difficult with each passing day.
For the last several years, I’ve managed successfully to steer clear of politics. And the more I write on my own or at work, the clearer it becomes to me that I should leave this topic alone.
I’ve always seen politics as too fleeting an area of knowledge. It’s like a Wikipedia article forever being edited by two people of diametrically opposing views: what was written in black and white yesterday is being refuted today, and the refutation, in turn, will get another even more elaborate refutation the next day. While this discussion goes on, the essence of the debate fades into the background, leaving only the two people arguing and an endless tail of their screaming declarations.
That's why I’m often genuinely shocked to sit down with people who start arguing about events happening thousands of miles away, as if they were experts or eyewitnesses. After reading a few good books, maybe you can become a guru in photography, computer graphics, or cross-stitching, but there’s no way it makes you an authority on some unfolding political situation.
The only experts in such things are the people who participate directly. These people at least understand why they’ve taken the lives of others and risked their own, or why they’ve banned this or that and placed various restrictions on the citizens of their own country. And these people clearly aren’t interested in heated debates on social networks.
I’m not saying there should be a dark abyss in place of political dialogue, but our “people’s experts” are going too far almost every day. They speak categorically without leaving any room for doubt. They carry out entire investigations using nothing but photographs culled from social networks. And their generalizations equate whole nations with certain policy decisions, and individual opinions with the views of the public.
Moreover, this is happening not just with armchair analysts, but in the media, too. A perfect illustration is the recent story about Jen Psaki’s [orthopedic] boot—nearly the ideal model for most political discussion in Russia, where the search for a colorful delivery replaces the search for meaning. Any way you approach this, you’re sure to come out head-to-toe filthy, having used a dozen or so lies in your arguments, without even knowing it. We can only speak with conviction about the consequences, but never about the causes.
In the last few days, however, maintaining complete silence about politics has become incredibly difficult. Very soon, many people will lose the ability to write what they want in their beloved blogs, because their creations have grown too popular [mandating government registration]. No longer will people be able to use public Wi-Fi or write messages without wondering who else is reading. The situation in the world at this summer’s end has reached the point where “politics” is entering our homes and sweeping our favorite yogurts and cheeses right off the table, telling us to choose something else.
Admittedly, this bit about yogurts sounds ridiculous. Yogurts, yogurts, yogurts—it’s hardly an essential good (even here in St. Petersburg, where the shelves are packed with so many Finnish brands that the situation could be quite dire). Nothing all that terrifying has happened; someone will fill the yogurt void. The more important thing is what these yogurts symbolize: a thing we came to see as natural, which they’ve taken away from us—because “that’s how it has to be.”
And when we finally decide to ask why it “has to be” this way, we’re sent down this confusing path, where nobody, it seems, is really an expert. It’s these same yogurts that lead us to feel like we’re headed somewhere on a train that’s outside our control. And here the eeriness sets in.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Volunteers from Slovenia, Macedonia and Serbia Are Joining Forces to Rebuild After Catastrophic Floods · Global Voices
Danica Radisic

Volunteers reconstructing a country road in Slovenia during a youth work action in 1960. This image is public domain.
After the recent tragic floods in the region, residents of several former Yugoslavian countries seem to have taken to old habits to help fix the vast damage done by the natural disaster. In Kraljevo, Serbia, as reported by Bosnian Radio Sarajevo and Serbian national news agency Tanjug, over 50 volunteers from Macedonia, Slovenia, and several Serbian cities have gathered in Kraljevo for a “youth work action” to rebuild roads and other basic infrastructure.
After World War II, a country formed out of six southeastern European states and dubbed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia became known to the world, as an anonymous author once put it, as “the only place where the iron curtain sways”. Yugoslavia was a firmly socialist country — it was the only communist country in Eastern Europe never to have been a satellite of the former USSR. Hence, while in good relations with both East and West most of the time, it was often left to fend for itself. What most people today don't know is that the young Yugoslavia, made up of states that were terribly damaged during the World War, rebuilt its country mostly on its own.
Youth work actions were popular voluntary labor activities in the former Yugoslavia, organized by the Young Communist League of Yugoslavia. Some of the more massive labor actions built roads, railroads, new neighborhoods and the Highway of Brotherhood and Unity, which stretched 1,180 kilometers across the country, from Slovenia in the northwest to Macedonia in the southeast. These work actions perished with the fall of Yugoslavia.
The youth work action today in Kraljevo is a self-organized, civic activity, led by a handful of people who participated in the youth work actions of the former Yugoslavia. They are focused on 10 locations in and around the city that have been left “uncategorized” by government agencies assessing the flood damage, meaning that authorities deem that the damage done to uncategorized infrastructure and homes are not damaged enough to qualify for government aid in one of the six categories established so far.
The 50 volunteers are mostly between 18 and 30 years of age. Zoran Stevovski from Ohrid, Macedonia, is among the oldest volunteers and recalled for Radio Sarajevo his experience taking part in the youth work actions organized in the former Yugoslavia:
“Predsjednik sam udruženja koje okuplja bivše akcijaše, ali i one mlađe, koji žele da učestvovati u ovoj našoj priči. Bio sam 12 puta na radnim akcijama, a počeo sam upravo u ovim krajevima, na Moravi, 1979. godine i to je trajalo do 1990. godine u Beogradu. Radili smo na nasipima Zapadne Morave i Rasine. Vratio sam se tamo gdje sam i počeo”, kaže Stevovski.
“I am president of the association that gathers former [work] action volunteers, but also those who are younger, who want to participate in our story. I participated 12 times in work actions and I began in this exact area, on the Morava [river], in 1979, and that lasted until 1990 in Belgrade. We worked on the river dikes on Western Morava and Rasina. I came back where I started,” says Stevovski.
This YouTube video shows the youth work actions, that included volunteers of all ages, that built the Highway of Brotherhood and Unity, connecting all six states of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The video includes footage of then Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito congratulating the volunteer workers on fulfilling their promise of getting the highway built in under a year and on schedule (English subtitles included).
The work action days in Kraljevo begin at 5:30 in the morning and end at 10 in the evening, with visits to cultural institutions, meals, an some entertainment during the work day.

author: Danica Radisic


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What Gardening Has Taught Me About Civic Responsibility · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

A tropical garden in Trinidad and Tobago; photo used with permission.
When I garden, I think. Surrounded by the stillness of nature, my mind can either be attuned to the present moment, completely engrossed in my task, or it can wander – and these days, it's been taking long, meandering strolls as I consider the state of my country.
Spending time in my garden this past weekend, I felt elated to be outside, digging in the dirt, marveling at the elemental feel of the earth on my hands – at first. Not even the rain could chase me indoors. Mixed with the aroma of the ripening mangoes and cocoa pods on the nearby trees, it smelled like home. But as the weeding grew more monotonous, I started to think about other things: escalating crime, systemic corruption, a parallel economy allegedly built on the illicit drug and arms trade.
As my bare hands struggled to free the grass from the insidious weeds that were slowly strangling it, the metaphor could not be more clear. I've learned a lot of things by puttering about in my garden, but I never thought how to be a good citizen would be one of them. Here are a few of the seeds that germinated in my civic consciousness.
You have to take ownership. In the same way that it's my garden, it's my country. I used to walk around my yard, see work that needed to be done, and make excuses for why I couldn't actually do it: I didn't have time, I was too tired, it wasn't my top priority. The unsurprising result was that the weeds spread – I lost nearly my entire back lawn to crabgrass and was miserable about it. But had I not initially taken the position that my garden was everyone else's responsibility – the unreliable gardener, the busy husband – it would not have got so out of hand.
The grass isn't always greener. There's a lot that's wrong with Trinidad and Tobago, but there's also a lot that's right and beautiful and uplifting. Sometimes, the decision to move to another patch of lawn is the right thing, and sometimes, you just need to stay and battle the weeds, because after all, they're yours. You had something to do with them taking root; you should have something to do with getting them out.
You've got to do the work. No way around it, you must tackle the backbreaking, finger-cramping, skin-itching, uncomfortable work. It's going to be frustrating, feel never-ending, and you're going to be convinced that you're getting nowhere. But the body pain is eventually going to feel like you laboured well for something important, like the first bloom of a rare flower.
Change isn't going to happen overnight. Despite the jaw-dropping transformations that take place in thirty minute time slots on the home and garden networks, these kind of transitions will probably move at the pace of molasses through a sieve – in winter. In the same way that it takes time to rid a garden of weeds or pests, bringing good governance to a corruption-riddled system will be a long, hard path to walk. That rare blossom is going to seem a long way off, but when it finally appears, it will be all the more captivating.
You may not see the fruits of your labour. There's a Greek proverb that says, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” I'm fine with that. I think most people want their children to inherit a better country than we live in now.
You don't let anything slide. Trinidadians have a saying: “Give them an inch and they take a yard.” Tenacious weeds, like law breaking members of society, are just looking for a loophole to get themselves established. As an electorate, we must pay attention: be vigilant about attacks on our democracy, make our voices heard on matters of policy and good governance and have systems in place to hold our public officials to account should they ever forget that they are there to serve the common good and not a personal one.
You must keep the big picture in mind. Gardening can be very detail oriented, but it's also about overall effect – and that can't be achieved without a strong community. Diversity living in harmony is the stuff beautiful gardens – and strong societies – are made of.
Everyone's got to pitch in. I once read an article about a small circle of gardeners who pooled their resources in the absence of reliable labour and took turns tending each other's yards every weekend. Their gardens and their friendships thrived, all because they created a strong and functional community. In the same way, we must all do what we can, no matter how small. Can we write a blog post or a letter to the editor? Can we refuse to rationalise bribe-paying as the cost of doing business? Can we attend a march, sign a petition, be an activist? As Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai said in her poignant piece I will be a hummingbird, we can all do something. And each small effort will add up to something much bigger, something that can really make a difference.


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4 Infographics on the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

The deadliest Ebola outbreak ever with 700 deaths since March has hit the West Africa region hard. The countries affected by the outbreak so far are Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.
The first case was detected on 9 February in the forest of Guinea. The virus quickly spread to the capital city Conakry and then in the neighboring nations of Liberia and Sierra Leone. In total, 59 deaths from Ebola were reported in Guinea in March. As the virus quickly spread, it has now been reported in Lagos, Nigeria, in one of the most populated cities of the region. American aid worker Dr. Kent Brantly and his co-workers Nancy Writebol became infected with Ebola while working in a Monrovia treatment center; they were evacuated to Emory University near the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control for treatments. The fact that the treatments available in the US were not made available immediately in West Africa has now become a controversial topic among African observers.
Here are four infographics to recap the current situation on the ground:
1. General summary of the Ebola outbreak (via @thedailymonitor as of 01/08/2014)
#INFOGRAPHIC: The west African #Ebola outbreak has now claimed more than 700 lives. pic.twitter.com/4UhL3xfOwZ
— Daily Monitor (@DailyMonitor) August 1, 2014
2. Treatment centers available in the region versus reported cases  (via @aiddata, 01/07/2014)
Noon #ARC Highlight @dadakim: #Ebola outbreak spotlights limits of local & intl response http://t.co/89uz33DFEJ @ajam pic.twitter.com/D8U0pUaTyd
— AidData (@AidData) July 31, 2014
3. How to recognize the symptoms of the Ebola virus and what to do  (via @4eyedmonk in Nigeria and @katiejames)
An official death due to the Ebola virus has been reported in Lagos. Here is what you need to know about the virus.. pic.twitter.com/wbb3B7pT46
— Henry Okelue (@4eyedmonk) July 25, 2014
Ebola Symptoms lets all RT #Ebola #EbolaOutbreak #Ebolasymptoms pic.twitter.com/cmr4SdHIOh
— Katie James (@_Katie_James_) July 29, 2014
4. Understanding the ecology of Ebola (via the CDC)
The ecology of Ebola by the CDC – Public Domain
Follow our in-depth coverage: The Struggle to #StopEbola in West Africa

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Syria’s Conflict Spills Into Lebanon. Clashes Kill Dozens, ISIS Captures Lebanese Soldiers in Border Town Arsal · Global Voices
Nada

Clashes broke out between the Lebanese Armed Forces and Islamic militants in Arsal, a Lebanese town in a mountainous area near the Syrian border. During an incursion into Lebanon, the fighters, who include militants from the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) which now reigns over swathes of Syria and Iraq, captured 19 soldiers and said they would let them go in exchange for the release of other Islamic militants held captive in Lebanese prisons, according to news reports.
Many residents fled the area since the fighting began on August 2, but others were caught in the violence over five days of fighting.
At least 17 soldiers, 50 militants and over 40 civilians were killed according to the Daily Star.
After the retreat of the militants and as the Lebanese Army entered the town on August 8, 2014, journalist Kareem Shaheen tweeted updates from the area, highlighting the plight of residents, including a large number of Syrian refugees.
Doctor inside Arsal told me his hospital treated 400 wounded civilians, large number of refugees.
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) August 8, 2014
Doctor says refugees fear reprisals and incitement in aftermath of Arsal events.
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) August 8, 2014
2,000 Syrian refugees stranded on Lebanon border because they think going to Assad better than staying in Arsal. Think about it for a moment
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) August 8, 2014
Dozens of families streaming back into Arsal right now. Security won't let journalists through though.
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) August 8, 2014
According to Shaheen, residents were not able to regain their homes due to security concerns
Lebanese Army is sending back families that tried to return to their homes in Arsal. Appears security not entirely under control.
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) August 8, 2014
Nadim Houry, Human Rights Watch deputy director for Middle East and North Africa, noted that civilian residents of the area have been largely ignored in discussions on ongoing incidents.
#Lebanon: In current pro-army environment, little discussion in media about impact on civilians of Arsal fighting last week.
— Nadim Houry (@nadimhoury) August 8, 2014
Indeed, the army was an important focus of online conversations as the Lebanese demonstrated their support for troops across social media platforms in a show of national unity and rejection of sectarian divides: An initiative to support the Army, for instance, invited people to donate goods or volunteer according to their skills. Photographs of soldiers who died during the clashes circulated online, like this post by a telecom company on Facebook. A local news anchor even wore military fatigue to present the TV news bulletin.
Sans commentaire #AlJadeed pic.twitter.com/bNZZO95k5U
— Albert Khair (@AlbertKhair) August 3, 2014

author: Nada


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Leaked Data Suggests Bahrain’s Government Hacked Its Own Fact-Finding Commission · Global Voices
Noor Mattar

Bahraini protester sprays anti-government graffiti. Photo by Eman Redha. Copyright: Demotix
Leaked internal documents allegedly belonging to UK-based surveillance software company Gamma International suggest that Bahrain's government has used the technology to spy on activists, politicians and members of a government commission investigating human rights abuses.
On Aug. 3, an anonymous Twitter account @GammaGroupPR began publishing the 40 gigabytes worth of information, which indicated the company's staff were communicating with a customer in Bahrain from 2010 to 2012 about its FinFisher spy software. Rights group Bahrain Watch analyzed a list of 77 computers infected with the spyware to identify the people who were targeted.
Two members of the king's Bahrain Independent Commission of Investigation (BICI) appear to be among those targeted. The government's bloody crackdown against a popular uprising, now in its third year, spurred the creation of the fact-finding mission, which concluded authorities have practiced systematic torture against dissidents, carried out extrajudicial killings and committed other serious offenses, including the demolition of places of worship.
KMA is assumed to be judge Khaled Moheyuldin Ahmed, a member of the commission who is now employed by the Bahraini government. Sources confirm that Ahmed was using a Sony VAIO laptop (see above chart) during the time he worked with BICI, which coincides with the dates of infection. The other target who shares the same operation code is named Douglass and is believed to be Douglas Hansen, another member of the BICI.
The leak contradicts Gamma's earlier denials that it doesn't sell its products to Bahrain. It also adds credence to suggestions of wrongdoing by London-based NGO Privacy International, which sent multiple inquiries to the UK's customs department, asking whether the department was investigating Gamma's export of spy technology to repressive regimes. After their requests went unanswered, they took the company to court. In May of 2014, the UK High Court ruled that the customs department acted unlawfully and “irrationally” in refusing to answer the NGO's inquiries.
In Bahrain, activists have long accused the Bahraini government of breaching their privacy. A government order mandating a record be kept of all emails sent and received was issued in 2009.
Human rights lawyer Mohamed Altajer told Bahrain Watch that his computer was compromised after he watched a CD sent to him. The CD contained private footage of Altajer and his wife, taken without their knowledge. The group believes the CD also held the spyware and thus infected his computer. Supporters believe the CD was sent to blackmail him into ending his work defending Bahrainis arrested and tortured for their role in the anti-government protests. Many others have said their photographs that were confiscated during police raids have turned up on porn sites and been distributed across social media.
The Intercept quoted Altajer saying he was “happy” the story had been made public. “These dirty people who videotaped me…now they are naked, now they are exposed before the world.”
I asked Mr. Matar Matar from the opposition political society Al Wefaq, who is a target of the spyware, to comment. He said the matter could be brought before British court:
The political influence on the judiciary System in Bahrain doesn't provide any space to protect activists from surveillance. But this is an opportunity to move in legal action in UK courts. Now Al Wefaq is in a better position to call HM Revenue & Customs, UK’s tax authority, to investigate in the illegal export of a hacking software for non-free regimes with a dark record of serious human rights violations. How come such a software is licensed to a regime which is considered be the third worst and 5th most declining regime in freedom house report.
By UK law, Gamma must apply for country-specific licences in such cases and it doesn't seem it did and Al Wefaq is harmed by this violation. UK’s High Court already slammed the UK’s tax authority for hiding details about this issue. And this is the time for all those who were harmed by this violation to sue Gamma.
Spyware aside, Mr. Matar Matar says the government lost civil society's trust long ago:
Karim Fakrawi, co-founder of Al Wefaq, was beaten to death in custody. During martial law, I was arbitrary detained with my colleague Jawad Fayrozz. Also the government revoked the citizenship of two former MPs from AlWefaq. They both are living in exile in addition to another 3 other MPs. In addition to that, five elected members municipality council have been dismissed. And currently Al Wefaq is on trial for it to be suspended and three senior leaders are awaiting trial. Under these circumstances, the struggle with the regime is much beyond the surveillance.
BICI was established based on a royal decree. The fact that it was spied on might suggest testimonies were tailored to mislead the commission. Gamma also says it only sells the FinFisher technology to governments and law enforcement, indicating that the spying is done with the knowledge of officials.
Digital security group Internet Protection Lab reported the spying went beyond political activists and bloggers to possible financial espionage.
While the UK government tracks and arrests malicious hackers at home, these leaks suggest that it continues to allow the sale of surveillance technology to Bahrain. And it welcomes members of their widely criticized security apparatus to get training in the UK. In the past, Bahraini authorities have arrested local bloggers such as Takrooz, thanks to their use of similar spy technology. Many more might be in danger. While a court ruling could help limit the Bahraini government's access to surveillance technologies in the future, its affects on human rights defenders may be felt for many years to come.
An earlier version of this post mistakenly named Douglas Hansen-Luke as one of the people believed to be listed in the records of Gamma International leaked online. It is Douglas Hansen who was part of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Investigation.

author: Noor Mattar


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How the Youth Contribute to Disaster Risk Reduction · Global Voices
Kofi Yeboah

Sam Johnson at the PrepCommittee meeting in Geneva for the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, 2014. Photo used with permission.
Disaster Risk Reduction has become a global issue and a threat to the development of every nation across the globe. The challenge lies in the mobilisation and availability of resources to identify, manage and prevent disasters. The youth are seen as valuable resource to use in times of disasters.
For example, during the Chirst Church earthquake that killed about 185 people in New Zealand's second largest city, a young man named Sam Johnson, founder of UC Student Volunteer Army, mobilised an army of youth volunteers to provide support to the affected people.
His Volunteer Army Foundation now has more than 8,000 members, according to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). He plans to expand the model to create a global youth movement.
Many young people across the globe have been advocating for the inclusion of the youth in high-level disaster risk reduction (DRR) discussions. Some young people from Sub-Saharan Africa took to Twitter using the hashtag #AfricanYouthDRR to emphasis the need to include youth in DRR related issues.
For example, during rainy season in Senegal, many parents are afraid that their children are bound to suffer from diseases like diarrhea, malaria or cholera and this because they cannot afford medication or services of a doctor according to Deutsche Welle (DW)
Esther Kelechi Agbarakwe (@estherclimate), a social entrepreneur and founder of @devnovate from Nigeria, commented:
Trained Youth volunteer are best to reduce disaster in any situation #AfricanYouthDRR
— E|#BringBackOurGirls (@estherclimate) May 7, 2014
Climate Wednesday (@ClimateWed) suggested:
#Youth should help Liaisons, coordination and partnerships within the community to build strong #Change #ClimateWednesday #AfricanYouthDRR
— #ClimateWednesday (@ClimateWed) May 7, 2014
Alfred Agyabeng (@OkatsieGH), the executive director of Reach Out to Future Leaders Movement in Ghana, stressed:
Young people should be placed at the core of solving climate issues #AfricanYouthDRR : Challenge them through competitions and award them
— Alfred G. Adjabeng (@OkatsieGH) May 7, 2014
According to The Chronicle, effects of climate change have implications for food and nutritional security, public health, and energy security, among other things. Many organizations globally are studying the effects and trying to come up with solutions to the myriad problems they pose to production, consumption and environmental sustainability. Without a doubt, climate change is a huge developmental challenge.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) says that no continent will be as severely affected by climate change as Africa. Know Climate Change notes that Africa's vulnerability to climate change is worsened by its poor state of economic development and low adaptive capacity.
Frederick E. Fussi (@Fussi2015), a management and leadership expert from Tanzania, pointed out:
#AfricanYouthDRR youth population in Africa have less access to resources, possibility to reduce disaster is limited @rahmabajun@GIVENALITY — Frederick E. Fussi (@Fussi2015) May 7, 2014
OAfrica reports that only 10% of African youth aged 15-24 years have five or more years of online experience.
Despite Africa being the most youthful continent, most youths on the continent lack access to resources.
At the just ended 5th Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, a group of young people presented a statement on youth inclusion in DRR-related discussions to the gathering of policy makers and ministers of states in Abuja, Nigeria.
Some organizations applauded the efforts of young people to have been well presented at such high level discussion platform. UKCDS (@UKCDS), a group of 14 UK government departments and research funders concerned with international development, tweeted at me:
.@kofiemeritus it's great to see a lot of support behind #AfricanYouthDRR. They'll be the next generation's scientists & decision makers
— UKCDS (@UKCDS) May 13, 2014

author: Kofi Yeboah


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PHOTO: Five Jewish Graves in WWI Gaza Cemetery  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Foreign Policy magazine Middle East editor David Kenner visiting the British WW1 cemetery in Gaza and shares this photograph on Twitter.
Visited the British WWI cemetery in Gaza today. Thousands of graves – including five Jews. Love this inscription. pic.twitter.com/cuWUchbitP
— DavidKenner (@DavidKenner) August 10, 2014
The inscription reads: “In the mighty march of progress, he sought to do his best.”
The grave of Second Lieutenant W. G. A. Joseph of the Northamptonshire regiment is one of five graves belonging to Jewish soldiers which Kenner spotted.
Kenner is among journalists from around the world who swarmed on Gaza to cover a major Israeli offensive called Protective Edge against the 40-kilometer-long coastal strip, which started on July 8.
Dr Ashraf Al Qedra, spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health, announced on his Facebook page the overall toll as of yesterday, the 34th day of fighting, as follows:
حصيلة العدوان الصهيوني الغاشم المستمر على غزة لليوم الرابع والثلاثين هي 1911 شهيد وحوالي 9861 جريح .
The toll of the aggressive Zionist attack, continuing on Gaza for the 34th day, is 1,911 martyrs and 9,861 injured
Follow our in-depth coverage: #Gaza: Civilian Death Toll Mounts in Israeli Offensive

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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When Red Cross China Needs a PR Boost, Propaganda Authorities Have the Embattled Charity’s Back · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Guo Meimei confessed on CCTV on her crime and decadent lifestyle. She also apologized to Red Cross China for undermining its credibility. Screen capture from Shanghai TV on Youtube.
A 6.1-magnitude earthquake rocked Yunnan province in China in the late afternoon of Aug. 3, killing hundreds and injuring many more. A disaster like this is exactly when Red Cross China goes into action, but it wasn't the beleaguered organization's relief work or calls for donations that headlined state media's news feature that night.
It was a confession from Guo Meimei, the most notorious female celebrity on Twitter-like Sina Weibo, regarding her decadent lifestyle of wealth, gambling and prostituting and bogus ties to Red Cross China.
Guo, who introduced herself as the general manager of Red Cross China on her Weibo account, caught the world's attention in June 2011 by posting a photo in front of a Mercedes. In her other publications, she revealed her possession of a large villa in Beijing and collection of luxurious handbags. Guo's flamboyant style served as more “proof” of corruption allegations against Red Cross China, which have dogged the organization since the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.
Though Guo confessed back in 2011 that she had faked her identity and relationship with Red Cross China, netizens kept digging and discovered that she was in fact the girlfriend of Wang Jun, an investor in a company called Bo Ai, which builds community service stations in the name of Red Cross China. Guo has ever since been depicted as a femme fatale figure who single-handedly ruined the credibility of the charity.
Guo was arrested in July for gambling on a football match. Her televised confession on CCTV was carefully staged by Chinese propaganda authorities. China Digital Times translated the instruction:
All websites are kindly asked to prominently display Xinhua and CCTV coverage of Guo Meimei, and to actively organize and direct commentary. (August 4, 2014)
In the confession, Guo apologized to the Red Cross China for undermining its credibility. Wang Jun also appeared on the show with his face blurred. He claimed that Guo was his girlfriend and she was a nightmare to him. His appearance was to clear the “rumor” regarding Guo's connection to Red Cross China. But many netizens didn't buy the story and believed the man was a dummy Wang Jun, not Guo's real boyfriend.
Many speculated that the confession was intended to rescue Red Cross China's credibility as the charity was calling for public donations for its earthquake relief work in Yunnan. However, it seems propaganda authorities have underestimated people's political wisdom. Instead participating in the public bullying of Guo, many cursed state media. Offbeat China highlighted some of the netizens’ immediate reactions on Weibo:
“Are these state media nuts? Why the hell do they give Guo more media attention than those earthquake victims?” Many netizens asked.
“You don’t care about the several hundred lives lost in Yunnan. You don’t care about the inglorious factory that has took away dozens of hardworking lives. And now what? You suddenly care about Guo Meimei? After ignoring years of calls for her investigation?” One netizens angrily commented.
Even worse, many netizens seem to believe that these reports of Guo are but a PR run by China Red Cross in the time of an earthquake when they need to call for donations again. As many netizens asked: “Is the current heavy media takedown of Gou Meimei a pre-donation run for China Red Cross?”
The censor machine had to work overnight to delete angry posts, but some can be recovered on Free Weibo, a site that allows uncensored searches of Sina Weibo. Among the recovered comments, many were reminded of the “struggle sessions” of public humiliation during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s under Mao Zedong by the media's collective attack:
【舆论控制 文革再现】人民日报揭郭美美亲戚都有犯罪前科，暗指家人有问题，当事人就一定是罪犯，这不成了株连九族？北京青年报评论满篇脏话，还要在郭美美身上踏上一万只脚，如此妄言，犹如文革再现。法院尚未宣判，CCTV就已经列举郭美美罪状。如此，可以关闭法院，所有案件交给CCTV审理了。
【Media manipulation and the return of the Cultural Revolution】The People's Daily dug into Guo's relatives’ backgrounds and revealed their criminal history as if it is a family tradition for committing crime. Isn't this a punishment by family affiliation? Beijing Youth Daily even used swear words in its commentary. Such a practice is the return of the Cultural Revolution. The court is yet to issue a judgement, and CCTV has listed all the crimes. We may as well shut down all the courts and hand over cases to CCTV.
Many corruption cases in China involve sex scandals. A recent case is CCTV's news anchor Ji Yingnan's affair with the deputy director of policy and regulation under the State Archives Administration Fan Yue, who paid her 1,000 U.S. dollars daily when they first met. By comparison, some argued that Guo Meimei's private life is far less scandalous:
和康师傅、徐财厚滥用公权相比，郭美美赌博算什么？和CCAV的女主播向中央领导卖淫相比，郭美美私生活混乱算什么？它们为啥不上CCAV认罪？而且，就算郭美美确实犯罪，CCAV也无权让她认罪，更无权曝光她父母、舅舅、姨娘的事。婊子官媒无底线、无操守，难道果真如此？这是妄图为见不得人的红会洗地。
When compared to other corruption cases, Guo Meimei's gambling is so minor. When compared to the CCTV's anchor sex trade with a central government official, Guo's decadent private life means nothing. How come they don't have a public confession on CCTV? Even if Guo did commit the crimes, CCTV has no right to cast her confession and expose her parents, uncles and aunts’ backgrounds. Does state media have no moral baseline? This is a failed attempt to clean up Red Cross China's reputation.
Recognizing its failure, the propaganda issued another media instruction the next day (via China Digital Times):
Turn down the heat on Guo Meimei news. Do not use this as an opportunity to attack the Red Cross. (August 5, 2014)
The credibility crisis of Red Cross China originated from its corruption during disaster relief work after the Sichuan earthquake in 2008. People attacked Guo because of their resentment against the charity, not vice versa. Obviously, Chinese propaganda authorities chose not to face the real problem and stuck to the popular femme fatale story with an intention of rescuing the charity's reputation. But the plan didn't work.


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Improving Internet Access in Cambodia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Danièle Adler, a consultant in communications strategy, gives an overview of the significant improvement of the IT sector in Cambodia:
Six years ago, fewer than 10,000 Cambodians had a web connection, and it was extremely slow. Today 2.5 million people have Internet access at home, and an additional two million Cambodians go online daily using their smartphones.

author: Mong Palatino


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Iranian Police Interrogator Gets 3 Years Jail Time for Killing a Blogger · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Cyber police interrogator Akbar Taghizadeh has been sentenced to three years in prison, two years in exile, and 74 lashes for the murder of dissident blogger Sattar Beheshti, who died under torture while in police detention in November 2012. “On Wednesday afternoon, August 6, news of the sentence was delivered to us by mail. But we do not accept it. It is dastardly and unfair,” said Gohar Eshghi, Beheshti's mother, in an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Many Twitter users, following the story under the #SattahBeheshti hashtag, expressed similar disapproval for the sentencing.

author: Mahsa Alimardani


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Kyrgyz President Gatecrashes (New) Turkish President’s Party · Global Voices
Jeanne Aray

Atambayev celebrates his Turkish counterpart's victory. Screenshot from YouTube video uploaded by Zorbey Medya.
Few people doubted that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would win Turkey's 2014 presidential election, and with a penguin media to complement genuinely strong domestic political support, many expected him to do it in the first round. But almost no-one anticipated that Kyrgyzstan's president, Almazbek Atambayev, would have a role to play in proceedings.
Unabashed Turkophile Atambayev made a surprise appearance on stage following Erdoğan's acceptance speech in Ankara on the evening of August 10. Congratulating the “people's president” in fluent Turkish, Atambayev earned cheers from AKP (Justice and Development Party) supporters in Ankara, but mockery on Twitter, which has been a forum for concentrated opposition to Erdoğan in recent times:
Writing on election night, Istanbul-based journalist Alex Christie Miller tweeted:
So far only real left-field moment in this speech is right now: Erdogan'a just invited the President of Kygyzstan onto the stage to speak!!!
— Alex Christie-Miller (@AChristieMiller) August 10, 2014
CNN's tweet of the moment may have inadvertently granted Atambayev the status of a deity:
Erdogan ends balcony speech saying “God may help us and invites President of Kyrgyzstan Atambayev #TurkeyVoted pic.twitter.com/VfhTFzVfZm — CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) August 10, 2014
While Al-Jazeera messed up the spelling:
Erdoğan'ı seçim galibiyeti için kutlamaya gelen Kırgızistan Cumhurbaşkanı Almanzek Atambayev balkonda: Yeni Cumhurbaşkanınız hayırlı olsun
— AlJazeera Türk Canlı (@AJTCanli) August 10, 2014
As Erdoğan wins election, President of Kyrgyzstan Almanzek Atambayev, who came to celebrate on the balcony [told Turks]: “Enjoy your new president”.
Turkish tweeps viewed the moment in surreal terms:
Eurovizyon'a döndü ortam. Kırgızistan'dan 12 puan aldık.
— Ferdi Carrefour (@FerdiCarrefour) August 10, 2014
Things are getting all Eurovision. Kyrgyzstan just gave us 12 points.
The same tweep added:
Birlikte kız istemeye gidilecek adammış yalnız Kırgızistan Devket Başkanı. geldi, 10 dakika övüp gitti. ağzı laf yapan uzak akraba resmen.
— Ferdi Carrefour (@FerdiCarrefour) August 10, 2014
It seems the Kyrgyz president is the person to accompany you when you are wooing a girl [metaphor for the Turkish population]. He came for 10 minutes and sang praises, like some overly-talkative distant relative.
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Many found Atambayev's flattery of his now opposite number in Turkey somewhat awkward:
Kırgızistan devlet başkanı da yolunda. Huzur yalakalıktan geçiyor iyi biliyor.. — Savash Porgham (@SavashPorgham) August 10, 2014
Kyrgyzstan's president found the way. He knows that peace comes through cringeworthiness.
Kırgızistan Cumhurbaşkanı'nın cebine 200 lira sıkıştırmışlar, yağ çekiyor amın evladı.
— Rzon Hocaefendi (HD) (@nekrofilzombi) August 10, 2014
[Erdogan] put 200 lira in the Kyrgyz president's pocket and took out some cringe. Son of a bitch!
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Others displayed more than a hint of snobbery towards their Turkic-langage ally:
Bırak şimdi boş lafı Kırgızistan Cumhurbaşkanı.. Kımız var mı kımız ?
— Kemal AYÇA (@kemalayca) August 10, 2014
Stop talking empty stuff Kyrgyz president… Have you had too much kymyz [fermented mare's milk]?
Others likened Atambayev to an enthusiastic foreign exchange student:
kırgızistan cumhurbaşkanı erasmus'a türkiye'ye gelmiş… — kutup zencisi (@kutup_zencisi) August 10, 2014
The Kyrgyz president arrived with the Erasmus programme.
Gökhan continued the student theme:
şimdi de şiirini okumak için 5-c sınıfından kırgızistan cumhurbaşkanı sahnede.
— gökhan (@twetimgeldi) August 10, 2014
And now to read the poem, there is a Kyrgyz president from the 5th class on the stage.
A separate, foreign policy-focused section of the Turkish Twitterazzi, meanwhile, saw it as the beginning of a new, imperialistic presidency for Erdoğan:
Yeni Türkiye'nin sınırlarına kattığı ilk ülke Kırgızistan. Bir an önce yönümüzü Balkanlar'a çevirip Bosna'yı almalıyız. — ? (@multeci_) August 10, 2014
The first country [Erdoğan] has attached to New Turkey is Kyrgyzstan. We should change our direction towards the Balkans and take Bosnia
It is worth noting that Kyrgyzstan and Turkey's presidencies are heading in different directions. Changes were made to Kyrgyzstan's constitution in 2010 to make a frequently despotic executive office less powerful, while in Turkey, Erdoğan is committed to expanding the powers of a semi-ceremonial Head of State position at the expense of the Prime Minister's office he has occupied since 2003. Some tongue-in-cheek tweeps even suggested Atambayev might be a suitable candidate to head a weakened Turkish parliament. He can certainly talk the talk…

author: Jeanne Aray


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‘Never Alone’, a Video Game That Immerses Players in Traditional Iñupiat Culture · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

Image from the Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa) video game.
This interview was conducted by Mark Oppenneer and originally published on the Ethnos Project website. An edited version is published here with permission.
Young people of every generation to some degree pull away from the mores, ideals, and traditions of their elders and redefine, refuse, and remix the culture. On one hand, youth want to cut their own rug and establish their own identities, and on the other, traditional culture bearers want to sustain and stimulate pride in a rich cultural heritage.
The Cook Inlet Tribal Council in Anchorage, Alaska, has responded to this age-old dilemma with a fresh strategy: the creation of Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa) a video game about a young girl who tries to save her people from an endless blizzard. Steeped in Iñupiat values, the game draws players of all ages into the heart of a traditional narrative through whimsical and engaging game play.
Never Alone will be released this fall. Mark Oppenneer spoke with the team behind the video game to learn more.
Tell us about the genesis of Never Alone. Who decided on a video game as a way to share Iñupiat culture? How was Kunuuksaayuka chosen as the basis of the game over other narratives?
Never Alone started as an idea from Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC), a tribal nonprofit organization serving Alaska Native and American Indian people residing in the Cook Inlet region of southcentral Alaska. Located in Anchorage, CITC helps motivated individuals achieve their full potential through an array of support services including education, employment and training and services geared to helping build healthy families. CITC had three goals: to create a new source of revenue that could allow CITC to increase the level of services offered to Alaska Native people; to share Alaska Native culture with new audiences around the world; and to work to provide opportunities for Native youth to take pride in their history. […]
Gloria O’Neill, CEO of CITC, conducted an extensive search of possible development partners. During that process, she met Alan Gershenfeld and Michael Angst, co-founders of E-Line Media; a company with a long history of creating games to educate, engage and empower. Together, CITC and E-Line realized there could be a great opportunity to combine expertise and create a compelling game based on Alaska Native culture. Alan and Michael brought on Sean Vesce, a veteran video game designer and creative director to lead the project.
Image from the Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa) video game.
The project began with a deep ethnography built over several extended visits with Alaska Native elders, research at museums and sessions with storytellers and youth. As the team discussed the many possible stories and characters and how they might be used to support the needs of game design, they began to focus on tales with strong characters and a clear narrative arc that could be adapted into the beginning, middle and end of a video game – and had all of the action and thinking ‘verbs’ that are at the core of good gameplay.
From the possibilities, the Iñupiat storytellers involved recommended the Kunuuksaayuka story as a potential narrative spine. After researching, the development team agreed that Kunuuksaayuka had great potential for providing strong storytelling in the context of a game and could allow the main characters to explore diverse and interesting environments.
To ensure that the game respected the wisdom, themes and learnings that are embedded in the Kunuuksaayuka story, the team worked directly with Minnie Gray, the Iñupiaq elder whose father, Robert Nasruk Cleveland, was first recorded relating Kunuuksaayuka. Minnie provided input and suggestions that the team incorporated into the game adaptation.
Image from the Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa) video game.
In the Never Alone trailer, the narrator states: “We have so much to share and now we have a way to share it.” Were previous modes of storytelling breaking down? If so, what do you feel video games offer that traditional storytelling doesn’t?
In the modern era, there has been increasing concern that the rapidly changing, highly complex and digitally infused nature of life in the 21st Century has resulted in youth becoming increasingly disconnected from these classic stories and the wisdom of their elders. Those voicing this concern often point to the rapid growth of computer and video games as one of the culprits of this phenomenon.
Despite their ubiquity among youth, digital games are a medium that is largely alien to most elders, creating a concern that the more time youth spend playing these games, the less time they are connecting with their history, culture and values. This is especially true since the depiction of minorities, indigenous peoples and other under-represented communities in popular commercial games is often caricatured, appropriated or inaccurate.
A clear question, then, is can this powerful new medium be harnessed as a new platform for passing along wisdom from generation to generation in a culturally appropriate, engaging format? We strongly believe that the answer is ‘yes’ – but that it won’t be easy. To truly leverage the unique power of this young medium will require multi-stakeholder partnerships among experienced, proven game designers, who fully understand the unique affordances and limitations of the medium, working closely with a diverse groups of elders, youth, storytellers, artists and social entrepreneurs who can collectively represent an indigenous voice in a new, interactive entertainment medium.
Unlike the transition from oral to written stories, digital games represent a fundamentally different and new form of storytelling. Digital games are interactive, participatory and player-driven. They enable players to step into different roles, confront complex problems, make meaningful choices and explore consequences of various choices and strategies. They are active, not passive. Well-designed games offer a delicate balance of challenge and reward that drives deep levels of engagement, enabling players to advance at their own pace, acquire critical knowledge, iterate based on feedback and use this knowledge to accomplish objectives for which they are invested.
Image from the Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa) video game.
You mention in a recent interview that the decision to feature a female protagonist was a bit controversial. Can you tell us more about those discussions and how you reached an agreement? Are female protagonists common in Iñupiaq storytelling tradition?
We feel that girl characters have been underrepresented in gaming, particularly girl heroes who are powerful and can survive and overcome incredible challenges. Since many of the team members have daughters, we really wanted to create an inspirational role model that could show girls that they can succeed at anything they put their mind to. […]
Iñupiat stories are filled with both boys and girls, men and women. The narrative arcs of stories generally downplay character specifics, like gender in order to focus on the important themes, knowledge and values that the story is communicating.  […]
To find out more, visit the Never Alone website. Special thanks to Laurie Thornton of Radiate for coordinating this interview with the Never Alone team.

author: Guest Contributor


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America’s Has-Been Stars Are Russia’s A-List Pride · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Russia's two “strong men.” Image circulated anonymously online.
Some of Hollywood’s biggest has-beens have been making major headlines in Russia lately, thrilling a nation happy to receive approval from America’s formerly famous entertainers.
In the past month, three U.S. actors have made a splash in Russia: David Duchovny, who starred in a patriotic Russian beer commercial, Steven Seagal, who performed at a music concert in the annexed city of Sevastopol, and Mickey Rourke, who donned a t-shirt with Putin’s face printed on it and later praised Putin on Russian television.
Rourke’s stunt, which took place earlier today in a Moscow shopping mall, is the most recent. He half-undressed for paparazzi after buying a Putin tee, and posed with passersby for photographs that instantly went viral on the RuNet. Afterwards, Rourke appeared on the Kremlin-friendly TV station Lifenews, where he applauded Putin for “not hiding like a secret agenda [sic]” and being “direct,” “like a man should.”
Rourke got a warm welcome from many Russians online. Blogger Anton Korobkov tried (unsuccessfully, it seems) to launch the hashtag #RourkeNash (“RourkeIsOurs”):
Актер Микки Рурк в Москве одним из первых приобрел футболку с изображением Путина и в ней отправился на ланч http://t.co/kdeurTej8y #РуркНаш
— Антон (@korobkov) August 11, 2014
Actor Mickey Rourke was one of the first to get a t-shirt bearing Putin’s image, which he then wore to lunch. #RourkeNash
No sooner than Rourke donned a shirt painted with Putin’s face did Internet users immortalize in Photoshop the union of these two strong men.
Микки Рурк: “Если бы мне не нравился Путин, ни за какие чертовы деньги, я не одел бы футболку с его изображением”. pic.twitter.com/v3L350i7mA
— ю⃝л⃝и⃝я⃝ (@Zvezda_Julia) August 11, 2014
Mickey Rourke: “If I didn't like Putin, I wouldn't wear a shirt with his image on it for any amount of money.”
Lifenews television’s chief editor, Anatoly Suleymanov, joked that Rourke promised to gift one of the t-shirts to U.S. President Barack Obama.
Договорились, что футболки с Путиным Микки Рурк подарит Обаме. pic.twitter.com/aglFnRYFzJ
— Anatoly Suleymanov (@TolyaSuleymanov) August 11, 2014
We agreed that Mickey Rourke would gift some Putin t-shirts to Obama.
One of the most popular tweets about Rourke’s Moscow visit belongs to Russian actor and noted homophobe Ivan Okhlobystin, who in the past has advocated burning gays and their sympathizers in ovens. Okhlobystin calls Rourke “Harley,” referring to Rourke’s leading role in the 1991 action film “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man,” a movie that Okhlobystin inexplicably remembers.
Харлей не соврет.) RT @Patsan64: Микки Рурк: Я буду ходить в футболке с изображением Путина и по улицам Америки pic.twitter.com/vHcO96LATR
— Иван Охлобыстин (@PsykerO1477) August 11, 2014
Harley cannot lie. :) RT @Patsan64: Mickey Rourke: I will wear this Putin shirt and walk down the street in America.
Last month, David Duchovny was the toast of Russia, after the former X-Files star filmed an advertisement for Siberian Crown beer (see below). Though Duchovny subsequently denied being “pro-Putin,” Russian state-TV has continued to tweet about his personal life, noting, for instance, his 54th birthday last week. On YouTube, the beer commercial has more than 5.7 million views and over 36,000 “up votes.”
Steven Seagal, on the other hand, is unreservedly close to the Kremlin. In 2013, he also befriended Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, whom Seagal treated to his own rendition of the local ethnic dance (see below). Last weekend, Seagal traveled to Russia’s newest territory, Crimea, where his blues band performed in a motorcyclists’ concert. Before Russian television cameras, the actor accepted a Putin t-shirt like the one Rourke bought today, and declared himself Russian, citing his grandparents’ Slavic roots.
Seagal, who does not speak Russian, has impressed many with his eagerness to embrace a government many now consider an enemy of peace in Eastern Europe. When he accepted the Putin shirt and announced his Russian identity, the crowd drowned Seagal in cheers. Had the audience tested the actor’s knowledge of his new homeland, however, Russians might have been disappointed, one Twitter user implied:
В Крыму Стивен Сигал признался: Я Русский. Из толпы подсказали: гандон. – Гандон, – громко добавил Сигал, улыбаясь и раскланиваясь.
— Хуевый Слуцк (@lukakunagilaku) August 10, 2014
In Crimea, Steven Seagal declared, “I am Russian!” From the crowd, people answered, “You’re gandon [scum].” “Gandon,” Seagal added loudly, smiling and bowing.
Of course, there is a long history of Hollywood stars—even the celebrities who aren't yet washed up—traveling far from California's shores, in order to earn some extra money by selling products abroad or entertaining bored dictators. Jennifer Lopez has performed for corrupt Russian business tycoons. Years before Seagal ever danced the lezginka, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Hilary Swank flew to Chechnya for Kadyrov's birthday party.
What's curious about the recent explosion of B-list American actors popping up in Russia is how publicly they've appeared. This is no longer about private parties in remote locations. Moreover, thanks to its stranglehold on the mass media, the Russian government is able to take one concert, or one TV interview, and replicate it into a thousand memes and sound bites. Eventually, it becomes impossible to tell where the propaganda ends and the public's response begins.
And this is what actors like Mickey Rourke and Steven Seagal are feeding.


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This Meat Advertisement Is Now Illegal in Russia · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Daddy Can. A still from Ostankino's meat product advertisement, now banned in Russia. YouTube.
The Russian government has banned a popular advertisement for Ostankino meat products. The ad, titled “Daddy Can,” features a father taking his son to work, recklessly driving an Ostankino meat delivery truck through crowded streets.
In a statement published earlier today, Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service announced that police say the commercial breaks Russia’s advertising laws, which forbid the depiction of illegal acts, including traffic violations and the endangerment of children.
Ostankino’s “Daddy Can” advertising campaign has been running for several years. The commercials frequently celebrate fathers for slovenly but loveable behavior, like eating too loudly or packing unreasonably large lunches.
With the truck-driving “Daddy Can” commercial banned, it will be interesting to see if the Russian government demands that YouTube remove copies of the video, where it has several hundred views.