ReadWriteWeb

TWiOT

More Anti-Blogger Violence in Mexico: This Week in Online Tyranny

By Curt Hopkins / November 18, 2011 05:00 AM / Comments

Las Zetas kill another "blogger." A body was hung from the same overpass where two bloggers were murdered last month. According to the Houston Chronicle, a sign hung with his body said, in Spanish, "This happened to me for not understanding that I shouldn't report on the social networks."

Representatives of the Nuevo Laredo En Vivo forum denied the person was one of their moderators. One of the previous victims was a moderator there.

Drug Cartel Murders Another Blogger [Updated]

By Curt Hopkins / November 11, 2011 01:32 AM / Comments

Rascatripas, a blogger and moderator of the site Nuevo Laredo En Vivo, was murdered by the drug gang Las Zetas. His body was hung from the same overpass where two other bloggers were murdered last month. According to the Houston Chronicle, a sign hung with his body said, in Spanish, "This happened to me for not understanding that I shouldn't report on the social networks."

One of the two bloggers murdered earlier, Elizabeth Macias, also wrote on the social media site Nuevo Laredo En Vivo.

(Update at end of story.)

Syrian Blogger Kidnapped by Govt: This Week in Online Tyranny

By Curt Hopkins / November 4, 2011 06:38 AM / Comments

Syrian blogger disappeared. Hussein Ghrer, a prominent Syrian blogger headquartered in Damascus, disappeared after leaving his house on October 24. Syria has imprisoned, and possibly killed, many journalists, activists and bloggers during the civil strife in Syria.

In case I haven't made this case lately: These people are you, nerds.

Kuwait Arrests Social Media Users: This Week in Online Tyranny

By Curt Hopkins / October 5, 2011 03:00 AM / Comments

Two Twitters and one YouTube user have been arrested recently in the Gulf country of Kuwait. Kuwaiti Twitterers Nasser Abul and Mubarak Al-Bathali and YouTuber Lawrence Al-Rishidi have all been arrested in the last month or two.

Abul had issued "insulting tweets of the Sunni sect and severe criticism and insults to the Saudi and Bahraini regimes for their stand against the Bahraini protests." Al-Bathali "has been previously linked with Al-Qaeda and of fundraising money and recruiting men for them through his speeches and visits to different mosques years ago." Al-Rishidi "insulting the Kuwaiti Amir (ruler) in a Youtube video, which has disappeared." Not everyone arrested for social media use is made of sugar cubes and rosebuds.

Timeline: This Week in Online Tyranny

By Curt Hopkins / September 22, 2011 03:19 AM / Comments

Because several weeks have passed without a TWiOT update, I am making this one a straight-ahead digest, listing the latest piece of news first.

Egyptian blogger receives International Press Freedom Award.
The Canadian Journalists for Free Expression awarded Mohamed Abdelfattah the award for his work coverage of Khaled Said, a young man who was brutally beaten and killed by Egyptian police officers in Alexandria in June of 2010.

Burma unblocks websites. The Burmese government unblocked international media sites as well as websites run by Burmese exiles.

Siemens Helps Bahraini Torturers: This Week in Online Tyranny

By Curt Hopkins / September 8, 2011 05:30 AM / Comments

With mobile tech, Siemens helps torture a new generation, this time in Bahrain. Siemens was instrumental in bringing the Nazis to power and keeping them there as they murdered millions of Jews, along with Gypsies, trade unionists, leftists, homosexuals and others. Serving as one of its engines of genocide, Siemens provided the German Reich with, among other things, slave labor factories located next to concentration camps. Apparently, Siemens thinks that it has been good enough for long enough and that this Internet thing has made a sense of history a thing of the past.

Bloomberg reports that Siemens AG and its joint venture, Nokia Siemens Networks, has made it possible for Bahraini secret police to intercept and generate transcripts of text messages and other mobile communications made by protesters in that country's troubled version of the Arab Spring.

Syrians Campaign for Detained Geek: This Week in Online Tyranny

By Curt Hopkins / August 18, 2011 04:00 AM / Comments

Campaign for imprisoned Syrian blogger. Anyone who still believes that imprisonment and torture of social media users is limited to political radicals and gadfly journalists need look no further than Syria's Anas Maarawi to be disabused of that notion. Maarawi was arrested on July 1. Talk about geek like me. Maarawi started Ardroid, the first Arabic language blog devoted to Google's Android OS.

His supporters have started a Facebook page to publicize his situation. A blog, Free Anas, has also been started, as well as a hashtag, #freeanas. Get on it, nerdlingers.

London, Riots & Social Media: This Week in Online Tyranny

By Curt Hopkins / August 10, 2011 08:30 AM / Comments

London riots feature social media policing and Blackberry Messaging. London's Metropolitan police told reporters they were delving into Twitter and other social media as part of their investigation into looting. For the better part of a week, many parts of London, centering on Tottenham, have erupted in fire and looting.

Attention has also been focused on Blackberry's private messaging service, known as BBM. London tech and media specialist Jonathan Akwue wrote a post on his blog outlining the case for Blackberry as the messaging vector of choice for the rioters.

House Committee Approves U.S. Internet Spy Bill: This Week in Online Tyranny

By Curt Hopkins / August 4, 2011 06:02 AM / Comments

House committee sees spying bill pass. The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill through to the House that would mandate American Internet providers retain their users' information for 12 months, according to EFF. H.R. 1821 would require ISPs to keep "personal information that could be used to identify what Web sites you visit and what content you post online."

This bill was opposed by politicians from both parties, as well as 30 privacy groups. That didn't stop the Judiciary committee from voting for it, 19 to 10. See ReadWriteWeb's coverage of the bill in terms of its possible violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Suspects Arrested in Blogger Assassination: This Week in Online Tyranny

By Curt Hopkins / July 21, 2011 05:15 AM / Comments

Suspects arrested in blogger assassination. Five suspects were arrested in the politically-motivated killing of Brazilian blogger Ednaldo Figueira. Federal and civil police from the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte made the arrests in a joint operation on July 2 and 3.

In June, Figuiera became the first blogger to be assassinated. Figueira, who was also a newspaper editor and the president of the local branch of the Workers Party, used his blog to discuss drug-related corruption in his home state of Rio Grande do Norte.

1 2 3 4 5 Next
RWW SPONSORS







RWW PARTNERS