Tweeting the Egyptian Revolution (3)

A selection of tweets related to the Egyptian Revolution, I have excluded most retweets as well as tweets in Arabic or tweets that simply link to articles and news reports. Most tweets reflect personal thoughts of information obtained from monitoring reports from the ground sent by in-country activists and journalists.

Egypt’s Protests Turn Ugly as the Regime Changes Tactics http://goo.gl/uOupa By trying 2 corner protesters they cornered themselves #jan25 2011-01-27T00:03:48Z
Protests still taking place in #Cairo, reports now protesters succeed in breaking through gate of Foreign Ministry #jan25 2011-01-27T00:16:20Z
#Suez: reports indicate that funeral processions of martyrs will take place tomorrow after noon prayers. Expect heavy police presence #jan25 2011-01-27T00:18:34Z
#Egypt: Rage against the Mubaraks | http://goo.gl/LWW35 Rage on against the dying of the light, only thing Mubaraks ever delivered #jan25 2011-01-27T00:26:02Z
Will US support call for reform in Egypt? http://goo.gl/0xtd5 Whether they do or don’t, end of Mubarak looming. It’s change we want #jan25 2011-01-27T00:29:41Z
Mockline: ME Continues 2 Witness Popular Crackdowns Against Ailing Regimes By Hordes of Unarmed Protesters Bent On Freedom, Justice #jan25 2011-01-27T00:56:50Z Continue reading “Tweeting the Egyptian Revolution (3)” →

Activists Join Senators in Call for State Department Action on Internet Freedom

Senator Brownback promises a hold on nominations until State Department acts on appropriations

Washington, D.C. — Surrounded by front-line activists from Iran, China, Cuba, Syria, Tibet, and the Uyghur Region of East Turkestan, Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) promised to put State Department nominations on hold until the Department follows Secretary Clinton’s January 21st Internet freedom speech with decisive action. “Those who have gathered here agree on one incredible fact: That we have it within our power to tear down the firewalls of oppression, right now, by supporting technology that shatters the censorship apparatus of regimes worldwide,” Senator Brownback said at a March 18 press conference in the Capitol Visitors Center. Continue reading “Activists Join Senators in Call for State Department Action on Internet Freedom” →

Simple Facebook question raises problems around the world

Quoted in CNN

Facebook recently changed its listing for the Golan Heights — which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 — so users there could choose to say whether they live in Israel or Syria.

It was responding to pressure from a pro-Israel group called HonestReporting — and from Facebook users who set up a group on the site itself called “Facebook, Golan Residents Live in Israel, not Syria.” Continue reading “Simple Facebook question raises problems around the world” →

Only Attention Will Keep Imprisoned Bloggers Alive

Quoted in Mideast Youth

At the Committee to Protect Bloggers, we have occasionally been contacted by people who knew they were going to have to go in for interrogation and possible arrest. One of them was the Syrian poet and novelist, Ammar Abdulhamid, who has since left Syria to take up a position in Washington, D.C. as a non-resident fellow at the Saban Institute of the Brookings Institution.

“In times of trouble, activists and their families are often told to shy away from publicizing their ordeal,” said Abdulhamid. “They are advised that this is indeed the best way to make it short and to navigate back to safety. In my case, however, international attention eased my way to freedom. Without it, I might not even be alive today. Still, there are no hard-fast rules here, and the best thing that international supporters and sympathizers can do is to follow the wishes of the (effected person), when they can be reached, or the wishes of their family members and/or friends.“