Vietnam’s Triet urged to fulfill promises on reform
Dear Mr. President: It has been nearly three years since Vietnam was accepted into the World Trade Organization and your government announced its intention to play a more prominent role in international organizations and multilateral forums. Your participation in this week’s United Nations General Assembly and your country’s scheduled assumption next year of the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are testament to Vietnam’s more engaged approach to international relations.
National Day triggers censorship, cyber attacks in China
New York, September 22, 2009—The Chinese government should stop censoring Web sites and protect Internet users from cyber attacks in advance of upcoming National Day celebrations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. October 1 marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
In Uganda, citizen journalists fill news gap during riots
Last week in Uganda, authorities reacted to violent anti-government demonstrations, at left, by yanking at least four radio stations off the air and banning political programming and some journalists from the airwaves. I have been covering the Ugandan blogosphere for Global Voices for more than two years. News of the violence first reached me on…
To blog in Cuba: defying hazards, enjoying freedom
I share with my fellow Cuban independent journalists the drunkenness of writing freely under a totalitarian dictatorship; of experiencing the catharsis of denouncing the regime’s violations; of feeling useful to my people knowing that, in the long run, what I write will contribute to a better future.
The alternative Cuban blogosphere
At the end of the 1990s, Cuban dissidents sought out different media to disseminate the reality of the island. Reports on violations by a government that proclaims itself a human rights’ defender begin to circulate around the world, damaging the image that the socialist state wants to project to the rest of the world. This…
Online journalist beaten in southern Siberia
New York, September 9, 2009—Regional authorities must launch a thorough probe into a brazen attack on Mikhail Afanasyev, editor of the online magazine Novy Fokus, and examine whether his journalism was the motive, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
China’s Green Dam finally cracks
The Chinese government backed away on Thursday from its attempt to mandate censorship software, “Green Dam” and “Youth Escort,” on personal computers, a move that was previously delayed. Ministry of Industry and Information Technology official Li Yizhong denied there was ever an intention to require pre-installation of the programs on Thursday, saying the government’s May…