Stories about Digital Activism from January, 2023
First victims of anti-LGBTQ+ law in Russia are trans persons and books
Openly trans Tiktokers, a publishing house, movies and TV shows feel the weight of the Russian anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law.
Social networks make civil society voices heard in Togo
Internet in Togo enables influencers to make social networks effective promotion platforms. Journalists and civil society activists take advantage of this to make their voices heard.
There are almost 1,500 political prisoners in Belarus
The main tools for repressing critics of the regime and dissidents in Belarus are still criminal and administrative prosecution, arbitrary arrests, dismissals from work and de facto deportations
Repression of Uyghurs remains unchanged: Interview with Xinjiang Victims Database founder Gene Bunin
Gene Bunin, founder of the Xinjiang Victims Database talks to Global Voices about the lack of political will to highlight internationally the oppression of Uyghur people in China.
“I will forever be the enemy of the Russian regime” says TikToker in Moldova
This is the first case of a TikToker formerly based in Russia openly standing against the Russian regime and supporting Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia: Call for release of two Saudi Wikipedians
A request for the release of doctors Osama Khalid and Ziad Al-Sufyani, who contributed to Wikipedia Arabic and were jailed in Saudi Arabia for 32 and 8 years, respectively.
BBC Bangla issues its final broadcast after 81 years
BBC Bangla radio was a source of impartial and credible news during crises in Bangladesh over the decades. The closure of its radio broadcasts marks the end of an era.
Rights organization OVD-Info gives an overview of repression in Russia in 2022
In 2022 in Russia, there were more than 21,000 arrests and at least 370 defendants in criminal cases for anti-war statements and speeches. More than 200,000 Internet resources have been blocked including 11 sentences in cases of state treason.
Announcing the Mayan Languages Digital Activism Summit (January 11-15)
Rising Voices will host the Mayan Languages Digital Activism Summit 2023 at the Grand Museum of the Mayan World in Mérida, Mexico on January 11–15.
Saudi Arabia: Government agents infiltrate Wikipedia, sentence independent admins to prison
The Saudi government infiltrated Wikipedia by recruiting the organization’s highest-ranking administrators in the country to control information about the country and prosecute those who contributed critical information about political detainees.
Filipino activists decry Facebook’s ‘automated censorship’
The removal of posts “exposes how the so-called community standards of Facebook are arbitrarily invoked to silence activists and revolutionaries.”
