Muslim blogosphere

realnoevremya.com, Muslim blogosphere: Earth is flat, music is haram, dolls should have their eyes gouged out the article is better than the headline

Bangladesh human rights

Human Rights Watch, Bangladesh "Bangladesh witnessed a spate of violent attacks against secular bloggers, academics, gay rights activists, foreigners, and members of religious minorities in 2016."

Muslim bloggers in Germany: an emerging counterpublic

Stine Eckert & Kalyani Chadha, Media, Culture & Society, Muslim bloggers in Germany: an emerging counterpublic: "The Muslim minority in Germany has been historically misrepresented in and excluded from the mainstream public sphere. In response, some Muslims in Germany have turned to blogs as an alternative space to challenge the dominant public discourse through varied discursive practices. In this study, we examine these practices through 28 in-depth interviews with Muslim bloggers in Germany. Applying Nancy Fraser’s theory of counterpublics, we posit that this group, which seeks to challenge mainstream representations and offer oppositional counter-discourses, represents an emerging counterpublic."

Video: Mona Eltahawy's full talk from Wired 2012

Video: Mona Eltahawy's full talk from Wired 2012 (Wired UK)  ""People have totally forgotten about the social revolution that has given them the luxury to not revolt like in Egypt," columnist and reporter Mona Eltahawy told a packed audience at Wired 2012. "It has given us the luxury to be snarky on Twitter -- but, when a social revolution is face-to-face with you on the subway, you have to go and meet it in real life, not on Twitter.""

Fugitive blogger

Mirror Online, Fugitive Samantha Lewthwaite - the 'white widow' of 7/7 - writes chilling online blog - "In the haunting blog, Samantha Lewthaite, whose husband Jermaine Lindsay blew up a Piccadilly Line train during the London attacks in 2005, says “fear can make you do many things” and warns she faces “many more challenges” in the months ahead.

"Her blog Fears and Tears: the Confessions of a Female Muhajid is the first time Lewthaite, 28, has made any attempt to communicate with the outside world since she fled to Africa."

Golshifteh Farahani

alArabiyya, After posing nude, Paris-based Iranian actress is warned to not return home, 18 Jan 2012 "“I do not support what she did nor reject it, because it was her personal choice, but I love her courage,” wrote one Iranian blogger named Alfred. “She did what the Egyptian blogger Alya Majda al-Mahdi did, and this is to protest against gender discrimination and the forced veil,” he wrote. The blogger was referring to a similar instance, when al-Mahdi took off her clothes to pose naked in protest against what she saw as unfair practices."

Pioneer Bloggers in the Gulf Arab States

Sultan Al-Qassemi, jadaliyya.com, Pioneer Bloggers in the Gulf Arab States, 20 Dec 2012 "Long before Facebook updates and 140-character tweets, a number of cyber activists defined the landscape of non-government led opinion in the Gulf Arab states. In less than a decade, a group of bloggers—many of whom have never met—has paved the way for the emergence of the “other opinion” that was and continues to be largely missing from the government controlled Gulf Arab media. The shake-up to traditional media that these blogging pioneers caused was no less significant than what Al Jazeera’s arrival did to the moribund government-controlled television channels of the Arab world." Useful article [posted retrospectively]

'Iran bans ‘love triangles’ and ‘half-naked men’ on TV Special'

digitaljournal.com, Iran bans ‘love triangles’ and ‘half-naked men’ on TV Special, 13 Sep 2011 "One young blogger from Tehran, who has written in English since his Persian blog was filtered, thinks the bans on love triangles and half-naked men will have no impact on content. “Who does this affect? Swimmers? I have never seen much flesh in TV except during sports.”

'Al Qaeda and 10 years of e-jihad'

Khaled Wassef, CBS News, Al Qaeda and 10 years of e-jihad, 9 Sep 2011 "Alarmed by the decline in members' contributions, a recent posting by blogger "al-Assad al-Tha'er" at the Shumukh al-Islam forum addressed the "reasons that led to the decline of activity on the jihadi blogs." ""The main section on the forum which used to be abuzz with messages, now could stay for hours without a single response posted," al-Tha'er said, "and the same goes for Ansar al-Mujahideen and al-Fidaa forums."" Opinion. Perhaps there is also migration to other online tools ...

Kuwait: bloggersgathering.com

Arab Times, Efforts made to give bloggers ‘sense of order’, 22 Aug 2011, "To support bloggers and make blogging a more healthy and meaningful exercise in Kuwait, Khalil Al-Hamar, Founder and CEO of Edges, has undertaken a new initiative to form a sort of union of bloggers."

See bloggersgathering.com for more information

'Young Pakistanis using the Web to push for change'

Nahal Toosi, AP/ArabNews, Young Pakistanis using the Web to push for change, "Meet Pakistan’s “Teeth Maestro,” a dentist who uses his blog to get to the root of the country’s many pains. One day it might be trigger-happy soldiers. Another day it’s corrupt bureaucrats. Sometimes, it’s US meddling.

"The Teeth Maestro is among a growing group of bloggers, tweeters and others using the Web to influence Pakistani society and government."

'After ‘Amina’: Thoughts From Cairo – OpEd'

Scott Long/Mondoweiss, eurasiareview.com, After ‘Amina’: Thoughts From Cairo – OpEd "It’s worth wondering, then, what underlies the reception of Amina’s story. That individual disappointment may be the point to start. It has a long resonance."

"A gay girl in Damascus – or a cynical hoax?"

Esther Addley, Guardian, A gay girl in Damascus – or a cynical hoax?, 8 Jun 2011 update on previously blogged story

'Syrian blogger Amina Abdallah kidnapped by armed men'

Guardian, Syrian blogger Amina Abdallah kidnapped by armed men, 7 Jun 2011 "A blogger whose frank and witty thoughts on Syria's uprising, politics and being a lesbian in the country shot her to prominence was last night seized by armed men in Damascus.

"Amina Arraf, who blogged under the name Amina Abdallah, holds dual Syrian and American citizenship and is the author of the blog A Gay Girl in Damascus, which has drawn fans from Syria and across the world."

See 'A Gay Girl in Damascus' for the latest update. Also support Free Amina Abdalla on Facebook.

'Blogging the revolution from the al-Jazeera forum in Doha'

Guardian, Media Talk podcast: Blogging the revolution from the al-Jazeera forum in Doha, 16 Mar 2011 "This week, Media Talk comes from the al-Jazeera forum in Doha, the annual media and political conference organised by the Arab TV network, which flies in participants and delegates from all around the region to take part. In the light of the well-documented involvement of social media in the recent uprisings in the Middle East and north Africa, the organisers rearranged the conference line-up, inviting bloggers and online activists who have been involved in the various revolt."

Podcast pop-up

Tal al-Mallohi

BBC News - Syria blogger Tal al-Mallohi 'convicted of spying', 14 Feb 2011 "A state security court in Syria has sentenced a teenaged blogger to five years in prison for spying, human rights groups say."

Libya: Benghazi protests

BBC News, Libya: Violent protests rock city of Benghazi, 16 Feb 2011

More info: #Libya Twitter feed

Gheblawi tweets that "Security forces arrested Libyan writers and bloggers: Idris Al Mesmari, Mohamed Sohaim, Mohamed Alamin and his @ElhabibAlamin" #Libya"

Libyan4life (and others) tweet confirming reports that Facebook and AlJazeera have been blocked in #Benghazi #Libya

check out al-Jazeera's coverage

"The Battle For The Soul Of Egypt"

Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish, "The Battle For The Soul Of Egypt", 3 Feb 2011: "Sand Monkey, an Egyptian blogger, had his website suspended. Totten, who knows the blogger, put up the activist's most recent post."

Iran Web Police

AP/NPR, Iran Seeks To Boost Corps Of Web Watchers, 19 Jan 2011 ""There is no time to wait," Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said last week at the opening of a new police headquarters in the Shiite seminary city of Qom. "We will have cyber police all over Iran."

"The first web watchdog squads are planned in Tehran this month — another step in Iran's rapidly expanding focus on the digital world as cyber warfare and online sleuthing take greater prominence with the Pentagon's new Cyber Command and the secrets spilled to WikiLeaks."

Hossein Derakhshan gets 'temporary bail'

oneindia.in, Iran blogger Hossein Derakhshan released on temporarily bail "The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) said that Derakhshan had requested a prison furlough, or temporary release."

cultureclashdaily.com, The Man Who Opened Iran To The World, The Blogfather, Released On Bail

"The man known as the Blogfather of Iran, Hossein Derakhsah, has been released from an Iranian prison on bail of $1.5 million.

"The 35 year old former journalist rose to fame around the world for beginning an internet revolution that challenged the tightly controlled theocracy, under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."