On behalf of the Kerosene Fire Victims Welfare Association (KEVA), LifeTag, and all manners of stakeholders in the Campaigns for the victims, " I say thank you for this marvelous work of the donation of the Web Site, at such incredible speed!" You needed to see the appreciation and hope with which the victims received the news. And they call me and the office incessantly with appreciation and saying what they saw on the web. - Tony Erha, Executive Director, Lifetag, Nigeria. |
M. Tadros - member of
An initiative of the UN Alliance of Civilizations
Letter to Congress regarding SOPA
On 15 November, over 60 civil and human rights organizations, including Virtual Activism, wrote a letter to Congress urging the rejection of SOPA [Stop Online Piracy Act ]. The following is part of the text of the letter sent to Congress:
Re: H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act
Dear Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Conyers,
As press freedom and human rights advocates, we write to express our deep concern with H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). While this is a domestic bill, there are several provisions within SOPA that would have serious implications for international civil and human rights which raise concerns about how the United States is approaching global internet governance. The United States has long been a strong advocate for the protection and promotion of an open Internet. However, by institutionalizing the use of internet censorship tools to enforce domestic law in the United States creates a paradox that undermines its moral authority to criticize repressive regimes.1 We urge the United States to uphold its proclaimed responsibility as a leader in internet freedom and reject bills that will censor or fragment the web.
Download the full text of the letter below. sopa_civilsociety_15Nov_2011.pdf | 108 Kb |
Citizen's Media Law Project publishes an online guide to reporting on Occupy Wall Street
A Citizen's Guide to Reporting on #OccupyWallStreet: this online guide is a project of Citizen's Media Law Project and its aim is to provide a legal guide to activists on the ground involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement. [link] However this guide specifically addresses the law as it pertains to New York City and the protests currently occurring in Zuccotti Park. The information provided will not apply with respect to the other #occupy protests throughout the country.
For other information on Occupy Wall Street, please go directly to their site at http://occupywallst.org/ and/or watch streaming live event.
Making Sense of the Digital Era: A human rights approach to the Internet
Human Rights Europe has released a podcast by Jan Malinowski providing a human rights approach to digital media: Defending the right to a free, open and interconnected Internet has become a touchstone of the western progressive tradition. Finland and Estonia have gone furthest in their embrace of the internet as an instrument of free expression, ruling that access to the online “knowledge society” is a human right for their citizens. The Internet was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Price in March 2009. Yet away from the political rhetoric and think-tank policy papers, the real world may look upon the internet as a useful but anarchic frontier of the global age.
|
Conclusion of Conf on Women & Social Media in MENA
The Conference on Women and New Social Media in the Mediterranean Region was organized by Centre Isis pour Femmes et Developpment in Fez, Morocco with the cooperation of Fez University from 24-26 June 2011. The Conference was attended by more than 100 women and men from the region, and was especially interesting because it included many of the younger generations presenters and attendees. Panelists were primarily academics who presented papers around the following general topics: |
Middle East NGOs website is our Middle East and North Africa-focused initiative. Please click to visit site
