LE POINT: Les réseaux sociaux sont inaccessibles dans le pays, en proie aux manifestations contre le pouvoir.
Il était impossible de se connecter au site de socialisation Facebook mercredi en Égypte, au lendemain du blocage du site de microblogs Twitter sur fond de manifestations antigouvernementales, selon le site spécialisé dans la surveillance d'Internet Herdict.org. Interrogé sur des informations faisant état de l'inaccessibilité de Facebook en Égypte, un porte-parole de Facebook renvoie au site Herdict.org spécialisé dans la surveillance de ce type de blocages. Ce site, géré par l'université Harvard, faisait état mercredi de six rapports d'inaccessibilité pour Facebook. "Des Égyptiens ont confirmé que Facebook avait été bloqué ce matin", a indiqué Jillian York, spécialiste de ces questions à Harvard. >>> Source AFP | Mercredi 26 Janvier 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Egypt Braces for Unrest against Hosni Mubarak
Anti-Mubarak demonstrators pray in the streets of Cairo. Picture: The Australian
THE AUSTRALIAN: EGYPT is braced for a new round of violence today following unprecedented nationwide demonstrations demanding the end to the 30-year authoritarian rule of ageing President Hosni Mubarak.
Two protesters and a policeman were killed yesterday in demonstrations inspired by "the Tunisia effect".
Despite a day of violence and a huge show of force by the regime, the youth group co-ordinating the demonstrations last night urged Egyptians to return to the streets today to force Mr Mubarak from power.
Using Facebook, the group said: "Everyone needs to head down to Tahrir Square to take over the square once again." >>> John Lyons, Middle East correspondent | The Australian | Thursday, January 27, 2011
ZEIT ONLINE: Goldman Sachs bringt sich mit dem Einstieg bei Facebook in eine strategisch günstige Position. Aber ist die Internetplattform wirklich 50 Milliarden Dollar wert?
Der Chef der Internet-Plattform Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, wirbt bei jeder Gelegenheit für mehr Offenheit: "Die Menschen teilen ihre Informationen immer schneller und offener. Das ist die neue soziale Norm." Nur wenn es um die Zahlen seiner Firma geht, gibt sich Zuckerberg verschlossen. Bis heute hat das Unternehmen keine belastbaren Zahlen über Umsatz, Gewinn oder Cash-Flow vorgelegt. Einen Börsengang, der für mehr Transparenz sorgen würde, lehnte Zuckerberg bisher kategorisch ab.
Die Intransparenz schadet ihm offenbar nicht: 500 Millionen Dollar zahlen die Investmentbank Goldman Sachs und der russische Investor Digital Sky Technologies für ein einziges Prozent an Facebook. Damit verdoppelt Zuckerberg sein rechnerisches Vermögen auf knapp 14 Milliarden Dollar. Das Portal, dessen Gründer und oberster Stratege gerade einmal 26 Jahre alt ist, ist auf dem Papier inzwischen 50 Milliarden Dollar wert - mehr als die Deutsche Bank. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> Von Rolf Benders | Klaus Stratmann | Ulf Sommer | Christoph Kapalschinski | Hans-Peter Siebenhaar | Dienstag, 04. Januar 2011
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Spain's Gays and Lesbians to Stage 'Kiss-in' During Pope's Visit
THE GUARDIAN: Organisers use Facebook to form 'queer kissing flashmob' in front of Barcelona's cathedral on Sunday
Pope Benedict XVI will be confronted by a homosexual 'kissing flashmob' this Sunday in Spain. Photograph: The Guardian
Spanish gays and lesbians will welcome Pope Benedict XVI to their country at the weekend with a massive homosexual kiss-in to be staged in front of Barcelona's cathedral.
Organisers have invited gays and lesbians from around Spain to congregate in Barcelona during the papal visit on Sunday to form what, on their Facebook page, they call a "queer kissing flashmob".
The plan is for participants to meet at the city's gothic cathedral and start kissing as soon as the pope steps out of the building at 10am.
"No placards, no flags, no shouting and no slogans. Only kissing allowed," the Facebook page reads.
"When Benedict XVI passes in front of us we will kiss, man-to-man and woman-to-woman," Marylene Carole, one of the organisers, told the Spanish news agency EFE.
A whistle or horn will mark the beginning of a two-minute period during which couples are expected to maintain mouth-to-mouth contact. "Once the kiss is over we will go on our way as if nothing had happened," she said. >>> Giles Tremlett in Madrid | Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Cartoonist behind 'Draw Mohammed' Facebook Page Goes into Hiding
THE TELEGRAPH: The satirical cartoonist who inspired the controversial "Everybody Draw Mohammed Page" on Facebook has gone into hiding on the advice of the FBI.
Everybody Draw Mohammed page on Facebook. Photo: The Telegraph
Molly Norris, of Seattle, Washington, has moved and changed her name following a call for her assassination by US-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
The Seattle weekly newspaper said: "You may have noticed that Molly Norris's comic is not in the paper this week. That's because there is no more Molly.
"The gifted artist is alive and well, thankfully. But on the insistence of top security specialists at the FBI she is, as they put it, 'going ghost' - moving, changing her name, and essentially wiping away her identity." >>> Nick Allen, Los Angeles | Friday, September 17, 2010
More Than 2.5m Muslims Threaten to Leave Facebook After Four Islamic Pages Are Taken Down
MAIL ONLINE: More than 2.5million users will leave Facebook unless certain Islamic pages are reinstated, it has been claimed.
A template letter that has been pasted into numerous Facebook pages accuses founder Mark Zuckerberg and other senior members of Facebook of 'ignoring the feelings of more than 2.5million Muslims'.
The Muslim community is angry that four extremely popular Islamic pages were removed from the site and the letter warns that unless its demands are met Facebook's Muslim users will move to an Islamic alternative.
The letter demands not only that the pages are reinstated but that new rules are introduced which make it a violation of Facebook’s terms to post anti-Islamic comments.
And Facebook is given notice that unless the changes are introduced then 2.5 million Muslim users will leave to join madina.com, a social networking site for Muslims.
The letter reads: ‘Although you have attended the world’s best communication skills courses you have been most successful in growing great hatred and hostility between you and Muslims around the world, but seriously this time you have caused an almost unrepairable [sic] damage.’
It also accuses Facebook of ‘irresponsible behaviour’ for allowing to host ‘Everybody Draw Mohammed Day’ pages which sparked controversy for encouraging users to draw portraits of the Prophet. Continue reading and comment >>> Niall Firth | Friday, July 16, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
May 31 Declared 'Quit Facebook Day'
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Facebook Rival Launched in Pakistan After 'Blasphemous' Prophet Images Published
THE TELEGRAPH: Web developers in Pakistan have launched a version of Facebook for the Muslim world after the social networking site was blocked for showing “blasphemous” images of the Prophet Mohammed.
Six young IT experts in the city of Lahore have set up MillatFacebook – using the Urdu word for nation – which they hope will become a hub for Muslims around the world.
Omar Zaheer Meer, one of the founders, said the site was launched on Wednesday and had already attracted 8,000 users.
The aim, he said, was to register their disapproval of the images of the Muslim prophet and to offer an alternative to a site that has also been criticised for its lax and confusing privacy controls.
"We are saying that we are technologically independent and that you can't make money from us and then not respect our views," he said.
Thousands of people in Pakistan have demonstrated against the US-based social networking site for hosting a contest calling for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
The country's courts ordered internet service providers to block the social networking site last week, along with others that featured sacrilegious content. YouTube, Wikipedia and hundreds of other pages have all been subject to temporary bans.
Muslims argue that any representation of the Prophet Mohammed is blasphemous. >>> Rob Crilly in Islamabad | Friday, May 28, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
“To Offend Religion Is Possible in a Democratic Society”
Der Karikaturenstreit flammt im Internet wieder auf
WELT ONLINE: In Pakistan ist weder YouTube noch Facebook erreichbar, weil dort der Prophet Mohammed zu sehen ist. Der Streit spaltet das Land, die Bevölkerung ist zerissen. Die eine Seite möchte Teil der Moderne sein. Die andere hält an den strengen Traditionen fest. Die Regierung bleibt neutral und erntet deshalb den Zorn aller Bürger.
Tradition der Empörung: Konservative Muslime verbrennen in Lahore Flaggen aus Protest gegen Mohammed-Zeichnungen, diesmal die norwegische und die US-Flagge. Foto: Welt Online
„Diese Seite ist gesperrt.“ Die knappe Mitteilung in unaufdringlichen schwarzen Buchstaben erwartet seit ein paar Tagen jeden Internetnutzer in Pakistan, der Facebook, YouTube oder andere soziale Netzwerke im Internet öffnen will. Die pakistanische Telekommunikationsbehörde PTA hat nach einem Gerichtsbeschluss in Lahore den Zugriff unterbunden. Eine Reaktion „auf die zunehmend ablehnende Stimmung in der Bevölkerung auf die Seiten“, wie eine Sprecherin erklärt.
Ein anonymes Facebook-Mitglied hatte zu einem umstrittenen Zeichenwettbewerb aufgerufen: Beim „Jeder-malt-Mohammed-Tag“ sollten Bilder des islamischen Propheten eingestellt werden. Gedacht war das Projekt als Kampagne für die Meinungsfreiheit. Doch die bildliche Darstellung des Propheten Mohammed ist im Islam verboten.
Als Studenten in mehreren Städten dagegen protestierten, reagierten die Behörden mit der landesweiten Sperre für zuletzt 450 Seiten, darunter die englische Ausgabe der Online-Enzyklopädie Wikipedia und die Foto-Plattform Flickr. Etwa ein Viertel des gesamten pakistanischen Internetverkehrs war lahmgelegt, um „Anstößigkeiten“ und „unislamische Inhalte“, vor allem aber wohl Demonstrationen radikaler Muslime zu unterbinden. >>> Von Sophie Mühlmann | Freitag, 21. Mai 2010
AFP: LAHORE, Pakistan — A Pakistani court Wednesday ordered authorities to block Facebook temporarily over a competition encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed on the social networking site.
The depiction of any prophet is strictly prohibited in Islam as blasphemous and Muslims across the world staged angry protests over the publication of satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in European newspapers in 2006.
Controversy erupted in the conservative Muslim country last month when a Facebook user set up a page called "Draw Mohammed Day", inviting people to send in their caricatures of the Muslim prophet on May 20.
The move angered thousands of young people and Muslim faithful in Pakistan, unleashing an online campaign and isolated protests that grabbed the government's attention and the controversial page was blocked on Tuesday.
But a group of Islamic lawyers went a step further Wednesday and petitioned the court to order a blanket ban on Facebook in Pakistan. >>> Waqar Hussain, AFP | Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Welcome to Smokebook: Big Tobacco Subverts Ban
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: TOBACCO giants are using Facebook to subvert bans and international conventions against cigarette advertising, a study by University of Sydney researchers published in the British Medical Journal has found.
''We have gathered here to pay homage to Lucky Strike, the bestest cigarette in the whole widest world,'' says one Facebook page administered by an employee of the tobacco company RJ Reynolds highlighted by the study.
Other Lucky Strike pages, one with tens of thousands of members, had images of old and new tobacco ads and various Lucky Strike tobacco products and merchandise. The report also found employees of British American Tobacco Australia had established similar pages.
In a statement BAT Australia's managing director, David Crow, said: ''It's absolutely not our policy to use social networking sites such as Facebook to promote our tobacco product brands. To do so could breach local advertising laws.
''Our rules mean that employees should not post branded material on social networking sites, blog sites, chat forums or other 'user-generated content' sites such as YouTube - whatever the intention in posting the material may be.''
The statement said ''if we find group employees have posted material that they shouldn't, perhaps out of naivety, we will be telling them to remove it''. >>> Nick O’Malley Investigations | Saturday, April 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Facebook Row as Middle East Officials Ban User 'Who Insulted Islam'
THE TELEGRAPH: A row has erupted in the Middle East after officials banned a Facebook user in Abu Dhabi for breaking the law after they “insulted” Islam by claiming to be Allah.
All internet providers in the United Arab Emirates have been ordered to block the unnamed user behind the site, after he alleged his claims were supported by verses of the Koran.
His actions sparked a wave a protest, with many calling on users to boycott the social networking site unless the site was removed.
After dozens of complaints about the Arabic-language site, titled “God and Prophets”, the country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced this week it would ban the user from holding an internet account.
But that decision was met with more protest from what some viewed as censorship of the internet.
The user claimed they were an atheist and believed in no God but him/herself, reports in the Middle East claimed.
They said that Muslim prophets would be able to connect with users through the site, which contained Koranic verses and also appeared to mock Islam, as well as answering their questions.
The site soon had more than 600,000 followers, with many critical of the site.
Mohammad Al Ganem, the authority’s General Manager, defended the authority’s decision to ban the site, saying it “insulted” Islam.
“TRA received numerous calls and complaints from internet users expressing their anger against unidentified people who created a site on Facebook that is offending to God, prophets, messengers, the Holy Koran and even to all God's books," he told Gulf News.
"The creator of this site which he named ‘God and Prophets' Site', attributes divinity to himself and spreads distorted writing pretending they are verses from the Koran.
“He also declared writing a new book falsifying himself as a god.” He added: “He spreads talk that is insulting to the prophets and to their holy stature.
“This is considered to be a felony according to the federal law." >>> Andrew Hough | Friday, March 19, 2010
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Facebook wegen Obama-Mord-Umfrage im Zwielicht: Kampf gegen US-Gesundheitsreform mit immer härteren Bandagen
NZZ ONLINE: Der amerikanische Secret Service ermittelt im Zusammenhang mit einer im Internet veröffentlichten Umfrage zur Tötung von Präsident Barack Obama. In der am Wochenende auf Facebook aufgeschalteten Umfrage wurde gefragt, ob Obama umgebracht werden soll. >>> sda/dpa | Dienstag, 29. September 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Facebook Attracts Top US Advertisers
THE TELEGRAPH: The majority of top US brands are using Facebook to promote their products, dispelling the myth that the social networking site is an unattractive environment for advertisers.
According to Facebook, 83 of the top 100 advertising spenders in the US, as ranked by AdAge, the research group, use the site and have signed commercial partnerships.
Brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola and Starbucks, advertise across the site in a variety of ways. Many brands also have their own profile pages which they do not have to pay for and often boast several millions fans. This facilitates a lot of commercial activity on people’s personal pages, often without them thinking of it in that fashion. Starbucks, for instance, has more than 3.7 million fans on its page.
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer told the Financial Times: “If you look at people’s profile pages, you’ll see a lot of commercial activity even without advertising.”
The news appears to counter the initial hesitancy many advertisers felts about promoting their brands via the popular social network – for fear of their logos appearing alongside inappropriate or offensive material.
As recently as May this year, Tesco pulled advertising from all Facebook group pages after its adverts were being served alongside groups supporting Holocaust denial and the BNP. The company, and others which suffered a similar experience, such as Vodafone and O2, continued to advertise on the Facebook home page or personal profile pages. >>> Emma Barnett, Technology and Digital Media Correspondent | Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Sarah Palin: Statement on the Current Health Care Debate
FACEBOOK: As more Americans delve into the disturbing details of the nationalized health care plan that the current administration is rushing through Congress, our collective jaw is dropping, and we’re saying not just no, but hell no!
The Democrats promise that a government health care system will reduce the cost of health care, but as the economist Thomas Sowell has pointed out, government health care will not reduce the cost; it will simply refuse to pay the cost. And who will suffer the most when they ration care? The sick, the elderly, and the disabled, of course. The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.
Health care by definition involves life and death decisions. Human rights and human dignity must be at the center of any health care discussion.
Rep. Michele Bachmann highlighted the Orwellian thinking of the president’s health care advisor, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the White House chief of staff, in a floor speech to the House of Representatives. I commend her for being a voice for the most precious members of our society, our children and our seniors.
We must step up and engage in this most crucial debate. Nationalizing our health care system is a point of no return for government interference in the lives of its citizens. If we go down this path, there will be no turning back. Ronald Reagan once wrote, “Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.” Let’s stop and think and make our voices heard before it’s too late. [Source: Sarah Palin on Facebook]
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
New Media Empowers Iran Opposition
YNET NEWS: On Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr and via text messages: An inside look on how the Iranian political struggle is really being fought
The name Ahmed Maher may not mean much to the average Iranian, but there is a direct link between the 25-year-old Egyptian engineer and the events of the last 48 hours in Iran. Maher was one of the organizers of the 80,000 people-strong rally in Cairo last April that also became know as "the bread riots." This protest was organized mainly through Facebook.
In Iran, where Facebook has been blocked for two weeks, it was Twitter. Anyone following the recent elections in Iran and the clashes that ensued could not overlook the central role the internet and the new media played in the events, especially at the hands of the opposition.
In an interview to al-Jazeera, Saeed Shariati, one of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reformist opponents, said: "For us the internet is like the air force in a military operation. It bombards the enemy's outposts and lays the ground for the invasion of the infantries – our activists, to win the battle."
By this time Shariati has most likely been locked up and silenced.
But nevertheless, it is impossible to keep everyone quiet, especially given the fact that about half of the 46 million voters in the Iranian elections were under the age of 30, the age group that comprises the majority of internet users in a country where the technology's penetration rate has already reached, by some estimates, to 34%.
110 million text messages a day
The Iranian authorities didn't take any chances: Ahead of the elections any website that was deemed likely to jeopardize the regime – from Facebook to Ynetnews – has been blocked. The opponents then turned to another effective mass media tool: The text message, which allowed them to organize rallies supporting the opposition and to update their Twitter accounts, in which they told the world of the developments taking place behind the Persian iron curtain.
However, the government quickly blocked this channel of communication as well, after more than 110 million text messages had been sent on a daily basis in the days preceding the vote.
This was when Twitter, the hottest update service in the Western hemisphere, was recruited for a more noble purpose: Protecting freedom of speech and freedom of choice.
Iranians who own smartphones (like Israelis, the Iranians are big technology buffs), or surfers using services that bypass the blocking imposed on internet providers, continued to use Twitter to organize mass protests against what was later perceived as election fraud by the regime.
Iranian web activists have also managed to develop Twitter navigation tools like the twazzup website, which concentrates all Iran-relevant updates according to categories. >>> Niv Lilien, Nir Boms | Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Niv Lilien, editor-in-chief of Ynet's Computers and Internet channel
Nir Boms, vice president of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East
L’EXPRESS.fr: L'utilisation du réseau social Facebook à des fins politiques n'a pas plu aux autorités iraniennes. Le site a été bloqué à quelques semaines de l'élection présidentielle.
Le site Facebook a été interdit d'accès par les autorités iraniennes, à quelques jours de l'élection présidentielle en Iran, a annoncé samedi l'agence de presse Ilna, proche des réformateurs.
"Le site Facebook a été interdit d'accès à quelques jours de l'élection présidentielle (du 12 juin, ndlr). Selon certains internautes, le site a été interdit parce que les partisans du candidat Mir Hossein Moussavi, avaient réussi à utiliser Facebook pour mieux faire connaître les positions du candidat", affirme l'agence. >>> Par LEXPRESS.fr | Samedi 23 2009
