Stories about Digital Activism from February, 2016
Macedonians Protest to ‘Defend the Constitution from the Constitutional Court Justices’
"Apparently it's perfectly legal to do election fraud, and whatever crimes you commit as long as the court approves it"
Macedonian Court Rejects Appeal by Activist Sentenced for Defaming Pro-Government TV Host
Five years after the case first began, Macedonia's judiciary has finally rejected an appeal by an activist convicted defaming a pro-government television show host.
Youth NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe Tackle Corruption With a New Documentary Series
In the former Yugoslavia and former USSR, "from kindergarten to university, generations of children and students grow up learning about corruption from their own experiences."
Efforts Continue to Free Indigenous Activist and Ex-Director of Community Police in Mexico
Thirty months after Nestora Salgado's arrest, efforts to free her continue. The charges against her haven't been dropped even though international bodies have recognized her detention is illegal and arbitrary.
Ukrainian Court Equates Social Network Profile With Mainstream Media
The social media pages containing "calls to overthrow authorities" were determined by the court to be "mass media" because they were public and accessible to an unlimited number of people.
Why Are People Calling John Kerry a “Thug” Online?
As the Geneva 3 Conference kicked off on January 29, tens of thousands of tweets used the hashtag #KerryTheThug to condemn US Secretary of State John Kerry's comments on Syria.
Bolivians Use Social Media to Expose Electoral Fraud in President Morales’ Referendum
"None of this is new. But this time, it shows the power of social media, and that now we are able to impact a campaign with the truth."
Iberian Media Collectives Will Gather in Portugal to Debate Alternative News
Alternative media from Portugal and Spain will share their experiences because "it is urgent that we find other ways to communicate and to make and transmit information."
Dear Karachi City Officials, ‘Fix It’. (Or Else.)
Alamgir Khan's #fixit campaign has rallied young Karachiites into action has taken up the responsibility of fixing some of the city's most detrimental issues.
Hard Labor for Woman Who Reposted Online Criticism of Russia's Actions in Ukraine
A Russian court found Vologzheninova guilty of "discrediting the political order" and of "inciting enmity" by reposting or liking online material critical of Russia’s actions in Crimea and in Donbas.
Albanian Police Use Force Against Protesters Defending the Capital's Last Public Park
One police officer was heard threatening them with the words: "There will be blood!"
Ghanaian Facebook Commentator Sued For Defamation by Deputy Attorney General
'Is there any fundraising effort to support our brother Evron Rothschild Hughes fight this impudence of a libel suit filed against free speech by Ghana's Deputy Attorney General?'
Protests at Indian Universities Add Fuel to Public Outrage Over Sedition Laws
The arrest of student leader Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges has posed a rare legitimacy test for Prime Minister Nahendra Modi and his "intolerant" ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Brazilian Activist Flooded With Death Threats After Newspaper Runs Phony Interview
The well-known Brazilian journalist, teacher, and human rights activist Leonardo Sakamoto says he started receiving death threats after a small newspaper published a fake interview with him earlier this month.
The KRA Factor: The Shaming of Kadyrov’s Online Critics
The Chechen ideologists have invented a highly effective way of influencing their online critics. The method has been tested in Chechnya and is now being used outside of the republic.
Kyrgyz Language Is Part of Google Translate!
The world's most popular multilingual statistical machine translation service has a new addition: the Kyrgyz language.
A Blogger Exposes Personal Data Protection Flaw on Macedonia's Election Commission Website
"The mishap is at a very amateurish level from the perspective of professional principles of working with personal data on the open Web."
Colombia Introduces Harsher Prison Sentences for Acid Attacks
Every year, an average of 100 people suffer an acid attack in Colombia, where recently a law was passed to tough sentences and take judicial benefits away from the perpetrators.
Hungary’s Teachers Are Mad As Hell and They’re Not Taking It Anymore
Dissatisfaction with the declining state of Hungarian education has been brewing for years and has culminated in a protest by 30,000 people in Budapest.
It's Finally Official: Port of Spain's Mayor Resigns Over His Victim-Blaming Remarks
"Some of these old dogmatic doctrines of […] rural Trinidad and, and the Trinidadian society of the 50s and the 60s are no longer relevant in a modern world."
Stranger Than Fiction? Two Puppeteers Charged With ‘Glorifying Terrorism’ in Spain
"Following this legal reasoning, Francis Ford Coppola could be charged for the crimes that happen in The Godfather."
