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Kenya must implement data protection law before 2022 presidential election · Global Voices
Njeri Wangari

A women casts her vote in the Kenyan general elections on March 4, 2013. Photo by Commonwealth Secretariat via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.
This article is part of UPROAR, a Small Media initiative that is urging governments to address digital rights challenges at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).
Last year, Kenya’s long-awaited Data Protection Act was finally assented and put into force.
The Act, whose comprehensive legislation borrows heavily from the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), seeks to create an institutional framework and legal guidelines for processing personal data in Kenya and belonging to Kenyans.
It details the procedures that data controllers should follow to collect and process personal data — a move that now sets Kenya on par with 25 other African countries.
As the wheels of implementing the Act start to turn, the data protection commissioner — whose appointment is still pending — will have to speedily work to put the structures and systems in place to register data processors and data controllers and facilitate effective data regulation processing operations.
This could well become a rush against time as Kenya goes into another presidential election in August 2022.  If the Act is not in place before then, the use of big data could be used once again in the country’s upcoming election.
For two consecutive presidential election cycles, the now-defunct Cambridge Analytica helped hijack Kenya’s democracy through its digital interference in shaping public opinion.
Out of a population of 53 million Kenyans, 98 percent own smartphones. According to statistics by  Data reportal, the number of mobile connections in Kenya in January 2020 stood at about 52 million. For a majority, the phone is the only device through which they use to access the internet — especially social media. Social media usage in Kenya has steadily risen over the years.  By January 2020, the figure stood at 8.8 million users — an increase of 13 percent from April 2019 with Facebook and WhatsApp.
In 2020, the numbers surged.  Between April and September alone,  mobile data subscriptions rose by 5 percent, according to Kenya’s Communications Authority.
Kenya has earned a reputation as one of Africa’s leaders in connectivity and has become the ideal country for running political campaigns on social media.
Roughly half of Kenya’s 19.6 million registered voters in the 2017 were millennials (ages 18-35) and first-time voters — the 2022 elections are not likely to be any different.
Kenya needs to get its act together on data protection laws fast, not just on paper, but on full implementation. Already, with only 20 months to go, East Africa’s leading news publication, The East African, has reported increasing misinformation as Kenya’s political battles go online.
Speaking to East Africa, Alphonce Shiundu, the Kenya country editor of the fact-checking organization Africa Check, said that current online political wars mirror the toxic messaging attributed to the disgraced British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica during the 2017 election.
During that year's campaign, Kenya's incumbent Jubilee party hired the company to use big data, behavioral micro-targeting and misinformation to pursue victory for incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta.
This is the deep end that the incoming  data commissioner (DC) will be thrown into and expected not only to swim — but to build a data fortress that will prevent political parties from using data to manipulate their electorate or worse still — incite ethnic tension and violence.
At the basic level, the new office of the DC will become the place where Kenyans go to file complaints on the misuse of personal data not just by commercial businesses but increasingly by political figures.
Kenya ranks in the top three for countries where users receive the most spam texts across the world, data from Truecaller, the Stockholm-based caller identification app, shows.
Kenya’s largest telecommunications company, Safaricom, has, on several occasions, come under fire on Twitter from its customers including a 2019 lawsuit by one of their customers for failing to protect their personal details collected through its popular mobile money service, Mpesa after it was revealed that data from 11.5 million Safaricom customers had leaked and ended up on the black market
A 2018 research study by Myriad Connect, mobile USSD technology specialists, found that over 70 percent of Kenyans have been the victims of digital financial transaction fraud, or know someone who has, with the majority being via phone calls at 73 percent,  followed by SMS at 57 percent.
Kenyan lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi tweeted his intention to start a class action lawsuit against Safaricom in September last year for these violations:
Seeing the overwhelming response by Kenyan subscribers of Safaricom, I will INSHAALLAH formally write to them next week and then formally start a CLASS ACTION..Safaricom has been MINING DATA and then GIVES access to third parties to our telephones…KENYANS this is how law is made
— Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC (@ahmednasirlaw) September 18, 2020
According to Mugambi Laibuta, a Kenyan advocate of the High Court of Kenya, the DC appointment will become the start of a long and complicated journey in enforcing data protection and guaranteeing the right to privacy for Kenyans, one that is already riddled with issues such as funding, resourcing and enforcement mechanisms.
Laibuta’s opinion, shared via his podcast episode, “How Important is the Data Protection Commissioner?” is that a lack of advanced funding for these government entities will pose a challenge. This will further impede the DC office’s efforts to acquire resources — especially personnel such as data analysts and legal experts — to help carry out its functions.
Laibuta also foresees challenges around enforcement mechanisms such as the data controllers’ registration and self-regulation. All data controllers and data processors are required by the Act to be registered with the commissioner.
The DC is then required to prescribe thresholds for mandatory registration and consider the nature of the entity — whether the same rules will apply to private corporate SME (small and micro-enterprises), government and other public institutions and nongovernmental organizations. Until such thresholds are prescribed, mandatory registration, Laibuta opines, does not come into play.
Laibuta wonders how the commissioner, in consultation with Ministry of ICT Cabinet Secretary Joseph Mucheru, will set these thresholds, placing a heavy burden on both roles to come up with fair solutions. Telecommunications companies, banks and learning institutions are likely to comply, but Laibuta wonders about SMEs’ mechanisms for self-regulation.
This continues to be a challenge even for global data protection authorities who continue to face heat over sanctions issued for GDPR violations.
It will also be interesting to see how the DC will handle issues as to how public bodies process and store data. Already, there have been growing concerns and allegations on data leaks from government bodies.
A Global Voices article last year captured reactions from Kenyans online on the ascension of the Data Protection Act, including some concerns by critics who found the timing suspect due to an ongoing government exercise to consolidate all citizens’ databases under a National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS).
Although Section 51 of the Data Protection Act creates exemptions for public bodies on matters that are tough on national security, Laibuta hopes that the DC will provide clear guiding principles for public bodies in the public interest as privacy still reigns supreme.
Kenya’s data protection law was long overdue. The 2022 election campaigning has already begun. If not prepared, the ghosts of Kenya’s political past may once again come back to haunt its citizens.

author: Njeri Wangari


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Nepali Times, a leading English-language weekly, starts 2021 by reviving its print edition · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Screenshot from a YouTube video from the Nepali Times channel portraying the magazine's readers.
It comes as no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the crisis of the news industry, long affected by losses in advertising revenue and in a desperate search for a sustainable business model.
This year, many newsrooms have had to cut costs to survive, and that usually means letting go of staff as well as print editions — if they still had one at all.
But in Nepal, one leading media outlet is going against the current.
The English-language weekly magazine Nepali Times surprised its readers on the first day of 2021 by bringing back its print edition, which had been discontinued in March 2020.
Sold at 50 Nepali rupees (0.40 USD), the 16-page publication was relaunched with a circulation of 5,000 copies.
Have you read this week's Nepali Times? The print edition is back! Grab a copy.
In this issue:
▶Journalists reflect on a year of crisis coverage
▶ Nepali overseas get the first vaccines
▶ Crisp and crackly Narayan Gopal in vinyl
▶ Death of print is exaggerated
▶ The Ass pic.twitter.com/N4lAveyJZR
— Nepali Times (@NepaliTimes) January 1, 2021
Global Voices spoke to the Nepali Times’ publisher and editor Kunda Dixit, who is also an author and a professor of media studies, to understand how he came to this decision. He said:
During the past year of the pandemic, the online readership of “Nepali Times” increased five-fold compared to pre-COVID times. We covered the pandemic in all its aspects, and the average time readers spent on a page rose to an all-time high of 4 minutes. However, revenue suffered. As the economy collapsed, there was no advertising, and no subscription income. As both editor and publisher of the paper, I had to get our team to work on tiding over the crisis so we could at least pay salaries. We had to cut staff, lower costs. But after finding no other way to raise revenue, we brought out a trial print edition in October 2020, and were encouraged by the response from both readers and advertisers. Our preliminary survey showed that print had a prospect.
Last year, Nepali Times asked its readers what they missed the most about the print version. Their testimonies were included on this January 2021 video:
As Dixit points out, readers’ experience is key — it varies widely for the same content when viewed on a centrefold spread or on a small mobile phone.
Indeed, most readers featured in the video indicate they miss the feeling of reading on paper, of enjoying large-print photos or the reading ritual during breakfast.
Nepali Times was founded in April 2000, and for a while, it was one of the only news websites in the country. In July, it launched its print edition.
South Asia has a long tradition of newspaper reading — in India, some daily papers have a circulation of over 5 million copies.
Eventually, the Nepalese Civil War caught up with the magazine: It came under censorship in 2005 when the country's last king imposed a state of emergency. Shortly after, Maoist cadres who were unhappy with its reporting of the events on the ground vandalised the magazine's offices and physically attacked its staff.
In March 2020, as the magazine was preparing to celebrate their 1,000th issue, the pandemic brought major setbacks. As Dixit recalls: “We had to sell off our printing press, and ensure that ‘Nepali Times’ and our sister magazine, ‘Himal’, survived as digital-only products.”
Giving up completely was never an option, Dixit says, because of the magazine's role in the local media landscape:
Nepali Times, because it is in English, is restricted to academics, researchers, business and corporate houses, decision-makers, senior bureaucracy and Nepal's international partners. As such, the paper always had clout that was disproportionate to its circulation numbers. Our aim has always been to bring the reality of Nepal in all its aspects (especially the under-served and neglected) to the notice of the movers and shakers in Kathmandu. We practice solution-oriented journalism — not just exposing wrong-doing and what is wrong, but that things can be set right, and profiling people who survive and thrive despite all odds.
Nepal indeed presents unique challenges to publishers. There are at least 129 languages spoken in the country; the national literacy rate is under 70 percent, and internet access remains limited in the mountainous regions outside of the capital.
Besides, media consumption habits are constantly changing, as an article published in the Nepali Times January 1 edition unpacks:
[A survey] showed that the proportion of Nepalis who watch TV overtook radio listeners last year. This is a major change because Nepal's FM radio networks had been supreme for decades. But even TV is now facing a serious challenge from social media, and the rise of Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.
Dixit concludes that changes in demographics and better connectivity for mobile data might signify the end of print media — with very few exceptions:
Trade and specialty magazines may still be able to sustain themselves from ads, but general interest magazines and newspapers will have to plan for and move towards a digital-print hybrid, or even re-invent themselves as digital-only products. The eyeballs are dragging us in that direction, and this is a challenge not just for content producers, but also for those who are working on the new business model for media. How do we preserve the public service role of media in a democracy, while at the same time keep ourselves financially afloat? The media's political independence stems from its economic independence, and the new dependence on analytics and clickbait could lead us astray from the main mission. We have seen even in advanced and large democracies in the past few years how fragile that independence is.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Filip Noubel


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What awaits Hong Kong in 2021? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Image by the Stand News. Used with permission.
The recent mass arrest of pro-democracy activists and politicians in Hong Kong for participating in primary elections has sent shockwaves through a city for which the bad news just keeps on coming.
Here are six developments expected to happen this year.
Authorities have begun targeting people outside the core of the pro-democracy movement, such as those who have provided support to anti-government groups or networks.
On January 14, 11 people were arrested for allegedly helping 12 others to flee to Taiwan by speedboat in August 2020. The escape attempt was intercepted by the Chinese coast guard, who arrested and charged all 12 with illegal border crossing. A trial in mainland China in December convicted 10 of them to prison sentences varying between 3 and 7 years, while two minors who were in the group were sent back to Hong Kong.
Political scientist Simon Shen argues that, since it's now obvious that Beijing sees any advocacy for democracy or independence as subversive, the natural next step is to criminalize them:
任何實體或虛擬存在的組織；任何能提出論述的人；任何能提供專業支援的 professional（律師、會計師、社工、乃至公司指定的醫生），任何能分享訊息的平台（媒體、網媒、討論區）。簡單而言，對象已經是香港的主流社會，才能完成「二次回歸」的破立。
覆巢之下，豈有完卵，這時候，還擔心自己會否被拘捕，還有意思嗎？
Any concrete or virtual organization, any individual who advocates for democracy, any professional group (lawyers, accountants, social workers, or even medical workers) which provides support to the movement, any information sharing platform (media outlets, online media, online forum and etc.) would become crackdown targets. They have to turn the mainstream Hong Kong society up-side-down in order to complete the second reunification project.
When a nest has turned upside down, all the eggs would be broken. Getting arrested is a matter of time.
On January 14, local internet provider Hong Kong Broadband Network confirmed to The Stand News that it received a request from the Hong Kong police to take down the foreign-hosted website hkchronicles.com.
The ISP complied and blocked access to the website, which gathers lists of pro-democracy businesses as well as stories and footage of police violence during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. The website also publishes personal information of police officers involved in violent acts.
During the 2019 anti-extradition protests, Hong Kong's secretary of justice filed an injunction request to the High Court prohibiting anyone from posting or re-posting “information that promotes violence,” including on the internet forum LIHKG and the message application Telegram. Eventually, the police did not pursue the blocking of the sites.
Now, however, the national security law has provided the legal infrastructure for the authorities to block sites that are hosted overseas, and it is anticipated that the government will amply use that power.
Hong Kong’s common law judicial system has become the last institution to safeguard citizens from arbitrary arrests under the national security law. But judicial independence is under fire as pro-Beijing lawmaker Tam Yiu-chung, who serves at the standing committee of the National People's Congress, is pressing for a legal reform that would redefine the meaning of judicial independence.
On a recent op-ed published in Bauhinia Magazine, a publication affiliated to the Beijing Liaison Office in Hong Kong, Tam said:
司法獨立是指“獨立的審判權”，並非“司法機關的獨立”，但某些人總是將《基本法》規定的“獨立的司法權”、“審判權”或“獨立進行審判”，曲解為完全不受任何約束、規管、監督的司法獨立王國…
The meaning of judicial independence should be “independent judicial power” rather than the independence of the judiciary. However, somebody has twisted the meaning of “judicial independence”, “judicial power” or “independence of trial” to mean unrestrained, unregulated and unsupervised judicial independence.
A situation in which the judiciary is supervised, as envisioned by Tam, has partly been made reality by the National Security Law, which gives the Chief Executive prerogative to appoint the judges who will handle related cases.
On January 12, Reuters ran a story quoting an anonymous source from Beijing saying that Hong Kong's electoral system could face reforms soon to reduce the participation of pro-democracy parties in future elections.
Lau Siu-kai, who's the vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, a top think-tank in Hong Kong, anticipates that to make sure only “patriots who love Hong Kong” run in elections, an authority would be set up to vet candidates secretly. He also says that in the long-run Beijing might bar Hong Kong residents who are not Chinese nationals from voting.
Under the national security law, the police isn't required to obtain court permission to intercept citizens’ communications as determined by the Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance. Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp worries that the police will wiretap them for the purposes of political screening.
Pro-Beijing politicians are urging the police to probe crowdfunding activities aiming at supporting protesters and the pro-democracy movement at large.
According to a story by Inmediahk, a local citizen media outlet, pro-Beijing lawmaker Elizabeth Quat has requested the government's Secretary for Security John Lee to proactively investigate those sites. Fellow party-member Holden Chow Ho-ding has also pointed fingers at 612 Humanitarian Fund for providing financial support for people arrested, injured or threatened with violence during the anti-extradition protests.
The police has the power to freeze assets during investigations under the national security law. Hence, even if eventually the police does not press charges against the suspected funds or NGOs, they could have to cease operations while being probed.
Pro-Beijing politicians have long advocated for legislation against disinformation. Currently, the government is examining “loopholes” in the city’s laws that would prevent the spread of hoaxes.
Secretary for Home Affairs Caspar Tsui has recently stressed that the protection of national security and public order will be taken into consideration in any new legislation:
The exercise by anyone of the right to freedom of expression carries with it special duties and responsibilities, and may therefore be subject to certain restrictions as provided by law as necessary for respect of the rights or reputations of others, or the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals.
The chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Chris Yeung has criticized the proposal:
You can look at many places, such as Singapore. Unless Hong Kong wants to be like Singapore, it’s obvious that some so-called anti-misinformation laws are basically used to clamp down on freedom of speech and press freedom, turning it into political oppression.
Singapore has empowered the government to determine what constitutes misinformation in its law against fake news. Offenders could be jailed for up to 10 years.

author: Oiwan Lam


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First Nations artist explores ‘indigenous futurisms’ in his Woodland-style work · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Art by Tsista Kennedy and republished with permission.
Woodland style art can be characterized by its colorful figures, dark black lines, and as one British Columbia art studio describes it, as “native art that blends traditional legends and myths with contemporary mediums.” It’s a style that 19-year-old artist, Tsista Kennedy, of the Anishnaabe and Onyota’aka Nations of London, Ontario, Canada has embraced, making a distinct mark by incorporating the traditional and the modern. Kennedy's work can be seen as murals in local health centers, in galleries, and as the visual brand for the Indigenous Friends Association, a social enterprise focusing on how technology can support indigenous communities.
This genre of art is often credited to Norval Morrisseau, a First Nations Ojibwe artist from Northern Ontario, who developed it in the mid-20th-century. However, many artists put their own mark and interpretation on the style. Kennedy states the importance that art has had in his life, “My artwork is a reflection of my perspective as a young indigenous man and father navigating colonial and traditional settings and ways of life.” It's a story that he tells in an audio format uploaded to YouTube about “growing up as an indigenous boy with long hair.“
In an email interview with Rising Voices, Kennedy shares his approach to his art.
A post shared by Indigenous Friends (@indigenousfriends)
Rising Voices (RV): What is your approach to incorporating elements of digital media and technology into your artwork? What is the message that you seek to share by combining those elements?
Tsista Kennedy (TK): My approaches for incorporating elements of digital media and technology into my artwork did not exist until I’d been hired by the Indigenous Friends Association. Prior to joining the amazing team behind IFA as an illustrator, my artwork was quite limited to utilizing in-the-moment sources of inspiration and involved little to no concepts of “indigenous futurisms.”
As I grew to understand the mission and vision of the Indigenous Friends Association and was able to apply them both to my own perspective as an artist, my illustrations for them grew to be a more natural feeling and genuine. ‘Inspire and support the imagination of Indigenous communities to create and maintain their digital technology to further their autonomy.’ When I was able to apply this mission to my own life, and the future I want for my children, grandchildren, and so on, it felt as though a switch had gone off in my thoughts.
No longer did I limit myself to this binary creative process of creating artwork. It wasn’t simply portraying events of the past, or events in the moment; I was given a key that had unlocked the door to exploring futuristic indigenous concepts within my own mind, and more imaginative concepts as a whole. Because of this newly found gateway to let in ideas from a futuristic concept, incorporating digital media and technological elements simply came as easy as applying my past concepts of traditionalisms and modernisms. The ease of doing this was simply a matter of becoming familiar with the concept.
A post shared by Indigenous Friends (@indigenousfriends)
RV: What is your advice for others who may wish to explore how traditional indigenous imagery and art can mesh with digital technologies and the internet?
TK: When I was struggling to mesh traditional indigenous imagery with digital and technological concepts, my supervisor within the IFA had given me some powerful words to help me. ‘It can be as simple as realizing that there are indigenous people in the future,’ is what she’d told me. When our ancestors were met with the threat of genocide from the colonizers, they thought of indigenous people in the future; safeguarding our ceremonies, traditional knowledge, languages, and sacred items. We are those indigenous people in the future, and because of them we can have all of those things with us today.
My advice to anyone else who may struggle initially in exploring this concept of ‘indigenous futurisms,’ or more specifically combining indigenous imagery with digital technologies, would be to ask yourself this question:
“What are you doing today that will change the lives of your great grandchildren for the better?”
Growing up as a native in the city, I didn’t have my culture around me all the time as spiritual nourishment. When I was exposed to my culture, there was no gradient between my life navigating colonial education and sitting in a lodge during ceremonies. I was either in a public school preoccupied with classwork, or in a ceremonial setting receiving teachings and living in the moment. I feel as though these circumstances conditioned me to never think about combining digital technologies with our culture or communal advancement/healing without the help of the IFA.
A post shared by Tehatsistahawi Kennedy (@tsista.kennedy)
RV: What has been the impact or reception to some of your artwork incorporating imagery of technology or some of the pieces that showcase popular culture like the Baby Yoda/Mandalorian piece?
TK: My artwork showcasing popular culture through a woodland-style aesthetic typically receives quite a bit of appreciation from other indigenous people. My woodland Baby Yoda in a cradleboard with the Mandalorian gained a huge amount of popularity, seemingly overnight. My woodland style ‘Bepsi‘ artwork that I created earlier this year sparked the same type of reaction.
One observation that has always remained constant throughout the past two years of my artistic career is that we as indigenous people love to see the world around us indigenized; it nourishes us with a sense of hope and belonging. It reminds us as indigenous people that we are still here, and we always will be.
My gift of creating artwork serves as a visual megaphone to the world, and through it I am able to take familiarized non-indigenous concepts and make them indigenous. I hope that in doing so I am inspiring indigenous youth to do the same through discovering, exploring, and utilizing their own gifts in a creative and thought-provoking way.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Sudan-Ethiopia border tensions mount in conflicted al-Fashqa region · Global Voices
Khattab Hamad

A man works in agriculture in al-Qadarif, Sudan, that state in which conflict at the Sudan-Ethiopia border has led to skirmishes for years. Photo by Bibi Eng, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Tensions continue to mount on the border between Sudan and Ethiopia in the fertile al-Fashqa region, after several weeks of clashes in December between Sudanese and Ethiopian forces.
On January 14, at least five women were killed in the latest rash of border attacks.
Dina Mufti, the spokesman for the Ethiopian foreign ministry, has accused Sudanese forces of breaching Ethiopian borders, allegedly taking revenge on Ethiopian border militias who have attacked Sudanese farmers.
Map highlighting Ethiopia in green and Sudan in orange. Photo by PlanespotterA320 via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
Al-Fashqa region is technically within Sudan’s borders, located within al-Qadarif state, but Ethiopians have settled in the same area for years, with longstanding flare ups between the two groups.
Tensions further escalated since November 2020, when 50,000 Ethiopian refugees fled to the Sudanese-Ethiopia border, after war broke out between the Ethiopian federal government and the regional Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), in the northern Tigray region.
Sudan's Omar Qamar al-Din, acting minister of foreign affairs, defended Sudanese forces, stating that they are moving within Sudan’s border territories, adding that Sudan does not want war unless its borders are violated.
On December 15, Sudanese Armed Forces say they were ambushed by Ethiopian militia while combing Mount Abutiour area. The attack left at least four Sudanese soldiers dead and dozens of others, wounded.
Hamdok, the Sudanese Prime Minister tweeted his concerns over the situation:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
بيان من مجلس الوزراء الانتقالي
ظل مجلس الوزراء يتابع بحرص واهتمام الأحداث في دولة إثيوبيا الشقيقة والتي بدأت منذ ما يقارب الأسابيع الستة.
واستقبلت بلادنا الآلاف من اللاجئين الفارين عبر الحدود الشرقية، وأفاض شعبنا من كرمه المعلوم رغم الظروف الاقتصادية…
— Abdalla Hamdok (@SudanPMHamdok) December 16, 2020
Tweet 1: The Cabinet continued to follow carefully and with interest the events in the brotherly country of Ethiopia, which began nearly six weeks ago. Our country has received thousands of refugees fleeing across the eastern borders, and our people have increased their known generosity despite the economic and cruel conditions and limited capabilities. Tweet 2: Tuesday evening, while our forces were returning from combing the area around Jabal Abutiour inside our lands, they were ambushed by some Ethiopian forces and militias inside Sudanese territory, and as a result, losses of lives and equipment occurred. Tweet 3: The Council of Ministers affirms its support and stand with the armed forces that close the gaps and guard the country, and affirms its confidence in the ability of our armed forces to protect the country's borders and repel any aggression.
Throughout December 2020, the Sudanese army moved to extend its control over most of al-Fashqa and, after working to reach the last border point, managed to secure the whole area as of January 1.
A high-ranking Sudanese delegation had traveled to Ethiopia, on December 13, with plans for a two-day talk, but after a few hours, the same delegation returned to Khartoum, — opening the door to many questions
The contested al-Fashqa region falls under Sudanese control, according to an Anglo-Ethiopia agreement signed in 1902, between Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II, and Britain on behalf of Sudan, when Sudan was still a British colony. This agreement defined the Sudanese borders with Ethiopia as follows:
The frontier between the Sudan and Ethiopia agreed on between the two governments shall be: the line which is marked in red on the map annexed to this Treaty in duplicate, and traced from Kher Um Hagar to Gallabat, to the Blue Nile, Baro, Pibor, and Akobo River to Melile, thence to the intersection of the 6th degree of north latitude with the 35th-degree longitude east of Greenwich.
A printed copy of the map, printed in 1909, in London, England, can be seen here.
Since 1902, clearly demarcated signs have prevented border disputes but due to natural erosion, those signs are no longer visible.
In 1996, Ethiopians occupied al-Fashqa, and year after year, they built farming settlements.
To this day, Ethiopian militia groups have allegedly killed Sudanese civilians during the harvest season to take their crops. Paved roads linking the settlements and the Ethiopian interior indicate possible investments supported by the Ethiopian government.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen of Ethiopia has acknowledged that al-Fashqa is a Sudanese region, but what occurs on the ground contradicts these agreements and media narratives.
As the dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia mount over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam GERD, some have theorized that Sudan may be heading for a proxy war with Egypt through its conflict with Ethiopia.
Suleiman Dedefo, Ethiopian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, tweeted:
The current Egyptian attempt of proxy war on Ethiopia through Sudanese invasion reminds us similar proxy war of 1974 by Saed Barre, of Somalia. Amazingly, TPLF has served as main agent for Egypt on both attempts of proxy wars.
— Suleiman Dedefo, Amb (@SuleimanDedefo) January 15, 2021
Muhammad al-Faki Suleiman, a member of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, said in a press conference the following Friday:
On January 16, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, said that they had agreed to deploy the Sudanese army to secure the international border with Ethiopia, as part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s military operation to disarm militant members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
He reasserted that the Sudanese army was only deployed within Sudan’s borders.
War is not a good choice for either country. Sudan claims it is simply moving inside its own boundaries. Ethiopia says alleged crimes against Sudanese farmers were committed by militia groups — not official forces.
War at this time may plummet the region into the disaster, especially since it could synchronize with another burgeoning conflict between Somalia and Kenya.

author: Khattab Hamad


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Unmarried women and sexual health: Battling stigma in India · Global Voices
Eileen McDougall

Young couple in a park in central Delhi, 2019. Photo by the author, used with permission.
Persisting prejudice in India toward pre-marital sex means unmarried women face stigma by medical providers when trying to access sexual health services.
Societal norms are indeed changing in the country as increasingly more women choose to delay marriage. India is now the world’s fourth-largest user of online dating apps. However, despite the developing social and sexual landscape, attitudes in the medical profession on sexual issues, even in India’s largest cities, are still enmeshed with conservative thinking.
Over the last four years, a campaign called Health Over Stigma ran by Delhi-based youth organization Haiyya, has been challenging this system by linking unmarried women with sexual health and reproductive services — and changing the views of India’s gynecologists.
In February 2020, I met with Sreejani Malakar, the Health Over Stigma campaign manager, who explained:
If you are sexually active, the precondition is that you are married. If you are not married, and having sexual relationships, you are considered impure and the doctor will not treat you. It is a social stigma; doctors and medical professionals are products of the social system. And the level of shame involved is so great that women often cannot bring themselves to seek the services they need.
Traditionally, in Hinduism, sex before marriage is seen as a source of pollution, and stigmatized outside of marriage; in Islam, it is forbidden. These attitudes among doctors, Malakar says, lead unmarried women to de-prioritize their sexual health needs and refrain from accessing the appropriate services.
In a survey of unmarried women living in Delhi, conducted throughout 2018, Haiyya found only 5 percent of respondents took their information about sex or contraception from medical professionals. Most, they found, relied on the internet or friends.
Other statistics reveal the consequence of this vacuum. The same survey discovered that only 20 percent of the women surveyed understood their rights relating to abortion. Meanwhile, a 2018 YouGov India survey revealed that 15 percent of women thought that emergency contraception was not suitable as a regular method of contraception; 49 percent were not sure.
Sapna Devi (not her real name), a young, unmarried woman, shared her experience with me last February in an interview in her home city of Jaipur. “I was 18 when I met my last boyfriend on Facebook. We dated for two years, and would meet in hotels, where no-one could see us,” she recounted.
Sapna described how the first gynecologist refused to treat her as an unmarried woman. She tried again, this time pretending to be engaged, and managed to receive the contraceptive injection. She bled irregularly in the following months, but felt she couldn’t go back to the doctor. In the end, she resorted back to condoms and emergency contraception.
At 1.50 USD per dose, the emergency contraceptive pill is by far one of the most accessible options of contraception for women in India, with one pre-pandemic survey finding 77 percent of single women use it as a regular means of contraception, despite the uncertainties over the side-effects of long-term usage.
“The man at the pharmacy always pretends to mishear me, making me ask twice. But I don’t care; it is the easiest option,” said Devi.
It was stories like Devi's that pushed Haiyya to start the Heath over Stigma campaign back in 2017.
At that time, Haiyya ran a set of meet-ups called the “Vagina Dialogues”, where unmarried women were encouraged to talk about their sexual health experiences. The dialogues revealed the extent of the problem and Haiyya decided to scale up the movement by going to the streets and asking women to share their stories.
Haiyya has found, for example, that many doctors refuse to perform internal examinations on unmarried women; requests for safe contraception are rejected; and those needing abortions are referred to expensive, often illegal, clinics, despite terminations being legal in India up to 20 weeks, regardless of marital status.
Low public provision and failure to regulate private providers mean abortion charges, particularly for the unmarried, are beyond the spending power of most patients.
#MyGynaecStory, the campaign’s hashtag, features the testimonies highlighting some of the grave consequences — both physical and mental — of a healthcare system shaped by a highly sexually conservative society.
Writer, singer and feminist Asmita tweeted in 2019:
Going to the gynaec as an unmarried woman is already an v stressful experience. The taboo of premarital sex, fear of parents finding out.. all of this makes it very hard to prioritize our sexual health! Doctors should NOT be adding to this by dishing out judgment. #MyGynaecStory
— Asmita (@asmitaghosh18) November 5, 2019
And writer Manjima Misra said:
Right to healthcare is a basic human right. It provides a social safety net to people across the socio-economic hierarchy. Consulting a gynecologist should be an affordable right accessible to those who are disadvantaged due to age and lack of finances.#MyGynaecStory
— Manjima Misra (@ManjimaMisra) November 5, 2019
Armed with these testimonies, Haiyya’s next step was to take aim at doctors, realizing their support was needed to force change within the health care services.
Dr. Shehla Jamal, a doctor that attended one of Haiyya’s initial discussions between doctors and unmarried women, has been involved with the campaign now for over three years. She spoke to me by phone from Delhi:
Prior to this, I used to judge every unmarried girl I treated, and I am not even that old, I’m only in my early 30s. But that type of societal thinking, it is engrained. We tend to think in one way, whatever we have been taught, whatever we have been seeing around us. But until someone comes and makes us aware of the necessity of this issue, the issue is not going to be taken up, no one is going to give it even a second thought.
The campaign then devised a set of minimum standards for doctors when treating women for gynecological issues. These “10 commandments” include rules such as maintaining the confidentiality and treating female patients as independent entities, necessary as doctors often seek the permission of a husband before treatment.
In an important victory for the campaign, these standards were adopted by two medical councils in 2019, including the Delhi Medical Council, one of the largest medical associations in Delhi.
In the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, accessing sexual health services has never been harder for unmarried women in India, and Health Over Stigma has moved online as it attempts to maximize its reach. Instagram is the main vehicle of communication where the campaign has been sharing contacts of amenable gynecologists, and arranging “access days,” when women can discuss sexual health concerns online with doctors.
A post shared by Haq Over Stigma (@haqoverstigma)
The campaign is now in the process of building a network of unmarried women volunteers, known as “defenders,” and doctors willing to treat patients without judgement of their marital status, across the four cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Guwahati. The groups are now meeting online, sharing stories and strategizing how to bring change. The movement is spreading, but as India’s social structures continue to develop, there is still a lot of ground to cover.
In Jaipur, the newly single Devi is pushing her chole bhature around her plate and chatting. “Everyone is having sex in India,” she says. “But it is in the shadows,” as she fires up Facebook to connect with others like her.

author: Eileen McDougall


text:
Dutch climate activists block Climate Ministry entrance to demand release of “Shell Papers” · Global Voices
Ricardo Diaz

Photo from Extinction Rebellion Netherlands Instagram account, used with permission.
While the world was focused on the inauguration of United States President Joe Biden on January 20, it was also Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Bas van ’t Wout's  first day in office. Waiting for him were more than 70 climate activists protesting the government's “mismanagement” of the climate and ecological crisis.
Extinction Rebellion Netherlands (XRNL) blocked the main entrance of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate in The Hague, and traffic was  redirected to the side doors of the building. XRNL spokesman Lucas Winnips said in a press release:
We zitten in een klimaatnoodtoestand. Het wanbeleid van dit ministerie is een gevaar voor onze veiligheid en gezamenlijke toekomst. Hier wordt met publieke middelen enorme klimaatschade aangericht
We are in a climate emergency. The mismanagement of this ministry is a threat to our security and common future. Enormous climate damage is being done here with public funds.
The protestors want the Ministry to stop using public money to subsidize fossil fuels and the Dutch government to release the ‘Shell Papers,’ which are archives of the government's communications with the multinational company. This demonstration is the latest in a string of non-violent actions directed towards the Ministry.
Meer dan 70 rebellen uit het hele land blokkeerden vandaag het Ministerie van Economische Zaken en – o ja – Klimaat. Ze eisten dat het ministerie de klimaatcrisis bestrijdt. Het schrappen van de miljardensubsidies voor de fossiele brandstoffen zou een mooie, eerste stap zijn. pic.twitter.com/s2lorfpk5R
— Extinction Rebellion Nederland (@NLRebellion) January 20, 2021
More than 70 rebels from across the country blocked the Ministry of Economy and – oh yes – Climate Affairs. They demanded that the ministry fight the climate crisis. Cutting the billions in fossil fuel subsidies would be a nice first step.
Bearing colorful banners with Extinction Rebellion’s logo, over 70 protestors blocked the Ministry's front door from 8 A.M. Many formed human chains to make it more difficult for the police to remove them. By the early evening, there was a heavy police presence and authorities arrested 23 protestors after some refused to leave, according to local news reports.
Some signposts read: “For rent for green entrepreneurs”, referring to the Ministry's building behind the protestors, “Closed due to mismanagement,” and “I'm afraid of having children because of the climate crisis.” A demonstrator said on the group's Instagram Live that a Climate Ministry worker gave a “moving” speech despite the risk that protesting in front of her workplace entailed.
It is not the first time the climate group demonstrated against the Ministry's policies. On October 20, 2020, XRNL protestors peacefully occupied the Ministry's lobby. That same day, the Ministry released a statement on Twitter inviting the seven protestors for a “meeting in the near future.” It is unclear whether the meeting happened.
After the October 2020 demonstration, XRNL organized “actions on the street” in front of the Ministry's building on November 17, December 5, and December 12. On January 6, XRNL  activists wrote the following “scientifically-substantiated findings” on the building's windows with chalk:
1) 3 degrees warmer by 2100
2) ½ to 1-meter sea level rise by 2100
3) 1.5 billion extra people with food insecurity by 2050
4) 1/5 of the world population living in the desert by 2070
5) 1.2 billion possible climate refugees by 2050
6 ) 10,000 Dutch people per year more likely to die from air pollution
7) 1 billion Euros of yearly damage due to drought in the Netherlands
8) 60% more acidic oceans by 2100
The demonstration on January 6 resulted in 15 arrests, reports the NLTimes.
The Dutch government grants billions of euros a year to the fossil fuel industry, mostly in the form of tax breaks. According to a letter by Eric Wiebes, the former Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, these subsidies amount to 4.5 billion Euros. However, Milleaudefensie, a Dutch environmental NGO, found that the volume of financial aid flowing from the Dutch government to fossil fuels is much higher. In a study published in July 2020, they claim that “the government sponsors large polluting companies with 8.3 billion euros per year.” Both Milleaudefensie and XRNL claim that this funding runs contrary to the Dutch government’s promise to stop subsidizing fossil fuels by 2020.
Shell energy company is also gaining particular attention. The “Shell Papers” is a joint project between journalists from the Platform for Authentic Journalism (PAJ) and Follow the Money (FTM) who are currently investigating ties between the Dutch government and the British-Dutch multinational oil and gas company. Shell is one of the most polluting companies in the world.
PAJ has filed 17 lawful requests to several government bodies demanding the release of “all documents—such as e-mails, memos, policy documents, and even WhatsApp messages—since 2005 that originate from, are directed to, or are about Shell.” According to a story by the PAJ, only the municipality of Assen has complied with the request so far, despite the municipalityreceiving legal pressure from the Economy and Climate Ministry.
Unlike Germany and Italy, the Dutch “government does not publish an inventory of its fossil fuel subsidies, nor of its environmentally harmful subsidies,” a 2017 report by Laurie van der Burg and Matthias Runkel reports.
Therefore, in addition to a plea for meaningful climate action, the protest was also a call for government transparency regarding the use of public funds and the state's connections to Shell and the wider fossil fuel industry.
Er is permanent een @shell medewerker gestationeerd op het ministerie van EKZ Zaken. Wees eerlijk over deze samenwerking!
Journalisten van @FTM_nl hebben overheidsdocumenten over Shell (vanaf 2005, WOB) opgevraagd, de “Shell Papers”, maar het ministerie weigert.
Kom in actie! pic.twitter.com/kR4OasJKST
— Extinction Rebellion Nederland (@NLRebellion) January 19, 2021
There is a @shell employee permanently stationed at the Ministry of EKZ Affairs [editor's note: Ministry of Economy and Climate]. Be honest about this collaboration!
Journalists from @FTM_en have requested government documents on Shell (from 2005, FOI request), the “Shell Papers”, but the ministry refuses.
Take action!

author: Ricardo Diaz


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UK strain of COVID-19 arrives in Trinidad & Tobago · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

An illustration of the COVID-19 virus by Robert Couse-Baker on Flickr, CC BY 2.0
Trinidad and Tobago, which has been managing the pandemic fairly well thus far, with 7,450 total cases between March 2020 and present, 343 current active cases and 133 deaths, has recorded its first case of the COVID-19 Variant B117, via a returning national travelling from the United Kingdom.
The United States’ Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has said that this particular Variant of Concern coming out of the UK, which has been estimated to be as much as 70 per cent more transmissible, could well become the dominant strain of COVID-19 by March 2021.
To help reduce the likelihood of infiltration, the Trinidad and Tobago government recently updated its exemption policies and quarantine protocols for UK-based travellers. As of December 22, in addition to a negative PCR test, anyone travelling from the UK must be placed in state quarantine for 14 days—a week longer than the previous requirements.
It is a measure that makes sense to many social media users, especially since the index case for Variant B117 provided a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test 72 hours prior to travel:
So a returned national from the #UnitedKingdom has brought in the #COVID19 variant B117 to #TrinidadandTobago
As required, the national’s PCR test was negative 72 hours before travelling. Don’t assume. ??#MaskUp #Sanitize #WashHands #PhysicalDistance ?
— Maria Rivas-McMillan (@Panyol) January 21, 2021
Upon arrival in Trinidad and Tobago, the patient was put into a state quarantine facility and once the COVID-19 test came back positive, was transferred to a state hospital in central Trinidad and isolated. The variant was detected via genome sequencing testing being conducted by the University of the West Indies.
Travellers from other countries continue to be required to stay for one week in state quarantine with another week of home quarantine, along with a negative PCR test result 72 hours before travelling.
For the past week, Trinidad and Tobago has been recording an average of 20 new COVID-19 cases a day.
Although most people accepted the inevitability of the new strain eventually reaching Trinidad and Tobago, online response to the news was a mixed bag, with some netizens applauding the efficiency of the authorities and others concerned about what it might mean for other issues, such as the proposed reopening of schools.
The pressure to reopen the country's borders was another topic that several Twitter users addressed. Trinidad and Tobago's borders have been closed since mid-March 2020. Although exemptions and repatriation efforts have started, many nationals who describe themselves as being “stranded” abroad say the process isn't happening fast enough; others have questioned its transparency, with some even launching legal action against the government.
On the other hand, the news of the Variant B117 reaching the country's shores has given more impetus to those not in favour of relaxing border restrictions:
Yeah yeah but open the borders ent???♂ while i do sympathize with those outside it just seems impractical to do such? I’ll never understand why these people keep tryna politicize a pandemic smh https://t.co/4lacJWB0aj
— Jelani ? (@jelani_26) January 21, 2021
But some of y'all want open borders. Imagine if we didn't have the quarantine procedures we currently have in place, considering we are already seeing an uptick in numbers…. https://t.co/j2HnsmflOy
— Lady Danbury (@DzifaJ) January 21, 2021
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Roshan Parasram has dismissed rumours of the borders remaining closed until 2022 on account of the new strain.
The country's health ministry has continued its public education efforts, stressing the importance of mask-wearing, hand-washing and physical distancing to help protect against the virus, and will host a virtual conference on January 22 to offer additional information to the public.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Chinese-Australian cartoonist Badiucao walks a fine line to avoid being politically hijacked · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Image by Chinese-Australian cartoonist Badiucao alluding to the fact that several companies, including Muji, are believed to purchase cotton harvested by ethnic Uyghur prisoners in Xinjiang. Image used with permission.
Being in the middle of two countries currently engaged in one of their worst rows in years is a difficult space to navigate, even more so if one is an outspoken visual artist. This is precisely the case of Badiucao, a Chinese-Australian cartoonist known for his stand on human rights, freedom of expression and fight against racism who, even while being targeted by Beijing supporters, finds himself increasingly isolated and alienated by all sides in Australia.
Born in mainland China, Badiucao sought political asylum in Australia where he is now a citizen. His art seeks to act as a voice of reason, denounce political instrumentalization and support human rights globally.
A turning point in bilateral relations between Australia and China came in 2020, significantly worsened by a series of economic, political and ideological disputes that still remain unsolved. Until last year, both countries enjoyed an economic honeymoon: in 2014, Canberra and Beijing announced their relationship to be a “comprehensive strategic partnership”. By the time they reached the peak of their economic integration in 2019, China had absorbed over a quarter of Australia's trade, and in that year alone, 1.4 million Chinese tourists had visited Australia.
By 2020, the partnership deteriorated as Australia raised serious concerns about issues of human rights and democracy in the context of the many Chinese-Australian citizens, Hong Kong and pro-Taiwan students that were targeted and sometimes attacked by pro-Beijing supporters in Australia. Beijing rejected the criticism and retaliated by imposing a series of bans on key Australian imports. The situation escalated towards the end of 2020 when China decided to stop purchasing key commodities, such as coal, from Australia — a ban that possibly caused power shortages for millions of Chinese.
In an interview by phone with Global Voices, Badiucao suggested that the diplomatic fall-out should not have come as a total surprise:
I think the problem has been present for a very long time, because it was never mutually beneficial. China sees Australia as a ground for infiltration, from education to politics to media. For such a long time, the Australian government was short-sighted about this relationship, it only saw the economic benefit, but [not] much beyond.
The COVID-19 pandemic did not help matters. Many of the estimated 260,000 Chinese students who were in Australia in 2019 were prevented from returning, and Canberra accused Beijing of a lack of transparency in its management of the pandemic. The impasse has damaged both sides: society and government bodies have engaged in anti-China or anti-Australia movements, some of them violently racist.
Wine label designed by Badiucao calling for other countries to buy Australian wine after China banned its imports. Image used with permission.
To explain the crisis, Badiucao points to a fundamental difference in values and tolerance for criticism between the countries:
Australia has realized that this toxic relationship has to end and that basic values, such as freedom and democracy, can no longer be overlooked. Canberra wants to make clear [that] the relationship must be mutually beneficial, and that Beijing needs to know the difference in their value systems. However, China is not used to any kind of criticism of its government, and responds in an outrageous manner, particularly under Xi Jinping's strategy of wolf warrior diplomacy.
The cartoonist believes the crisis is a healthy eye-opener not only for Australia, but for the rest of the world, when determining whether to depend economically on China:
I think that because of the geographic locations of China and Australia, we are the first country in the free world seeing the problems of this relationship. China is not willing to play by the rules like other democratic countries. I hope there could be an alliance against those bully threats China can project on countries like Australia, as in the case of the wine exports.
While this crisis might indeed be a wake-up call, Badiucao is finding it increasingly difficult to make his voice heard in Australia. While the right and far-right have a strong anti-CCP (Chinese Communist Party) line, that discourse, he explains, often includes elements of xenophobia and racism. Many on the left, meanwhile, are afraid to criticize China in the name of political correctness, lest they be accused of supporting racism.
Within Australia's Chinese communities, the narratives are even more complex and do not favour Badiucao. An estimated 1.2 million Chinese Australians (nearly six percent of the total population), come from very different geographies, as Badiucao decodes:
We often overlook the differences within the community: there are second or third generations; they don’t really know much about what is happening in mainland China, and they might have a sense of nostalgia more related to Jackie Chan movies. There are also recent Hong Kong immigrants who have a different understanding of their identity and political stand. But here is the bottom line: we have to tell the difference between people [and] government. The Chinese government does not represent the Chinese people. Unfortunately, some Chinese-Australians are brainwashed by platforms […] in Australia.
Badiucao thinks the Australian government is not doing enough to communicate this distinction between the Chinese government and being Chinese, and that it needs to invest in the Chinese-Australian community much more efficiently in order to counterbalance Beijing propaganda filtering through WeChat and TikTok.
For Badiucao, the best way to spread the message of universal human rights is through his art. Political cartoons require no or little translation and can be immediately understood worldwide. Paradoxically, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a positive effect on his outreach. Offline art events have virtually stopped, but Badiucao has always relied on social media to share his art, which has worked to his advantage.
His cartoon transposing the iconic Beijing 1989 TankMan to the context of Trump's America shows how powerful his integration of global images can be:
Image of the 1989 Tiananmen Square iconic Tank Man transposed to the context of Trump's America, by Badiucao. Image used with permission.
Political satirical art may be global, but Badiucao warns against the manipulation around this form of freedom of expression that occurs in authoritarian countries like China. In November and December 2020, Wuhe Qilin (乌合麒麟 ), a satirical artist based in mainland China, released a series of photoshopped images pointing at an investigation conducted by Australia's own military, which found that the country's soldiers may have committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
Badiucao explains why one should be very careful when comparing the role and function of cartoon art in China and in democracies:
I wouldn't use the term ‘artist’ or ‘political cartoonist': the whole narrative [that] he is an independent artist who cares about human rights in Afghanistan is bogus. Here is a telling detail: the work he posted on November 23 on Weibo has no signature of the user ID and no time stamp, which is mandatory as per Weibo regulations. This could indicate Wuhe Qilin himself provided the original copy to the Chinese authorities. Besides, for a long time, he smeared Fang Fang, the author of the Wuhan Diary, [portraying her] as a villain hired by the CIA. He is not an independent artist, because there is no such thing as independence in China. If you don’t collaborate, you don’t have a shred of space to survive or you end up in prison.
Baiduacao responded to Wuhe Qilin via a series of images showing a PLA (People's Liberation Army) soldier repeating the same gesture aimed at Uyghur, Tibetan and Hong Kong people, wondering whether China would allow Wuhe Qilin to be critical of his own country's violations of human rights:
New Art
Australia‘s war crime in Afghanistan is indeed a national disgrace & must b condemned.
However i wander when China will allow an independent investigation on its own genocide on #Uyghur #Tibetans & brutal crackdown on HK？！@ScottMorrisonMP @MarisePayne @SenatorWong pic.twitter.com/KLSmLWKurk
— 巴丢草 Badiucao (@badiucao) November 30, 2020


text:
Hong Kong protesters’ ‘Brick Arches’ wins Beazley Designs’ People’s Choice Award · Global Voices
The Stand News

Brick Arches. Image from the Stand News. Used with permission.
This story was originally published in Chinese on the Stand News on January 21, 2021. The following English version was translated by Jonathan Neris and published on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement.
Hong Kong’s protesters’ “Brick Arches” street installation has won the People's Choice Award for the Beazley Designs of the Year, an annual award and exhibition run by London's Design Museum.
The jury’s choice of the overall winner of the 2020 Beazley Designs of the Year was “Teeter-Totter Wall” at the U.S. and Mexico border.
The Design Museum Twitter account announced the 2020 People’s Choice winner on 20 of January:
Many of you voted and now here are the results…?? | The People's Choice Award for #BeazleyDesignsoftheYear goes to… Brick Arches, an ankle-high roadblock assembled in Hong Kong by protestors. ? Was this your choice? >  https://t.co/NDPal24WQw pic.twitter.com/oerRAC9yBv
— Design Museum (@DesignMuseum) January 19, 021
The “Brick Arches” emerged in Hong Kong's major protest sites around November 2019 spontaneously as protesters made use of handy materials on streets to block police vehicles from entering protest sites. Beazley Designs of the Year’s website has a brief explanation of the design:
Made from ordinary bricks, these small but powerful structures were used by Hong Kong protestors from the pro-democracy movement as roadblocks to slow down police vehicles.
When struck by a wheel, the top block falls away leaving the two remaining bricks, which together form a buttress that prevents the wheel from moving forward. These arches were referred to locally as ‘mini-Stonehenges’ or ‘brick battlegrounds’.
Easier to make and more difficult to clear than ordinary roadblocks, they became widespread when the protests escalated in November 2019.
The “Brick Arches” was a nominee of the Transport category of the 2020 Beazley Designs of the Year. As the organizer announced the finalists last year, the “Brick Arches” had caught a lot of attention and the organizer decided to add a “People’s Choice Winner”. Eventually, over 35,000 people online voted for the “Brick Arches”.
@antielabhk, a Hong Kong activist account on Twitter, expressed gratitude to the organizer of the award:
#Hongkongers would like to express our gratitude to the committee & voters who awarded our bros & sister – BEAZLEY DESIGNS OF THE YEAR PEOPLE'S CHOICE WINNER – Brick Arches. These small but powerful structures were used by #HongKongProtesters as roadblocks to slow down #police. https://t.co/WWmzuxjL3u pic.twitter.com/24svgZF5Sg
— antielabhk (@antielabhk) January 20, 2021
The jury’s choice of the overall winner of the 2020 Beazley Designs of the Year was the “Teeter-Totter Wall”, an installation designed by Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello with Colectivo Chopeke. The three sets of pink seesaws were installed at the US-Mexico border wall that divides Sunland Park (New Mexico, U.S.) and Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) allowed children from both sides of the border to play together regardless of the wall.
“The wall became a literal fulcrum for US-Mexico relations.”@DesignMuseum names @CChopeke‘s ‘Teeter-Totter Wall’ @BeazleyGroup Design of the Year 2020.
Read more: https://t.co/yAHt3Oq2Ij pic.twitter.com/4sH3r5HOxk
— Aesthetica Magazine (@AestheticaMag) January 20, 2021
Chief executive and director of the Design Museum Tim Marlow said the Teeter-Totter Wall encouraged new ways of human connection and that “it remains an inventive and poignant reminder of how human beings can transcend the forces that seek to divide us.”
Established in 2008, the Beazley Designs of the Year nominate annually a few dozens of “most innovative and inspiring designs” from all over the world in categories that include fashion, architecture, digital, transport, product, and graphics. This year’s winner under the graphics category was the 3D Rendering of SARS-CoV-2.
This 3D rendering of the coronavirus, created by Alissa Eckert and Dan Higgins, has been named the best graphic design of 2020 by @DesignMuseum. “Using lighting, texture, contrast and colour, Eckert and Higgins give the virus a beautiful yet deadly form.” pic.twitter.com/HgKyYI1ZyA
— New Scientist (@newscientist) January 19, 2021

author: The Stand News


text:
Hong Kong’s Kim Jong-un impersonator reveals he was arrested in October · Global Voices
CitizenNews

Howard X poses with a rocket in front of the airport's police station. Photo by Cheung Hoi Kit, Citizen News HK. Used with permission.
This story, written Cheung Hoi Kit, by was originally published in Chinese on Hong Kong Citizen News on January 21, 2021. The following English version is published on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement.
Hong Kong’s Kim Jong-un impersonator, publicly known as Howard X, published a Facebook post on January 19 revealing that police raided his apartment in October and arrested him for possession of a firearm without a license.
Howard X added that police hasn't pressed charges, and that he was released on bail under the condition he reports to the police station every six weeks.
Along with his Facebook post, the comedian shared a photo of his most recent police appearance, to which he took a toy rocket:
Press Release – Kim Jong Un impersonator arrested by Hong Kong Police
Click here for full text: https://t.co/55GIDb4m4z #hongkong #Police #hkpolice #HongKongPolice #arbitraryarrest #CCPVirus #CCP #김정은 #金正恩 #KimJongUn #冒牌金正恩 #A貨金正恩 #SupremeLeader #DearLeader pic.twitter.com/goVHAzKLMU
— Kim Jong Un impersonator – Howard X (@KimJongUnDouble) January 19, 2021
According to Howard X, the police stated that a BB gun with an energy output beyond what is legally allowed in Hong Kong was posted by mail to Howard X in April 2020.
On his Facebook post, however, Howard X says he never received such gun in the mail, and that police didn't find any illegal gun on his apartment during the raid, but he was detained for six hours in the police station.
On his post, Howard says he believes his arrest was related to his political stand and his satirical public performances:
When I challenged them [the police] on the arrest on such ridiculous grounds, they had indicated that the order came from another department higher up and stated they were just doing their jobs.
During my conversations with the police, they also referred to my satirical appearances at public demonstrations that I had made throughout the year in 2020 including my appearance at IFC, July 1st and Oct 1st in support of the democracy protesters, which points to my suspicions that this arrest was not really about the bb gun.
[…]this arrest is being used as a tool not only to harass but to also take my fingerprints (every person who gets arrested has their prints taken) had my iphone confiscated and my home searched.
A few weeks before his arrest, on October 1, when China celebrates its national day, Howard X attached a caricature of Chinese President Xi to a toy rocket during a protest:
Yesterday was the 71st anniversary since #Mao declared the People's Republic of China. Usually in Hong Kong there would be huge protests in the hundreds of thousands, however due to this new national security law and the #CCPVirus there were only a couple of hundred people and pic.twitter.com/vuazPyMc15
— Kim Jong Un impersonator – Howard X (@KimJongUnDouble) October 1, 2020
On July 1, the anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China, the comedian also publicly appeared with a toy rocket:
A well-known impersonator of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has appeared at the banned July 1 protests in Causeway Bay.#HongKong #NationalSecurityLaw pic.twitter.com/XH1ZwXDFDJ
— Hong Kong Free Press HKFP (@hkfp) July 1, 2020
Howard X was born in Hong Kong in the late 1970s and grew up partly in the UK and Australia. He is a professional musician when he is not impersonating the North Korean leader, and his band has toured in Argentina, Brazil, and the United States.
He began impersonating Kim Jong-un around 2013 and has been popular on social media since. He told Citizen News in an interview that his performances are meant to stimulate people to reflect on political happenings around them.
Howard X has made appearances in many protests in Hong Kong, including the 2014 pro-democracy umbrella protests and 2019 anti-extradition protests.
He has also performed in other countries, such as the 2018 Pyeong Chang Winter Olympics, the 2018 Singapore Summit, the 2019 Hanoi Summit, 2019 Osaka G7 Summit, among others.
Check out each of the #NorthKorean #Cheerleaders‘ reaction when I surprised them at the Winter #Olympics in 2018 #PyeongChang and caused an international incident. #SouthKorea #김정은 #金正恩 #KimJongUn #SupremeLeader #DearLeader #viral #comedy #satire #political #dictatorship pic.twitter.com/6IP5sn5xsg
— Kim Jong Un impersonator – Howard X (@KimJongUnDouble) September 28, 2020
Howard X told Citizen News he considers the arrest arbitrary and the bail terms a form of political harassment. He says he will not be deterred from performing:
唔講得Free Hong Kong，咁你咪用其他嘢來表達囉！
If I can’t say Free Hong Kong, I can use another expression!
He says Hong Kong being turned into a bad version of Singapore or a rich version of North Korea:
香港好似慢慢變成新加坡，但只有新加坡壞的一面，而沒有好的一面，起碼新加坡人可以住大屋，又有很多大牌檔，香港無晒、物價好貴，人們捱緊，又無自由，遲早反抗。其實是愈來愈北韓，不過是有錢的北韓，呢樣又拉，嗰樣又唔俾，我都無聽過連口號都唔可以叫，這是白痴的。而家香港變到認唔出……無人權、無自由，政府說話很倔、很政治宣傳（propaganda）、很鬥爭（conflict），北韓政府真係會用『人渣』的字眼，現在中國大陸、香港批評其他國家時，尤其對美國，用字也差不多，特別是Carrie Lam個啲人不斷講，真係愈來愈似。我心諗你有無離譜啲啊咁樣講！
Hong Kong is turning into Singapore, but a bad version of it. In Singapore at least people can afford to live in bigger apartments and there are many market restaurants. We don’t have that now in Hong Kong, cost of living is so high and people are suffering. It is inevitable that people will resist. I would even say Hong Kong is now turning into North Korea, but a rich one. The arrests are so arbitrary and they ban almost everything. It is so ridiculous to criminalize a slogan. I can’t recognize Hong Kong anymore… no human rights, no freedom. The government is very blunt in its rhetoric, the terms it used are like political propaganda, aiming at creating conflicts. In North Korea, its government would use terms similar to “scumbag”. Now when China and Hong Kong criticize other countries, in particular the U.S, they use similar terms. The way Carrie Lam's political camp talk really sounds like North Korean style. How could she say such a thing?
Howard X anticipated that many Hongkongers might leave the city and political tension will keep escalating in the near future. But he urged his fellow Hongkongers to “never give up and continue to do the right thing.”

author: CitizenNews


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Join us LIVE on January 29 for ‘The Milk Tea Alliance: Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong’s unified fight for democracy’ · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Join Global Voices on January 29 at 1pm UTC/GMT for a new episode in our GV Insights series of virtual conversations: “Milk Tea Alliance: Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong’s unified fight for democracy”—a lively discussion about the “Milk Tea Alliance” and the impact of this transnational youth protest movement in East Asia and beyond, with experts from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand, as well as with members of the Global Voices community.
The session will be live-streamed on Facebook Live, YouTube, and Twitch.
The “Milk Tea Alliance” is a netizen-powered initiative that mobilized young internet users and activists in Thailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in 2020. It takes its name from a popular drink sold on the street and in cafes in the region. The movement initially emerged in Thailand in defense of Thai social media influencers who were targeted by patriotic trolls in mainland China. Later, it saw Twitter users from Hong Kong and Taiwan expressing solidarity with Thais who were pushing back against Chinese trolls. Eventually, the informal network became a platform in the campaign for democratic reforms, while highlighting the aggression of the Chinese government and its supporters.
The webinar provides an opportunity to examine the origins of the Milk Tea Alliance; its spread and impact in Thailand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan; the response in mainland China; media coverage of the campaign; and its far-reaching consequences in other parts of Asia as well as its prospects in 2021 given that February will mark the first anniversary of the youth-led movement in Thailand, while crackdown intensifies in Hong-Kong and threats are made by Beijing-supporters against Taiwanese activists.
To review and explain the events of the past year and discuss the future of the movement, we have invited the following panelists, who represent independent media outlets in Asia which were among the first to feature the Alliance and which and closely monitored its spread across the region.:
The discussion will be moderated by Mong Palatino, Global Voices’ Southeast Asia and Oceania regional editor, who has also covered the events.
The webinar is free and open to the public and will be live-streamed on Facebook Live, YouTube, and Twitch. Viewers will have the opportunity to comment and pose questions to the speakers. The session will be conducted in English.
We look forward to having you join us on Friday, January 29 at 1pm GMT (click here to convert to your local time zone)!


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Which colonial statues are being torn down in Latina America? · Global Voices
Sabrina Velandia

The Piurek demolish statue of Sebastián de Belalcázar. Illustration by Edgar Humberto Álvarez, used with permission.
Is it an act of vandalism or a necessary revision to brutal historic events? Online debates around the destruction of public statues seem to have reached a fever pitch during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, but these acts are far from being a recent phenomenon. While there are fewer documented cases of statues being toppled or modified in Latin America, the past couple of years have seen a rise in activism around public statues in countries across the region. In particular, the anniversary of Christopher Colombus’s arrival to the Americas on October 12 revives old discussions and wounds about Spanish colonization and its effects, almost 530 years later.
In 2019, Mapuche indigenous community members tore down statues of Spanish conquerors, such as Pedro de Valdivia and Diego Portales, in Chile. In 2004, the statue of Colón en el Golfo Triste in Caracas, Venezuela was demolished and replaced with statues of indigenous people. However, the act was called into question because it did not arise at the initiative of indigenous groups, but from alleged interests of politicians at the time.
More recently, in September 2020, a group of indigenous Piurek people demolished the statue of Spanish conqueror Sebastián de Belalcázar — founder of the cities of Cali and Popayán in Colombia's Cauca Department. The statue was located atop the Morro de Tulcán, a sacred cemetery site from the pre-Columbian era.
According to an official statement by the Southeast Movement of Indigenous Authorities, the decision was made after the Piurek held a symbolic trial of Belalcázar for massacres and crimes against indigenous people, as well as the dispossession and appropriation of their lands and inheritances.
The downfall of the Belalcázar statue occurred in the context of various demonstrations against the historical violence and threats committed against indigenous groups, including the recent wave of assassinations of some of their leaders. The Piurek demand that the Belalcázar statue not be restored, as the mayor of Popayán stated, but rather that a monument of someone who “redignifies” the identity of their peoples be erected.
A month later, on October 10, in Mexico City, a statue of Christopher Columbus was removed by local authorities for maintenance. Since it was made two days before the commemoration of the arrival of Columbus to America, it was speculated that the decision was a reaction to fears that the statue may be taken down. A few months before, a call was made on the internet to request that the Government of the Mexican capital remove the sculptures that pay “homage to colonialism.”
Two days later, a group of activists from the organization Mujeres Creando took to the Plaza de Isabel de Castilla in La Paz, Bolivia and renamed it and renamed it Plaza de la Chola globalizada (Plaza of the globalized Chola). Isabel I of Castile financed Columbus’ expedition in 1492. During the demonstration, protesters adorned the statue clothes typically worn by Cholas, or indigenous Bolivian women.
“Plaza de la Chola globalizada”. Screenshot of the video “Plaza Chola Globalizada” by Miguel Hilari on YouTube.
María Galindo, founder of the organization that led the protest, claimed to have received a variety of criticisms for the act which she associates with deeply rooted racism in Bolivian society.
In an interview in El País, the activist claimed they intend to make visible the consequences of colonialism and to question notions of beauty and worth that disparage indigenous women:
“Spanish colonialism brought the idea of the white woman […] as the queen, the employer, the owner of the world […] a model of woman, of beauty and virtue, a very specific subject of femininity that works to this day in Latin American societies” and that colonial idea, according to Galindo, created the perception of indigenous women as “the ugly, the unwanted, the one destined for the cheapest and hardest jobs.”
Collapsed statue of Juniper Serra in Los Angeles, California Video screenshot of ABC7 on YouTube.
In the United States, where these events have been more frequent, some demolished statues have been figures linked to Spanish colonization. In June 2020, a group of anti-racism protesters in Los Angeles tore down the statue of Fray Junípero Serra — the founder of the first Christian missions in California. Jessa Calderón, an artist and indigenous activist said that “[t] his is only the beginning of the healing of our people’s wounds,” highlighting that the historical imposition of religion was linked to acts of “horror, brutality, and oppression.” For Calderón, “seeing this statue is like forcing a Jewish person to walk past a statue of Hitler every day.”
Scholars and activists weigh in on the toppling of statues
In interviews conducted by the newspaper El País,  professors and activists discussed the significance of these acts. Professor of Hispanic Literature at the University of Southern California Roberto Ignacio Díaz considers that “[t] here is a kind of collective fury (…). Not in a negative sense. It is a rebellion in a positive and epic sense”. While Díaz admits that demolishing statues may be construed as vandalism, he points out that the act may also become a memorable, historic event.
Professor of Political Science at the University of Los Andes Sandra Borda, prefers not to classify these events as vandalism, and proposes to analyze the reasons and messages behind them. Díaz also adds that demolishing statues “…is not erasing history. History is written in books. Monuments, in general, are made to honor the events that a country is proud of and on which it wants to debate”.
History “should always be revisionist”, in the same way that “medicine is constantly updated”, according to Erika Pani, historian at the Colegio de México. History professor Manisha Sinha at the University of Connecticut echoes this sentiment, noting that these processes consist in evaluating whether the statues, present for decades and even centuries, represent the democratic values that currently guide the countries where they are placed.
Mexican Mixe activist Yásnaya Aguilar Gil focuses on the symbolism of the demolition of statues, which “does not always go against a specific character, but against the symbolic charge that it represents”. People also seek to demolish, symbolically, the ideas of oppression, slavery and colonialism.

author: Sabrina Velandia


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A hip-hop band plays exclusively on traditional instruments to forge a new Kazakhstani identity · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Screenshot from a video interview on YouTube Balu KZ channel showing how the group The Buhars used the sound of traditional Kazakh instruments to produce three experimental songs.
In Kazakhstan, an oil-rich Central Asian nation, rural residents still account for a significant part of the population yet remain largely socially ostracized, often deemed ‘backward’ by urban elites. Now, an experimental musical project is trying to reverse the widespread disregard for rural traditions by owning and transforming its rich musical heritage, integrating it into a new and more inclusive Kazakhstani identity.
In December 2020, in Kazakhstan’s cultural capital of Almaty, the musical duo of Chokan Nukushev and Emil Dosov joined creative forces with producer and cultural expert Nargiza Shukenova to release three songs as The Buhars, an experimental project aimed at proving that contemporary urban music can be entirely performed on traditional Kazakh instruments.
Dosov, a professional musician, explained through a Zoom call to Global Voices how they came up with this unusual concept:
Мы однажды собрались вместе и решили что-то сделать с национальными инструментами. Я подумал, что сплав когда соединяются национальные инструменты и современная музыка давно существует в Казахстане, много таких проектов. Принцип такой: берем музыку из прошлого, добавляем туда европейские инструменты, и из этого делаем, например, джаз или электронную музыку. Так как это уже было, я подумал, что можно пойти в обратную сторону: мы возьмем современную музыку и будем играть ее на национальных инструментах,  как будто не существовало никогда никаких европейской инструментов, или западного мира.
We got together once and decided to do something with our traditional Kazakh instruments. We have many projects in Kazakhstan with this kind of fusion, when people mix traditional instruments with contemporary music, and then produce, let’s say, jazz or electronic music. Since this has already been done, I thought we could go in the opposite direction: we would take contemporary music and perform it on our traditional instruments, as if there had never been any Western instruments, any kind of Western world.
The result is surprising, as can be heard in this song, “үндеме”, which means “Do not speak!” in Kazakh:
The group produced another song in Kazakh, “Теңіз“ (The Sea), and one in Russian, called “Новый мир” (New World). For the soundscape, they invited performers of traditional Kazakh music to play, recording the sounds on a computer and then editing and mixing to obtain the effect they needed.
In the process, they discovered the diversity of Kazakh instruments, which combine a variety of drums, string instruments and the mouth harp. You can appreciate the range in this video (starting at the 24th minute, where icons of the instruments appear at the bottom of the screen), in which The Buhars are interviewed in Russian:
Beyond the experimentation with sound, The Buhars project raises a sensitive issue: the invisibility of rural Kazakhs in today's Kazakhstan.
The country, which can be best described as large, scarcely populated and oil-rich, is the eigth largest country in the world. With a population of slightly over 18 million, its density is between six and seven inhabitants per square kilometer, one of the lowest globally. It also holds the twelfth highest proven crude oil reserves in the world, which explains why industrial and urban zones are attracting massive numbers of people in search of job opportunities and higher standards of living.
Yet, half of ethnic Kazakhs – who account for just above 60 percent of this highly multiethnic nation – still live in large numbers across the Kazakh steppe, in villages and small towns. According to the latest estimates, over 40 percent of the population, mostly Kazakhs, Uzbeks and Uyghurs, live in rural areas where the economic gap with cities continues to grow.
As a result, many rural inhabitants, particularly youth, try to move to the large cities of Almaty, Nur-Sultan, Shymkent, Aktobe, Karaganda — all places with specific cultural and linguistic codes. They tend to speak more Russian and be less religious than the countryside, and while young people often manage to secure jobs, they often live on the outskirts, ostracized by urban residents who can easily identify them because of their clothing, accent, or adherence to Islam.
Dosov explains:
Казахстан – это одна из тех стран, где половина людей живет не в городах. А национальные инструменты всегда ассоциируется с селом, с народом который не оторвался от земли. Опять же тут такая фантазия, мы тоже Казахи, нас прибило к асфальту, к бетону, к улицам, и мы пытаемся наладить связь для самих себя. В городе есть такая атмосфера что мы хотим все это прошлое откинуть, мы хотим современное все как на Западе или у Арабов в Дубае. Вот это все старое нам не нужно, а почему не нужно? Можно же попробовать сделать те же песни используя наши инструменты.
Kazakhstan is one of those countries where half of the people live outside of towns — and traditional instruments are always associated with the village, with people who have not abandoned the ground. Again, we have this fantasy, that we are also Kazakhs, but chained to the asphalt, to concrete, to streets, and we are trying to to find a connection by ourselves. In cities, the mood dictates [we should] get rid of all those old things of the past; we want contemporary things, like in the West or in Arab countries like Dubai. We have no use for this old stuff, but why? We can try to make those [contemporary] songs by using our instruments.
The Buhars are also mindful of another complex issue: cultural appropriation. Traditional instruments often play a sacred function in rural culture, so the band had some initial concern that their music might be misconstrued as disrespect. They see the need for a more relaxed attitude towards this issue, however, as those instruments have already been used in non-traditional settings, like the Soviet time concerts of “ethnic music”.
Nukushev adds that Kazakh instruments are also used in everyday life, and as musical vehicles of humorous content.
The band, which from 2009 to 2013 operated without Shukenova under the name Buhar Jerreau (in honour of the 18th century Kazakh poet Бұқар жырау ) and played mostly hip-hop music, hasn't yet decided if they will continue the experiment.
Apart from the experience of working with a large group of musicians, Dosov said that its most important discovery was “opening a new door into a space from where we can take out more and more ideas”, while Nukushev felt that the band “made something for the nation […] a contribution to our cultural heritage.”


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Russian protesters rally in support of jailed opposition leader Alexey Navalny · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Screenshot from Google Map of protest rallies in Russia on January 23, 2021, created by András Tóth-Czifra, used with permission.
On Saturday, January 23, thousands of Russian citizens braved the winter cold to join protest rallies against the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Navalny, who flew back to Russia from Germany on January 17, after recovering from an alleged poisoning attempt, was promptly arrested upon landing and is currently in pre-trial detention in the Matrosskaya Tishina prison in Moscow. The Russian authorities have accused Navalny of violating the terms of his probation in a previous embezzlement case, and he is set to remain in custody until February 15.
Despite Navalny's detention, his team managed on January 19 to release a new anti-corruption investigation, a feature-film length YouTube video describing a luxurious palace near Gelendzhik, in the South of Russia, allegedly built for the Russian President. The video, which currently has close to 80 million views, added fuel to the fire ignited by Navalny's arrest and his appeal to the public to join the Sunday protests.
While Navalny's return to Russia and his subsequent detention caused an outcry on RuNet's most popular social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, VKontakte – it also resonated with younger users on newer platforms such as TikTok. Users published multiple TikTok videos encouraging others to join the protests and sharing tips on protest security. Other videos showed students replacing portraits of Putin on school walls with a photo of Navalny.
«Мне страшно за себя, но страшнее за страну».
Пользователи тиктока массово призывают «погулять» 23 января, делятся советами о поведении в этот день, снимают портреты Путина со школьных стен и создают фанкамы с выступлениями Навального https://t.co/XdWfMmmsof pic.twitter.com/rg7SPw1YBK
— TJ (@tjournal) January 20, 2021
“I'm afraid for myself, but I'm even more afraid for my country”. TikTok users call for “going for a walk” on January 23, give advice on how to behave on that day, remove Putin's portraits from school walls and create fancams with Navalny's speeches.
While many of the videos are humorous in nature, a good few are earnest in expressing their opinions, and the most popular among them have racked up hundreds of thousands of views. According to a report from Riga-based independent Russian media outlet “Meduza” TikTok videos with the most popular protest-related hashtags (such as #January 23, #FreedomForNavalny, and #LongLiveNavalny, translated into English) quickly gathered more than 200 million views.
Alexey Navalny himself has a vast social media presence across platforms, and now also boasts his own TikTok account – but hasn't posted anything about the Saturday protests there.
In response to the flood of protest-related content, and at the request of the Attorney General, Russia's federal internet monitoring and censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, demanded on January 20 that TikTok remove “all content calling for minors using the social network site to participate in illegal mass protest events.” The request did not specify which events they were referring to. Similar requests were made of other social media platforms. The Russian Education Ministry cautioned parents in a VKontakte post to prevent their children from attending rallies, echoing concerns about the safety of the events.
In the run up to the Saturday protest rallies, Roskomnadzor reported that social media platforms, threatened with fines of up to 4 million rubles (US$54,000) began to remove posts containing “calls for children to participate in illegal mass events” in response to its demands.
On Friday, January 22, Roskomnadzor alleged that TikTok had deleted 38 percent of the content deemed illegal, Instagram had removed 17 percent of such content, and YouTube – circa 50 percent. While over two thirds of VKontakte pages set up for the Saturday protest rallies have been blocked in Russia, they remain accessible in other countries, and many such pages are also active on Facebook.
On January 23, protest rallies began early in Russia's Far East and across the country's many time zones. In Yakutsk in east Siberia, protesters braved -50°C temperatures. Social media users shared multiple livestreams and recorded videos of throngs of people on the street and the police beatings and detentions.
Избиения протестующих в Казани.
Видео: Протестная Казань pic.twitter.com/nLPFud5CpM
— Новая Газета (@novaya_gazeta) January 23, 2021
Protesters beaten in Kazan. Video: Protest Kazan.
Multiple media outlets and users have been tracking the turnout at rallies in different Russian cities. Estimates for Moscow, which usually draws the largest crowds, have ranged from 15,000 (according to local media outlet Znak) to 40,000 (estimates from Reuters). Early figures for total turnout put it at over 110,000, but are likely to be updated later. This Google Map, created by Twitter user András Tóth-Czifra (@NoYardstick), collates the various estimates for key protest locations.
Human rights monitor OVD-Info, an NGO monitoring police detentions of protesters and activists, reported that by the end of January 23, a record number of protesters – 3,512 – had been detained at rallies across the country and are now facing criminal or administrative sanctions. Over 50 journalists have also reportedly been detained or prevented from covering the protests by law enforcement.
Больше 100 городов, больше 3.5 тысяч задержанных по всей стране. Собрали топ-10.
Мы помогаем задержанным благодаря вашим пожертвованиям. Спасибо за поддержку!https://t.co/ocuZ3gnqCe pic.twitter.com/iOcSr7OyXJ
— ОВД-Инфо (@OvdInfo) January 24, 2021
Over 100 cities, over 3.5 thousand detained across the country. Here are the top 10. We help those detained thanks to your donations. Thank you for your support!
Commentators have noted the scale of the Saturday rallies, both in terms of turnout and in terms of the number of cities across Russia – over 120 – that saw street rallies. Early protest surveys also showed that circa 40 percent of those who joined the rallies participated in the protests for the first time. The level of activity in the usually more “quiet” regional locations and the amount of first-time protest participants could potentially signal greater civic engagement, but at this stage it is too early to predict how sustainable this wave of protest mobilization will be.
Russian opposition activists have called for further protest actions in the coming days.

author: Tanya Lokot