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اتفق خبراء على أن عدم امتلاك الإخوان في مصر لصحيفة أو منبر إعلامي يعبر عنهم -رغم كونهم تيار المعارضة الرئيسي- يشكل مفارقة كبيرة، ورأوا أن هجوم الإعلام الرسمي على الإخوان يشكل أحد أهم أسباب نجاحهم، كما ذكر بعضهم أن الإسلاميين نجحوا في استخدام الإنترنت مساحة بديلة. وبينما يستمر وقف إصدار صحيفة آفاق عربية التابعة لحزب الأحرار التي كان يستأجرها الإخوان، تعرض الموقع الإنجليزي للجماعة لمحاولات للحظر في الفترة الأخيرة. نتيجة عكسية صفوت العالِم أستاذ الإعلام السياسي بجامعة القاهرة رأى أن الهجوم الإعلامي المكثف على الإخوان في الصحف القومية والتلفزيون ينشر قضاياهم على نطاق أوسع، "حيث يخلق مناخا من التساؤل لدى المشاهد حول غياب الرأي الآخر، فيذهب للبحث عن ردود في الفضائيات والصحف الأخرى، بغض النظر عن اتفاقه أو اختلافه مع الجماعة". وذكر في حديث للجزيرة نت أنه "إذا كانت هذه سهاما توجه لتيار الإخوان، فإن الرأي العام قادر على توجيه قاذفة للحكومة بتعاطفه مع الجماعة"، مضيفا أن سياسة الصمت هي الأنجح إن شاء النظام أن يقلل من حجمهم. وفي السياق أشار المحلل السياسي الخبير بشؤون الجماعات الإسلامية ضياء رشوان إلى أن منع الإخوان من امتلاك صحيفة هو جزء من الحظر العام عليهم. وأكد للجزيرة نت أن سياسة الحظر لم تعد مجدية، موضحا أن "هناك وجودا إعلاميا قويا للإخوان، أهم أدواته ليس الإخوان وإنما خصومهم، من خلال مهاجمتهم في مانشيتات يومية بحق أو بغير حق، لكن في النهاية لولا هذه الصحف لما عرف الناس أخبار الإخوان". الإنترنت بديلا
وعن حظر السلطات لموقع الإخوان الإنجليزي (إخوان ويب) قال مدير الشبكة العربية لمعلومات حقوق الإنسان جمال عيد إنه من اللحظة الأولى لحظر الموقع استطعنا دخوله من بعض الشركات، وهذا التخبط يوضح صعوبة الرقابة أو الهيمنة على الإنترنت. وذكر أنه في مقابل حظر موقع واحد تظهر 10 مواقع أخرى تنشر فكر الجماعة. العنصر البشري أما رئيس تحرير الموقع الرسمي للجماعة (إخوان أون لاين) عبد الجليل الشرنوبي فأشار إلى أن سببا آخر وراء نجاح الإخوان إعلاميا يكمن في أنهم لا يعتمدون الوسائل المملوكة قدر اعتمادهم على الاتصال والتواصل مع الوسائل الإعلامية المختلفة، مؤكدا أن "العنصر البشري هو الأهم في المعادلة الإعلامية وهو ما يمتلكه الإخوان". ونفى للجزيرة نت وجود أي صفقات تشتري الجماعة بموجبها عدة صفحات في بعض الجرائد المستقلة والمعارضة. وأضاف أن الصفقات الوحيدة للإخوان كانت صريحة ومعلنة، مع آفاق عربية وقبلها جريدة الشعب من خلال عقود مبرمة بين الإخوان ورؤساء تحريرها، ولم تكن تلك الصحف مملوكة للإخوان صرفا. وأوضح أن هناك صحفا ترى جزءا أصيلا من توزيعها يعود لتنوع قرائها، وبالتالي فإنها تحرص على التنوع ليضمن إرضاء الأطياف المختلفة من القراء. واستبعد رشوان إصدار الإخوان لصحيفة في الشهور التالية "حيث تمر البلاد بأزمة سياسية كبيرة"، واتفق معه الشرنوبي قائلا إنه "من المستحيل أن يصدر الإخوان صحيفة في ظل مساحة حرية افتراضية على الهامش يستطيع النظام إلغاءها في أي وقت". لكن العالم لم يستبعد "ظهور قنوات هنا أو هناك تحت غطاء رجال أعمال أو غيره لتعبر عن الإخوان". | ||||||
Saturday, February 03, 2007
الإخوان بين الحظر الرسمي والنجاح الإعلامي
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Egyptians warned against using Net to jeopardise national security
Egyptians warned against using Net to jeopardise national security |
AP |
|
Cairo: Egypt's interior minister on Friday accused those reporting cases of alleged police torture of being part of an 'unpatriotic campaign' to tarnish the country's police forces. Habib Al Adly warned Egyptians against using the internet to jeopardise national security. Information posted on the internet that poses a hazard to the government "is a very dangerous crime - a crime of which its victims include individuals, the state and its institutions", Habib Al Adly told state-run Egyptian television during a more than one-hour long interview. Human rights groups have accused Egypt of suppressing freedom of expression, most recently over the arrest of a 22-year-old blogger who is on trial for insulting Islam and causing sectarian strife for his internet writings. Egyptian authorities in November arrested Abdul Kareem Nabeel, who often denounced Islamic authorities and criticised President Hosni Mubarak on his Arabic-language blog. His prosecution is Egypt's first of a blogger. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned Egypt's arrests of bloggers, and media watchdog Reporters Without Borders included Egypt in a recently released 'Enemies of the internet' report. Egypt also has come under criticism by rights groups and activists after a video was widely circulated on the internet appearing to show a man being tortured by police. Rights groups have said the man, a bus driver, was tortured at a police station in Cairo a year ago. Al Adly warned Egyptians not to generalise individual cases, saying "torture is prohibited". "I consider this to be an intended unpatriotic campaign to hit a national service that seeks stability in the country." |
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Egyptian Blogger, Accused of Sectarian Strife and Insulting Islam,
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD
Associated Press Writer
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- An Egyptian blogger went on trial Thursday on charges of insulting Islam and causing sectarian strife with his Internet writings. Egypt's first prosecution of a blogger came as Washington has backed away from pressuring its Mideast ally to improve its human rights record and bring democratic reform.
Abdel Kareem Nabil often denounced Islamic authorities and criticized Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his Arabic-language blog. He has been in detention since November and faces up to nine years in prison if convicted.
Egypt has arrested a string of pro-democracy bloggers over the past year, sparking condemnation from human rights groups.
Nabil's trial in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria began two days after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Mubarak, seeking support for a new American strategy on calming violence in Iraq.
But unlike past visits to Egypt when she pressed demands for greater democracy, Rice made no reference to reform, instead praising the two countries' "important strategic relationship -- one that we value greatly."
In 2005, the Bush administration made Egypt -- which Mubarak has ruled unquestioned for a quarter century -- the centerpiece of what it called a policy priority of promoting democratic change in the Arab world.
But Egyptian reformists say Washington has all but dropped its pressure on Mubarak amid the Bush administration's need for support on Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United States was also spooked when Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood made big gains in 2005 parliamentary elections and the radical Hamas movement won 2006 Palestinian elections -- raising fears that greater democracy would increase fundamentalists' power, activists say.
"America's stance is very clear. It is so afraid after the victories of Hamas in Palestine and the Brotherhood in Egypt," said Ahmed Seif al-Islam, a member of one of three Egyptian rights group backing Nabil in his case.
The United States "has not only lifted its hand and stopped pressure. We are in the phase of (the U.S.) hinting to government they can take repressive measures for the sake of stability," he said.
In Thursday's court session, Nabil was charged with inciting sedition, insulting Islam, harming national unity and insulting the president, a court official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of court rules.
Defense attorneys asked for time to review the indictment and the trial was adjourned until Jan. 25.
His lawyer, Radwa Sayed Ahmed, said Nabil had been held in solitary confinement, forbidden visits from his family and lawyers. In court Thursday, "he didn't look good," she told the Associated Press from Alexandria.
Nabil is the first blogger Egypt has put on trial for his writings. Other bloggers have been released without charges. But unlike the other detained bloggers, who concentrated on politics, Nabil wrote often on religion -- and Seif al-Islam said the government was likely prosecuting him as part of its "competition with the Muslim Brotherhood to show its Islamic credentials."
In his blog -- where he uses the name Kareem Amer -- Nabil was a fierce critic of conservative Muslims and in particularly of al-Azhar, one of the most prestigious religious institutions in the Sunni Muslim world.
Nabil was a law student at al-Azhar University, but denounced it as "the university of terrorism," accusing it of promoting radical ideas and suppressing free thought. Al-Azhar "stuffs its students' brains and turns them into human beasts ... teaching them that there is no place for differences in this life," he wrote.
He was thrown out of the university in March, and in his last blog entry before his arrest blamed al-Azhar for pushing the government to investigate him.
In other postings, Nabil described Mubarak's regime as a "symbol of dictatorship."
Nabil was briefly detained in late 2005 after posting a commentary on riots in which angry Muslim worshippers attacked a Coptic Christian church over a play put on by Christians deemed offensive to Islam.
"Muslims revealed their true ugly face and appeared to all the world that they are full of brutality, barbarism and inhumanity," Nabil said of the October 2005 riots.
Blogging took off in Egypt in 2004, at a time when domestic political activists and the U.S. were stepping up calls for political reform.
Last year, police arrested Alaa Abdel-Fattah, whose blog helped organize anti-government protests, and held him for six weeks before releasing him in June. Another blogger, Mohammed el-Sharkawi, was arrested during a demonstration in May and allegedly sexually tortured in detention before his release.
Amnesty International and media watchdog Reporters Without Borders have criticized the arrests as restricting freedom of expression. The Paris-based media watchdog has included Egypt in "Enemies of the Internet," a report issued in November.
Associated Press Writer
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- An Egyptian blogger went on trial Thursday on charges of insulting Islam and causing sectarian strife with his Internet writings. Egypt's first prosecution of a blogger came as Washington has backed away from pressuring its Mideast ally to improve its human rights record and bring democratic reform.
Abdel Kareem Nabil often denounced Islamic authorities and criticized Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his Arabic-language blog. He has been in detention since November and faces up to nine years in prison if convicted.
Egypt has arrested a string of pro-democracy bloggers over the past year, sparking condemnation from human rights groups.
Nabil's trial in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria began two days after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Mubarak, seeking support for a new American strategy on calming violence in Iraq.
But unlike past visits to Egypt when she pressed demands for greater democracy, Rice made no reference to reform, instead praising the two countries' "important strategic relationship -- one that we value greatly."
In 2005, the Bush administration made Egypt -- which Mubarak has ruled unquestioned for a quarter century -- the centerpiece of what it called a policy priority of promoting democratic change in the Arab world.
But Egyptian reformists say Washington has all but dropped its pressure on Mubarak amid the Bush administration's need for support on Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The United States was also spooked when Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood made big gains in 2005 parliamentary elections and the radical Hamas movement won 2006 Palestinian elections -- raising fears that greater democracy would increase fundamentalists' power, activists say.
"America's stance is very clear. It is so afraid after the victories of Hamas in Palestine and the Brotherhood in Egypt," said Ahmed Seif al-Islam, a member of one of three Egyptian rights group backing Nabil in his case.
The United States "has not only lifted its hand and stopped pressure. We are in the phase of (the U.S.) hinting to government they can take repressive measures for the sake of stability," he said.
In Thursday's court session, Nabil was charged with inciting sedition, insulting Islam, harming national unity and insulting the president, a court official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of court rules.
Defense attorneys asked for time to review the indictment and the trial was adjourned until Jan. 25.
His lawyer, Radwa Sayed Ahmed, said Nabil had been held in solitary confinement, forbidden visits from his family and lawyers. In court Thursday, "he didn't look good," she told the Associated Press from Alexandria.
Nabil is the first blogger Egypt has put on trial for his writings. Other bloggers have been released without charges. But unlike the other detained bloggers, who concentrated on politics, Nabil wrote often on religion -- and Seif al-Islam said the government was likely prosecuting him as part of its "competition with the Muslim Brotherhood to show its Islamic credentials."
In his blog -- where he uses the name Kareem Amer -- Nabil was a fierce critic of conservative Muslims and in particularly of al-Azhar, one of the most prestigious religious institutions in the Sunni Muslim world.
Nabil was a law student at al-Azhar University, but denounced it as "the university of terrorism," accusing it of promoting radical ideas and suppressing free thought. Al-Azhar "stuffs its students' brains and turns them into human beasts ... teaching them that there is no place for differences in this life," he wrote.
He was thrown out of the university in March, and in his last blog entry before his arrest blamed al-Azhar for pushing the government to investigate him.
In other postings, Nabil described Mubarak's regime as a "symbol of dictatorship."
Nabil was briefly detained in late 2005 after posting a commentary on riots in which angry Muslim worshippers attacked a Coptic Christian church over a play put on by Christians deemed offensive to Islam.
"Muslims revealed their true ugly face and appeared to all the world that they are full of brutality, barbarism and inhumanity," Nabil said of the October 2005 riots.
Blogging took off in Egypt in 2004, at a time when domestic political activists and the U.S. were stepping up calls for political reform.
Last year, police arrested Alaa Abdel-Fattah, whose blog helped organize anti-government protests, and held him for six weeks before releasing him in June. Another blogger, Mohammed el-Sharkawi, was arrested during a demonstration in May and allegedly sexually tortured in detention before his release.
Amnesty International and media watchdog Reporters Without Borders have criticized the arrests as restricting freedom of expression. The Paris-based media watchdog has included Egypt in "Enemies of the Internet," a report issued in November.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Where do Arab bloggers stand? And I mean Arab bloggers who blog in Arabic language
Monday, January 15, 2007
Tim Berners-Lee moves toward social research on the Internet
Last Updated: Thursday, 2 November 2006, 09:39 GMT   |
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Printable version | Web inventor fears for the future | |||||||||
 The web has transformed the way many people work, play and do business. But Sir Tim Berners-Lee told BBC News he feared that, if the way the internet is used is left to develop unchecked, "bad things" could happen. He wants to set up a web science research project to study the social implications of the web's development. The changes experienced to date because of the web are just the start of a more radical transformation of society, he said. But Sir Tim is concerned about the way it could end up being used. He told the BBC: "If we don't have the ability to understand the web as it's now emerging, we will end up with things that are very bad. "Certain undemocratic things could emerge and misinformation will start spreading over the web. "Studying these forces and the way they're affected by the underlying technology is one of the things that we think is really important," he said. Social phenomenon He insisted his new web science research initiative would be more than just computer science. He said he wanted to attract researchers from a range of disciplines to study it as a social as well as technological phenomenon. Sir Tim added that he hoped it would create a new science for studying the web, which he believes would lead to newer and more exciting systems. "All kinds of disciplines are going to have to converge. People with all kinds of skills are going to have to work together to build a new web which is going to be even better," he said. He also said employers were now beginning to complain that there were not enough people who fully understood the web. "There aren't any courses at the moment and it hasn't really been brought together. "We're hearing complaints from companies when they need people that really understand the medium from both the technological and social side. "When you look at university courses, web science isn't there - it seems to fall through the cracks. "So we'd like to put it on the curriculum so that there are a lot more people who understand this." Social challenges The US-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Southampton, UK, will launch the long-term research collaboration that will have a direct influence on the future development of the world wide web. Of particular interest is the growing volume of information on the web that documents more and more aspects of human activity and knowledge. The project will examine how we access this information and assess its reliability. | |||||||||
Berners-Lee interview 
'Torture' victim jailed in Egypt
Torture' victim jailed in Egypt
An Egyptian man filmed being sexually assaulted in jail by police officers, has himself been imprisoned on a charge related to the same incident.
 The graphic footage of Mr Kabir became public in November |
Imad Kabir was jailed for three months for "resisting authority", a sentence that has shocked his defence lawyers.
Last year, Mr Kabir was seen in widely circulated footage writhing in agony as he was being sodomised with a stick.
His lawyer says the alleged assault came after he intervened in a dispute between a policeman and his cousin.
The incident happened in January 2006 in Cairo's Bulaq district, but the footage, apparently taken by one of the abusers, did not become public until November.
The case was taken up by Egyptian bloggers and members of the international human rights community.
Two police officers accused of torturing the defendant, Islam Nabih and Reda Fathi, have been detained and are due to face trial in March.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Tunisian bloggers discuss holidays, internet censorship and Algeria
Eid Ul-Adha is just around the corner," blogged Subzero Blue, adding that the Muslim holiday "will coincide with the end of the year this time". One of the rituals associated with this holiday is sacrificing animals.
"Muslims who can afford it buy and slaughter animals and distribute the meat among the poor and relatives … However, many Muslims in Western countries are unable to perform the ritual because of the laws of the countries they live in," he added.
The blogger didn't know what to make of internet sites that offered a solution.
"They can now buy an animal over the internet and even watch it being slaughtered, before its meat is given away … I don't know what to think about this really; I know a lot of people could end up using this, and it's somehow funny too, but on the other hand it just feels a bit weird and somewhat wrong."
Zizou from Djerba, who lives in the United States, writes that Seattle "is getting ready for Christmas". A Christmas tree in the airport has caused controversy, and Jewish groups want it taken down. This is causing "a war against Christmas … and anti-religious commentaries, anti-Jews anti-X and anti-Y emanating from everywhere."
The blogger wondered if the airport management wanted to represent all the religions, "what would have been the symbol of Islam … None … and I do not think that the tree is a Christian symbol."
In his post "laisse passer! Police!" Sami III, Espace Dictateur blogged about police forces abusing their authority. "At the weekend, everyone was waiting their turn at the car wash and 'voila', the police enters and they get priority." The Tunisian complained about how "they enter, pick, and serve themselves and leave, free of charge."
But the day after the blogger posted his observations about the police, his site was blocked by the Tunisian authorities. "Apparently I talked too much about the police yesterday so my site was blocked … I will consider this an end of the year vacation. In the meantime, I will continue to comment on other blogs," Sami III said.
Felsfa's blog has also been blocked, but the blogger still found it in her to wish everybody "Aïd Mabrouk and happy and good year 2007."
Chanfara wrote in support of the bloggers whose sites were blocked by the police.
"It is fear, my friends. The dying regime is afraid of any criticism (direct or indirect) that could come from Tunisians … Especially youth. It is the fear that this 'contamination' could spread and reach more young people who could rise and demand what is forbidden. …fear of a youth asking for a better tomorrow," noted the Tunisian blogger.
Nadia From Tunis contributed with a piece of a positive news. "A Tunisian opposition party was given the authorisation to publish a newspaper." The Democratic Forum for Labor and Freedom will have its newspaper.
Zizou from Djerba, has an interesting post about the years of terror Algeria has gone through because of fundamentalists. The two-hour French television France 3 production is "a documentary that every Tunisian should watch and a story that every Maghrebian has to know," a lesson so "we do not forget: Algeria and the FIS (Front islamique du Salut)," noted the blogger.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
TIME Managing Editor Rick Stengel with the cover of the Person of the Year issue.
ANDREW ECCLES FOR TIME
TIME Managing Editor Rick Stengel with the cover of the Person of the Year issue.
Power to the People
Person of the Year: You
- Yes, you. You control the Information Age. Welcome to your world.
- From the Editor: Now It's Your Turn
Power to the People
- Meet 15 citizens—including a French rapper, a relentless reviewer and a real life lonely girl—of the new digital democracy
The YouTube Gurus
- How a couple of regular guys built a company that changed the way we see ourselves
- Josh Quittner: Web Boom 2.0
- Photo Essay: The Meteoric Rise of YouTube
'You' named Time's person of 2006
'You' named Time's person of 2006
 YouTube viewers watch more than 100 million videos a day on the site |
The US magazine praised the public for "seizing the reins of the global media" and filling the web's virtual world.
Time has been giving its controversial awards since 1927, aiming to identify those who most affect the news.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Chinese leader Hu Jintao and North Korea's Kim Jong-il were 2006 runners.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, his wife Melinda and rock star Bono won the accolade last year and recent winners also include President George W Bush in 2004, and "The American Soldier" in 2003.
'Wresting power'
The magazine said naming a collectivity rather than an individual reflected the way the internet was shifting the balance of power within the media through blogs, videos and social networks.
HAVE YOUR SAY 
Stennatt Stennatt, Tokyo, Japan
Time cited websites such as YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Wikipedia, which allow users to interact with the web by uploading and publishing their own comments, videos, pictures and links.
"It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes," Time magazine's Lev Grossman writes.
Time praised the tool that made such broad collaboration possible - the web.
"It's a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter," Mr Grossman said.
Time aims to pick "the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or for ill".
Previous winners have often sparked controversy - including Adolf Hitler in 1938 and, in 1979, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Politicians Woo Internet Crowd In Paris
By Jennifer L. Schenker
Politics intersected with technology Tuesday as Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres and two of
Mr. Peres told the audience, which included start-ups plus executives from Microsoft, Technorati,
“Why should we remember things? The past is full of troubles and wars, why should we try to waste our intellect to remember. Now we can just go to Google,” he said.
That is a good thing, because “the task of a human being is not to remember but to imagine, to create, to discover,” he said, pointing out that a country’s prowess is no longer measured in its physical size “but by the number of patents it files.”
In an interview with Red Herring Mr. Peres pointed to the importance of clean tech and nanotechnology - areas in which
Beyond technology, bloggers at the conference asked Mr. Peres what they could do to help relieve the Arab-Israeli conflict.
“In my judgment, I told my American friends, instead of going to other countries with ideologies, governments, armies, come with your private sector “ he said, explaining that building schools and helping to build modern economies will do more to bring about change than politics can.
Later in the day French presidential candidates Francois Bayrou of
Their aim was to get the political support of local bloggers.
Contenders use internet to propagate messages
| By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter |
| Dubai: With just few days to go for the FNC elections, candidates have been rushing to get their voices heard. And many have embraced the tools of modern communication. Candidate Jamal Al Hai's website has proven to be very popular. Since the start of his campaign, the website has received more than 2,400 visits. Although Al Hai has used other means to promote his campaigns, he says the website has given him a chance to reach and interact with many people. Shaikha Al Mulla, an education ministry official, has employed e-mail, SMS and a website to promote her campaign alongside the more costly outdoor banners and newspaper advertisements. |
Group seeks professionalism in blogs
By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet WriterWed Dec 13, 1:39 PM ET
Robert Cox wants to bring some professionalism to the blogosphere.
As president of the Media Bloggers Association, Cox is about to unveil new membership policies designed to help bloggers who see themselves more as journalists than freeform diarists.
The Pew Internet and American Life Project finds that about 8 percent of American adults keep Web journals, most of them personal in nature even though the most high-profile ones may be about news, politics or technology. It's the more serious efforts that Cox is courting.
Among the planned criteria: Members would have to take an online course offered by the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank, covering legal issues related to blogging.
Members also could seek credentialed status by undergoing training or demonstrating other work as professional journalists. They also must agree to the organization's ethical standards and adopt formal editorial and corrections policies. Doing so could give them the backing they need to obtain review copies of books and access to newsmakers and events, Cox said.
Of course, having credentials from Cox's organization won't guarantee access. The question of whether to treat bloggers as journalists has come up repeatedly at major events such as the Olympics and national political conventions.
Cox also has been trying to persuade insurance companies to underwrite policies to cover libel, copyright infringement and other legal threats; he said those negotiations are continuing.
The changes are likely to take effect early next year, when the group will start charging a yet-to-be-determined membership fee, Cox said. Formed two years ago, the group so far has been free to its roughly 1,000 members, including former mainstream journalists Dan Gillmor and J.D. Lasica.
Blogging 'set to peak next year'
 Blogging is having a growing impact on mainstream media |
The analysts said that during the middle of next year the number of blogs will level out at about 100 million.
The firm has said that 200 million people have already stopped writing their blogs.
Gartner has made 10 predictions, including stating that Vista will be the last major release of Windows and PCs will halve in cost by 2010.
Gartner analyst Daryl Plummer said the reason for the levelling off in blogging was due to the fact that most people who would ever start a web blog had already done so.
He said those who loved blogging were committed to keeping it up, while others had become bored and moved on.
Daryl Plummer, Gartner
"A lot of people have been in and out of this thing," Mr Plummer said.
"Everyone thinks they have something to say, until they're put on stage and asked to say it."
Last month blog tracking firm Technorati reported that 100,000 new blogs were being created every day, and 1.3 million blog posts were written.
Technorati is tracking more than 57 million blogs, of which it believes around 55% are "active" and updated at least every three months.
Gartner also predicted that:
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
الإنترنت والتنفيس الإعلامي والسياسي
مقدم الحلقة: فيصل القاسم
ضيوف الحلقة:- عماد محسن/ مهندس معلوماتية ومشرف على مواقع تونسية معارضة- عامر عبد المنعم/ مدير تحرير جريدة الشعب المغلقة والمشرف على موقعها البديل على الإنترنت- محمد علي شومان/ أستاذ الرأي العام والإعلام في جامعة عين شمس
تاريخ الحلقة: 14/10/2005
- الإنترنت والتنفيس الإعلامي والسياسي- بين الفعل الافتراضي والتأثير على الواقع
فيصل القاسم: أهلا بكم، نحاول في حلقة اليوم التعرف على ما وراء استخدام المعارضين العرب للإنترنت في نشر مواقف وآراء قد تتعرض لمقص الرقابة وذلك على ضوء المظاهرة الافتراضية التي نظمها معارضون تونسيون على الشبكة العنكبوتية ونطرح فيها تساؤلين اثنين، إلى أي حد تعتبر الإنترنت متنفسا إعلامياً وسياسياً خاصة في البلدان المقيدة للحريات؟ وهل المعارضة عبر الإنترنت مجرد فعل افتراضي أم لها فعلا تأثير على الواقع؟
شهدت شبكة الإنترنت انطلاق مظاهرة افتراضية نظمها معارضون تونسيون للمطالبة بالحريات في بلادهم، المبادرة التي عُدت الأولى من نوعها سلطت الضوء على ما بات يُعرف بظاهرة المعارضة الافتراضية من ناحية دلالتها وقدرتها على تحريك سواكن الشارع العربي العريض.
الإنترنت والتنفيس الإعلامي والسياسي
[تقرير مسجل]
بيبه ولد امهادي: بادرة غير مسبوقة تلك التي أطلقها معارضون تونسيون على شبكة الإنترنت، مظاهرة افتراضية يلتحق بها كل من يريد أن يحتج على أوضاع الحريات في تونس، موقع (Yezzi) الذي يعني بالدارجة التونسية يكفي ينضم إلى عدد من المواقع العربية المعارضة التي لم يجد القائمون عليها المجال للتظاهر فوق الأرض وتحت الشمس فلاذوا بالشاشات ينشرون صورهم وهم يحملون لافتات الاحتجاج المطالبة برحيل حكام مضت على تقلدهم السلطة عقود وعقود، كل الوسائل متاحة للوصول إلى سمع وآذان الناس، الجريدة الممنوعة من الصدور والإذاعة التي توصل صوت من لا صوت له والصورة التي تفضح المستور، الحكومات العربية وجدت في هذه الظاهرة دليلا على إفلاس أصحابها الذين يصنعون عالماً وهميا لا مصداقية له في حين يتحدث الخبراء عن تطور أتاحته التقنية له أكثر من وجه، البعض يراها مدخلا للتغيير السياسي بينما يجدها آخرون ساحة تعرض الغث والثمين مِن عند مَن هب ودب، في الغد القريب قد تنقطع حبال الوصل التي تربط أجهزة الحاسوب بشبكة الهاتف وعندها لن يكون بالوسع مراقبة مواقع ستهطل من الأقمار الصناعية كالأمطار فوق رؤوسنا وإنما سينال المستهلك لمادتها فرصة أوسع ليقارن بين مواقع معارضة تقول في انتظار أن تفعل وبين مواقع معارضة أخرى تفعل ثم تخبرك بتحركاتها عبر الإنترنت.
فيصل القاسم: ومعنا في هذه الحلقة من باريس عماد محسن مهندس معلوماتية ومشرف على مواقع تونسية معارضة ومن القاهرة عامر عبد المنعم مدير تحرير جريدة الشعب المغلقة والمشرف على موقعها البديل على الإنترنت وفي الأستوديو الدكتور محمد علي شومان أستاذ الرأي العام والإعلام في جامعة عين شمس، دكتور شومان في البداية ألا تعتقد أن هذه المعارضة الإنترنتية خلينا نسميها ليست أكثر من فرقعة إعلامية لا أكثر ولا أقل؟
"بات الإنترنتأداة المعارضةالعربية للتعبير عن وجهة نظرها ضد تسلط الأنظمةالعربية ومحاولتها الهيمنة الإعلامية وكبت حريةالرأي والتعبير"محمد علي شومانمحمد علي شومان- أستاذ الإعلام في جامعة عين شمس: بدايةً لا أعتقد أنها فرقعة إعلامية ولكنها ظاهرة بتعكس أزمة الديمقراطية في العالم العربي، هي سبب ونتيجة لتسلط الأنظمة العربية ومحاولتها الدائمة للهيمنة الإعلامية وكبت حرية الرأي والتعبير وبالتالي ظاهرة مواقع الإنترنت التي تحاول المعارضة العربية بكافة فصائلها التعبير فيها عن وجهة نظرها هي معارضة تعبير عن أزمة وهي أداة للمقاومة ومن ثم نستطيع أن نطلق على هذه المعارضة هي إعلام المقاومة أو الإعلام المقاوِم إذا جاز التعبير فمثل هذه الظاهرة لها تأثيرات كبيرة واسعة في العالم العربي وليس كما يمكن أن يقال إنها معارضة نخبوية.
فيصل القاسم: طيب بس يا دكتور السؤال المطروح يعني علينا أن ننظر في البداية إلى نسبة المشتركين في الشبكة العنكبوتية في العالم العربي، حسب تقرير التنمية البشرية الصادر عن الأمم المتحدة الأخير يعني تبين أن حوالي ستة ملايين عربي لديهم أجهزة كمبيوتر، ستة ملايين من أصل ثلاثمائة مليون عربي، ستة مليون لديهم كمبيوتر طبعا العدد الذي يمتلك الوصول إلى الإنترنت يجب أن يكون أقل من ذلك بكثير يجب أن نأخذ ذلك في عين الاعتبار؟
محمد علي شومان: هذا صحيح ولكن علينا أن ننظر إلى مسألة الإعلام المتعدد المراحل بمعنى أن ما ينشر في شبكة الإنترنت وما تعبر عنه المعارضة العربية بكافة فصائلها ينقل عبر وسائل الإعلام العادية من إذاعة وصحافة وتليفزيون كما يصبح مادة للرأي وللحوارات داخل قطاعات الرأي العام، لدينا في العالم العربي ظاهرة ما يسمى بالرأي العام المقموع أو الرأي العام المكبوت الذي لا يُسمح له أصلا بالتعبير عن وجهة نظره هذا الرأي العام يعبر عن نفسه في المنتديات في المجالس في المقاهي ويأخذ من هذه المادة المنشورة عبر الإنترنت مادة خصبة وموضوعات للنقاش والحوار نعم هناك فجوة معرفية..
فيصل القاسم: أو معلوماتية، نعم.
محمد علي شومان: أو فجوة رقمية إذا جاز القول ومعدلات استخدام الإنترنت محدودة في العالم العربي لأنها تتطلب أولا محو الأمية التعليمية ومحو الأمية الكمبيوترية ومع ذلك تظل لهذه المعارضة تأثير وصدى ثم علينا أن نلاحظ أن أغلب مستخدمي الإنترنت في العالم العربي هم من فئات الشباب هم الفئات الأكثر تعليما الأصغر سنا.
فيصل القاسم: جميل جدا وهذا الكلام أنقله في واقع الأمر للسيد عماد محسن في باريس، سيد محسن إلى أي حد أنتم.. يعني الدكتور شومان هنا متفائل بمستقبل هذه المعارضة العنكبوتية إذا صح التعبير، إلى أي حد أنتم متفائلون في انتشارها هل هي.. يعني أو أنها مجرد يعني صرخة إذا صح التعبير للفت الأنظار؟
"كثير من الشباب الذي لم ينتظم في أطر سياسية أو حزبية أصبح يجد ملاذا في الشبكة العنكبوتية للتعبير عن رأيه والإسهام بدوره في مجال الدفاع عن الحريات في بلاده"عماد محسنعماد محسن – مهندس معلوماتية مشرف على مواقع تونسية معارضة: لا طبعا هي ليست صرخة للفت الأنظار فقط بل هي نتيجة مسيرة طويلة من العمل الجاد ومن العمل المنظم ومن العمل الذي يرتكز على رؤية إلى وسائل الاتصال الحديثة وعلى استيعاب كبير للوضع الجديد الذي أضافته العولمة وأضافته الشبكة العنكبوتية للإنترنت للواقع العربي الجديد، المعارضة العربية تريد تشكل نفسها والكثير من الشباب الذي لم ينتظم في أُطر سياسية أو حزبية أصبح يجد ملاذا للشبكة لشبكة الإنترنت للتعبير عن رأيه وللإسهام بدوره أيضا في مجال الدفاع عن الحريات في بلاده وفي مجال إحلال الديمقراطية في بلداننا والحقيقة أن شبكة الإنترنت توفر مجالا كبيرا جدا وهي توفر مجالات كبيرة جدا للعمل نظرا لأنها لا تعترف بالحدود وإن كان صحيحا هذه ظاهرة.. هذه مسألة الفجوة الرقمية ومسألة عدم تمكن جزء كبير من شبابنا في بلداننا العربية من الدخول إلى شبكة الإنترنت فإن الجزء الذي يدخل إلى الشبكة ينقل المعلومات إلى غيره وهناك مسألة تراكم في المعلومات بشكل كبير جدا بحيث إن أصبح الجميع..
فيصل القاسم [مقاطعاً]: طيب جميل بس السؤال المطروح أنت ذكرت أن يعني لا تعترف بالحدود يعني الجميع الآن يصور لنا الإنترنت كما لو أنها عالم مفتوح فعلا ولا قيود عليها ويمكن أن تصل إلى أي مكان وهذا كذب في واقع الأمر يعني أنت تعلم بعض الدول العربية الاستبدادية ومعظمها استبدادية أو كلها إذا صح التعبير اشترت كمبيوترات عملاقة بملايين الدولارات وأنت تعرف عنها أكثر مني أعتقد بينما شعوبها تموت جوعا، يدفعون الملايين كي يشتروا كمبيوترات عملاقة دخلت المخابرات قبل أن تدخل الجامعات هذه الكمبيوترات وهي تحجب كل المواقع ليس بإمكانك أن تدخل على المواقع المعارضة وخاصة في تونس.
عماد محسن [متابعاً]: نعم هذا صحيح ومؤكد والعمل الافتراضي تقابله السلطات العربية والسلطات التونسية خاصة بقمع حقيقي وليس قمعا افتراضيا فقط وهذا لا شك في هذا الأمر ولكن الأكيد أن الشباب العربي والشباب التونسي خاصة يتابع التطور الإعلامي ويتابع التطورات الجديدة على المستوى العالمي وتمكن مرات عديدة ويتمكن إلى حد الآن من اللف حول هذه الإجراءات القمعية ومن اللف حول المراقبة اليومية والشباب أبدعوا حقيقةً الشباب وخاصة الطلبة والتلاميذ أبدعوا في إيجاد أشكال جديدة من الدخول إلى شبكة الإنترنت متحدّين للرقابة ونحن في تونس حقيقةً تعرض كل المستعملين للإنترنت في جميع المستويات تعرضوا لقمع شديد في السنوات الأخيرة الماضية ولازال القمع متواصلا من مصممين للمواقع وإلى مستعملين إلى كاتبين في المواقع كل الناس تعرضت حقيقةً لهذا القمع ولكن هذا لا يثني الناس من مصممي المواقع حتى المستعملين لا يثنيهم على إيجاد أشكال جديدة للف حول هذه..
فيصل القاسم: هذه المعوقات.
عماد محسن: حول هذا القمع المنظم.
فيصل القاسم: طيب جميل جدا وأنتقل بالسؤال في واقع الأمر إلى سيد عبد المنعم المشرف على موقع جريدة الشعب المصرية، سيد عبد المنعم نحن نعلم أنكم عندما كانت جريدتك ورقية يعني كان لكم الكثير من الخبطات الصحفية التي بطريقة أو بأخرى هزت الحكومة المصرية وأحدثت ضجات كبرى خاصة عندما تعلق الأمر برواية أعشاب.. وليمة لأعشاب البحر إلى ما هنالك من هذا الكلام، الآن بعد أن أُغلقت الجريدة الورقية وأصبح موقعكم على الإنترنت يعني يبدو أن الجريدة انتهى دورها وغابت عن التأثير أليس كذلك؟
"عندما جمد حزب العمل وأغلقت جريدة الشعب وجدنا في الإنترنت نافذة واسعة كي نعبر فيها عن رأينا ونتواصل مع كوادر حزبنا"عامر عبد المنعمعامر عبد المنعم- المشرف على الموقع الإلكتروني لجريدة الشعب المصرية: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، لا أتفق معك في هذا، الجريدة على الإنترنت استطاعت أن تكمل الرسالة التي حملتها الجريدة المطبوعة والحكومة عجزت حتى الآن عن أن تكتم صوت حزب العمل وجريدة الشعب والحملات لازالت متواصلة ولم نتوقف عن محاربة الفساد وعندما توقفت الجريدة المطبوعة كانت في ذورة قوتها وكانت ثقة الناس بها عالية جدا ولأول مرة في مصر تحرك جريدة الشارع وتخرج مظاهرات لمدة أيام ولا تستطيع الدولة إخمادها إلا بإغلاق هذا الصوت القوي الواثق الموثوق به، نحن عندما جُمِّد الحزب وأغلقت الجريدة وجدنا في الإنترنت نافذة واسعة لكي نعبر فيها عن رأينا ونتواصل مع كوادر حزبنا ومع قرائنا ومع أنصارنا ليس في مصر فقط وإنما بالعالم..
فيصل القاسم: طيب بس يا سيد عبد المنعم..
عامر عبد المنعم: جريدة الشعب بها كتاب من كل أنحاء العالم..
فيصل القاسم: طيب يا سيد عبد المنعم أتفق معك في الجانب الأول من الإجابة أنه كان لجريدتكم صدىً كبيرا في فترة من الفترات لكن أين هو الصدى عندما انتقلت المعارضة إلى الشبكة العنكبوتية يعني (Ok) هناك الكثير من الذين يدخلون موقعكم لكن أين هي الضجات التي قمتم بها في الآونة الأخيرة بالمقارنة مع السابق؟
عامر عبد المنعم: يكفي أن نائب رئيس الحزب الوطني يوسف والي لم يحتمل بضعة مقالات كتبها الأستاذ مجدي أحمد حسين الأمين العام للحزب وأقام دعوة قضائية واستمرت عدة شهور، ما أقوله إنه نحن فُرض علينا هذا فرضا، بالتأكيد الجريدة المطبوعة في الشارع لها تأثير قوي جدا ولكن نحن اضطررنا إلى اللجوء للإنترنت بعد أن أغلقت الدولة كل السبل حتى الجريدة المطبوعة التي صدر لها حتى الآن حوالي 14 حكما قضائيا ترفض الدولة تنفيذ هذه الأحكام من قضايا، الموقع على الإنترنت ولكي أدلل على قوته أيضا أن الحكومة المصرية فرضت حظرا على هذا الموقع منذ ثلاث سنوات حتى الآن وتعلموا فينا أساليب كثيرة متعددة لكي يحجبوا صوتنا ويحجبوا الموقع عن الناس استخدموا أساليب كثيرة ولكن بفضل الله سبحانه وتعالى استطعنا أن نتغلب على كل هذه القيود واستطعنا أن نواصل واستطعنا أن ندرب القراء داخل مصر على كيفية كسر هذا الحظر بطرق فنية عديدة جدا، الحكومة حتى الآن تواصل حصارها وحظرها وكلما لجأنا إلى سبل جديدة كلما تحايلوا أيضا على ما نبتكره لكسر هذا الحظر.
فيصل القاسم: جميل جدا، ابق معنا، هل المعارضة عبر الإنترنت مجرد فعل افتراضي أم لها فعلا تأثير على الواقع؟ نتابع المسألة بعد وقفة قصيرة، ابقوا معنا.
[فاصل إعلاني]
فيصل القاسم: أهلا بكم من جديد، حلقة اليوم من برنامج ما وراء الخبر تبحث في استخدام المعارضين للإنترنت في نشر مواقف وآراء قد تتعرض لمقص الرقابة وذلك على ضوء المظاهرة الافتراضية التي نظمها معارضون تونسيون على الإنترنت، دكتور شومان هنا في الأستوديو يعني ألا تعتقد أنه من الخطأ المبالغة في الحديث عن تأثير هذه الظاهرة الجديدة؟ نحن نعلم أن الفضائيات أكثر تأثيرا وفتكا إذا صح التعبير بالأنظمة الاستبدادية بمئات المرات من الإنترنت تصل إلى الملايين الجميع باستطاعته أن يصغي إليها إلى ما هنالك، مع ذلك لن تتمكن حتى الآن من إحداث التأثير المطلوب على وضع الحريات وعلى الدول القمعية في العالم العربي فلماذا نعلق كل هذه الآمال على المعارضة الإنترنتية؟
بين الفعل الافتراضي والتأثير على الواقع
"نحن الآن نعيشلحظة تحولات في الساحة الإعلامية تشير إلى اندماج بين الاعلام الجديد والتقليدي"شومانمحمد علي شومان: يعني بدايةً ربما أختلف معك ولتسمح لي في تقييمك بما قامت به الفضائيات من تأثير في تنوير الرأي العام العربي، حقيقة الفضائيات بكل ما لها من إيجابيات وسلبيات كان لها دورا كبيرا في تطوير الأحداث والوقائع المطروحة أمام الرأي العام، توفير قدر كبير من المعلومات أمام الرأي العام ولكن أود أن أشير إلى أننا بصدد.. لسنا بصدد قضية تفضيلات بين الفضائيات والإنترنت أو الصحافة المكتوبة نحن الآن نعيش لحظة تحولات في الساحة الإعلامية هذه اللحظة تشير إلى اندماج بين الميديا الجديدة والميديا التقليدية، الجزيرة هنا تترافق مع الجزيرة نت كذلك الحال في الأهرام الورقي والأهرام في مصر أو الحياة الورقية وهكذا، إذاً نحن نعيش لحظة اندماج وتكامل أو ما أسميه في بعض كتاباتي التنافس التكاملي بين الميديا الجديدة والميديا التقليدية، أيضا أود أن أشير إلى نقطة أساسية في تناولنا لهذا الموضوع وهو أن العصر الذي نعيشه عصر تكنولوجيا الاتصال والمعلوماتية أصبحت هناك الحدود بين الفعل الرمزي والفعل الواقعي تضيق، ما هو رمزي ما هو افتراضي يصبح واقعا فعليا في لحظات سريعة وربما في أقل مما نتصور، الحدود بين ما هو رمزي وما هو واقعي تقلصت ومن ثم بنجد تغييرات وتأثيرات كبيرة للأداء.. أداء مواقع الإنترنت أو ما يسمى ثورة الويب، هناك أشكال كثيرة جدا من الصحافة الإلكترونية والتي تفعل كثيرا من الأمور في العالم ربما في العالم العربي وفي ضوء ما تفضلت وما أشرت إليه من تقارير وما يتعلق بالفجوة الرقمية هناك بالفعل تأثير محدود ولكنه متنامي متصاعد وأشرت إلى أن القسم الأكبر من مستخدمي الإنترنت في العالم العربي هم من النخبة السياسية هم من الشباب أيضا.
فيصل القاسم: من الشباب، بس يا دكتور السؤال المطروح المأخذ على معارضة الإنترنت أنها كما يقولون بالإنجليزية (Bretshing in the worth) يعني الحرث في المحروث يعني هناك معارضون يعرفون بعضهم ويعرفون البرامج وهم يعني يعرفون كل القضية فلماذا نتحدث لماذا نبيع الميَّه في حارة السقايين إذا صح التعبير نحن نريد الوصول إلى الناس، الذي يغير المجتمعات ويحدث ثورات هي القواعد الشعبية وأنت تعلم أن القواعد الشعبية حتى لدى أحزاب المعارضة.. أحزاب المعارضة المصرية مثلا والسورية ممنوع عليها أن تنشط في الجامعات وفي الشارع وفي كل مكان..
محمد علي شومان: اسمح لي ولذلك هذه المعارضة لا تجد متنفسا لها سواء بعض الصحف النخبوية أيضا التي تظل محصورة فيمن يستطيع أن يشتريها ويقرأها وبالتالي بدأ التفكير في أو اللجوء الاضطراري إلى الميديا الجديدة.. الميديا الجديدة لا توفر فقط معلومة أو مساحة للرأي ولكنها توفر المنتديات وكما أشرت أن ما ينشر في الميديا الجديدة ومواقع الإنترنت يمكن أن ينقل بطرق مختلفة أو الاتصال المتوازي والاتصال متعدد المراحل من قادة الرأي الذين يطلعون على هذه المواقع إلى الجماهير العادية القضية في العالم العربي أننا لدينا أنظمة متسلطة أنظمة شمولية لا تسمح للمعارضة بالتحرك السياسي وبالفعل السياسي وتضيق الساحة السياسية والمجال السياسي أمام الناس ومن ثم تلجأ المعارضة إلى أشكال قد تبدو في بعض الأحيان غريبة، نحن في مصر على سبيل المثال لجأت حركة كفاية إلى الذهاب إلى السيدة زينب والدعوة على..
فيصل القاسم: صحيح على النظام..
محمد علي شومان: وهكذا..
فيصل القاسم: جميل جدا.
محمد علي شومان: يعني أنا ما أتصوره أن المعارضة العربية تحاول أن تجتهد وأود أن أختم كلامي بمفارقة المظاهرة الافتراضية التي تحدث الآن لا يشاهدها الجمهور التونسي ولا يمكن أن تظهر في موقع إلكتروني تونسي لأن هناك..
فيصل القاسم: لأنها كلها محجوبة..
محمد علي شومان: رقابة صارمة..
فيصل القاسم: طيب وهذا الكلام يعني يقودني في توجيه سؤال في واقع الأمر إلى السيد محسن في باريس، سيد محسن أنا لا أريد يعني أن أثبِّط أو أحبط من.. أقلل من أهمية دور الإنترنت، نحن نعلم أن الأنظمة العربية الآن لديها فروع مخابرات خاصة مختصة بالنشر الإلكتروني وتحدثنا عن شراء أجهزة كبيرة للمراقبة ناهيك عن أن إحدى المعارضات العربية استطاعت أن تهز أركان بعض الأنظمة العربية عن طريق غرف البال توك يعني وعن طريق الفاكس بمجرد شوية فاكسات وإلى ما هنالك خافت أو خاف هذا النظام وارتعب يعني، السؤال المطروح الآن على ضوء التقدم المضطرد في تكنولوجيا المعلومات أنت تحدثت عن كسر (leproxi) قبل قليل للوصول إلى المواقع المحجوبة إلى ما هنالك الآن هناك حديث عن إنترنت عبر الأقمار الصناعية إلى ما هنالك من هذه الأمور كيف يمكن أن تساعدكم في هذه الثورة؟
"الساحة الوطنية أصبحت الآن مؤهلة لتنسيق حقيقي بين العمل الافتراضي والعمل الحقيقي على أرض الواقع"محسنعماد محسن: نحن إذا قلنا أن أهمية.. إذا ركزنا على أهمية الإنترنت فهذا لا يعني أننا نهمل بقية الأعمال وبقية المناشط التي يمكن القيام بها على أرض الواقع، الإنترنت هي جزء لا يتجزأ من عمل وطني مشترك يشارك فيه الجميع ونحن مثلا في الحالة التونسية هذه الحملة الأخيرة التي قام بها.. بادر بها مجموعة من الشباب من أجل هذه المظاهرة الافتراضية هي جزء لا يتجزأ من مناشط.. من منشط كبير ومن حملة كبيرة من أجل حرية التعبير في البلاد ومن أجل التغيير في البلاد وتشترك فيها.. يشترك فيها الشباب العامل على المجال الافتراضي وتشترك فيها النخبة الموجودة في الساحة في البلاد هذا شيء والنقطة المهمة أيضا في هذا العمل هو أن الساحة الوطنية أصبحت الآن مؤهلة لتنسيق حقيقي بين العمل الافتراضي وبين العمل الحقيقي على أرض الواقع، عمل الإنترنت هو داعم للعمل على أرض الواقع ليس بديلا له نحن نستفيد الآن من هذه الفسحة التي غير موجودة للناس في البلاد لإيصال صوت التونسيين إلى الخارج..
فيصل القاسم: للتعبير الافتراضي، أنا آسف للمقاطعة بس الوقت يداهمنا، سيد عبد المنعم في القاهرة باختصار إلى أي حد أنت متفائل بهذه المعارضة الافتراضية المعارضة العنكبوتية؟ باختصار لو تكرمت.
عامر عبد المنعم: أولا الجمهور الآن من المثقفين والنشطاء السياسيين وطلائع حركات التغيير كلهم الآن يستخدمون الإنترنت وهذا يساعد في رفع الوعي لدى النُخب وأعتقد النخب تستطيع تشكيل الرأي العام بوسائل النشر والإعلام الأخرى، الإنترنت ليست وسيلة واحدة ليست وسيلة منفصلة عن باقي الوسائل وإنما هي وسيلة مكملة للصحيفة المطبوعة وللقناة الفضائية وغيرها فالإنترنت في الوقت الحالي هي نافذة للحرية نستطيع أن نستفيد منها إلى توصيل أصواتنا إلى ما وراء الحدود التي لا نستطيع أن نصل لها بالإعلام التقليدي.
فيصل القاسم: أشكرك جزيل الشكر، الكلمة الأخيرة دكتور شومان كيف يمكن أن.. لا شك أنك ستنهي على نبرة تفاؤلية؟
محمد علي شومان: أنا متفائل إن شاء الله بما يحصل في الوطن العربي من تغييرات وأود أن أشير إلى أن الأنظمة الاستبدادية التي تحاول الرقابة على الإنترنت هي تقود معركتها الفاشلة والأخيرة ومآلها إلى الفشل..
فيصل القاسم: معركتها الفاشلة؟
محمد علي شومان: والأخيرة.
مصر بقائمة أسوأ الدول قمعا لحرية التعبير بالإنترنت
مصر بقائمة أسوأ الدول قمعا لحرية التعبير بالإنترنت
قالت منظمة "صحفيون بلا حدود" إنها أضافت مصر لقائمة أسوأ الدول التي تقمع حرية التعبير على الإنترنت، في حين رفعت ليبيا من القائمة بعد أن تأكدت من عدم وجود رقابة على الإنترنت هناك.
وقال بيان للمنظمة نشر أمس إن الرئيس المصري حسني مبارك الذي يتولى رئاسة البلاد منذ العام 1981 "أظهر ديكتاتورية مثيرة للقلق بشكل خاص فيما يتعلق بالإنترنت.
وقالت صحفيون بلا حدود إن ثلاثة مدونين تم اعتقالهم في مصر في يونيو/ حزيران واحتجزوا لمدة شهرين لأنهم قالوا إنهم يريدون إصلاحا ديمقراطيا، بينما تعرض آخرون لمضايقات.
كما عبرت المنظمة عن قلقها من حكم أصدرته محكمة مصرية يسمح بإغلاق أي موقع على الإنترنت إذا شكل تهديدا للأمن الوطني.
وقالت المنظمة إن هذا الموقف مقلق ويمكن أن يفتح الباب أمام رقابة مفرطة على الإنترنت.ورفعت نيبال والمالديف من قائمة العام 2006 للدول التي تضايق حرية التعبير عبر الإنترنت التي نشرت أمس. وأصبح عدد الدول الموجودة في القائمة 13 كلها بلدان عادة ما تنتقدها جماعات حقوقية ومن بينها كوبا وميانمار وإيران وتركمانستان.
ليبيا أفضلوعلى العكس من مصر، يتحسن الوضع في ليبيا التي عاملها الغرب دولة مارقة لفترة طويلة.
وأوضح بيان المنظمة التي أرسلت بعثة إلى ليبيا "لاحظت صحفيون بلا حدود عدم وجود رقابة على الإنترنت، كما أنه لم يتم اعتقال أي معارض يبدي آراءه على الإنترنت".
بيد أن البيان أشار إلى أن الزعيم الليبي معمر القذافي ما زال يعتبر معاديا لحرية الصحافة.
وجاءت مصر في المرتبة 133 وليبيا في المرتبة 152 في المؤشر السنوي لحرية الصحافة الذي تصدره المنظمة ونشر الشهر الماضي.
قالت منظمة "صحفيون بلا حدود" إنها أضافت مصر لقائمة أسوأ الدول التي تقمع حرية التعبير على الإنترنت، في حين رفعت ليبيا من القائمة بعد أن تأكدت من عدم وجود رقابة على الإنترنت هناك.
وقال بيان للمنظمة نشر أمس إن الرئيس المصري حسني مبارك الذي يتولى رئاسة البلاد منذ العام 1981 "أظهر ديكتاتورية مثيرة للقلق بشكل خاص فيما يتعلق بالإنترنت.
وقالت صحفيون بلا حدود إن ثلاثة مدونين تم اعتقالهم في مصر في يونيو/ حزيران واحتجزوا لمدة شهرين لأنهم قالوا إنهم يريدون إصلاحا ديمقراطيا، بينما تعرض آخرون لمضايقات.
كما عبرت المنظمة عن قلقها من حكم أصدرته محكمة مصرية يسمح بإغلاق أي موقع على الإنترنت إذا شكل تهديدا للأمن الوطني.
وقالت المنظمة إن هذا الموقف مقلق ويمكن أن يفتح الباب أمام رقابة مفرطة على الإنترنت.ورفعت نيبال والمالديف من قائمة العام 2006 للدول التي تضايق حرية التعبير عبر الإنترنت التي نشرت أمس. وأصبح عدد الدول الموجودة في القائمة 13 كلها بلدان عادة ما تنتقدها جماعات حقوقية ومن بينها كوبا وميانمار وإيران وتركمانستان.
ليبيا أفضلوعلى العكس من مصر، يتحسن الوضع في ليبيا التي عاملها الغرب دولة مارقة لفترة طويلة.
وأوضح بيان المنظمة التي أرسلت بعثة إلى ليبيا "لاحظت صحفيون بلا حدود عدم وجود رقابة على الإنترنت، كما أنه لم يتم اعتقال أي معارض يبدي آراءه على الإنترنت".
بيد أن البيان أشار إلى أن الزعيم الليبي معمر القذافي ما زال يعتبر معاديا لحرية الصحافة.
وجاءت مصر في المرتبة 133 وليبيا في المرتبة 152 في المؤشر السنوي لحرية الصحافة الذي تصدره المنظمة ونشر الشهر الماضي.
لإنترنت.. الخصم العنيد للحكومات العربية
مستخدمو الإنترنت في العالم العربي بلغوا 26 مليونا عام 2006 (الجزيرة نت)
عمرو مجدي-القاهرة
"الخصم العنيد".. تحت هذا العنوان أصدرت الشبكة العربية لمعلومات حقوق الإنسان تقريرها الثاني عن حرية الإنترنت في العالم العربي، والذي تم الإعلان عنه في ندوة بنقابة الصحفيين في القاهرة الأربعاء.
وشهدت الندوة هجوما ضاريا على الأنظمة العربية، التي اتهمتها ببذل جهود متفاوتة للحد من حرية الرأي والتعبير على الإنترنت، كما طالب المشاركون بسن تشريعات واضحة للنشر على الإنترنت تحميه من بطش السلطات.
وأكد المدير التنفيذي للشبكة جمال عيد أن الحكومات العربية توحدت مجهوداتها في الحد من حرية مستخدمي الإنترنت، وذكر أن عدد مستخدمي الإنترنت في العالم العربي قفز من 14 مليونا عام 2004 إلى 26 مليونا عام 2006.
وقال مع ذلك فإن الحكومات تشجع الاستخدام "من نوع معين وتتجاوز الإنترنت كوسيلة لحرية الرأي والتعبير، بينما تظهر نفسها أنها حكومات تشجع التكنولوجيا لتحسين صورتها".
وذكر مثالا على ذلك بالسودان "التي تركت الإنترنت لمدة 4 إلى 5 سنوات بدون تضييق، لكن بعد أن وجدت الحكومة انتشار استخدام الإنترنت كوسيلة للتغيير، قامت بفرض الرقابة وإدخال تكنولوجيا حجب المواقع".
عيد يدعو لحرية المعلومة (الجزيرة نت)وانتقل عيد للحديث عن دول أخرى كالسعودية التي قال إنها كانت من آواخر الدول العربية توفيرا للإنترنت، وهي تقوم حاليا -بناء على قرار ينظم إدخال الإنترنت- بتوفير كل الإمكانات الفنية لحجب المواقع.
ويعتقد أن السعودية تكاد تكون الدولة الوحيدة التي تعلن بوضوح شديد ورسمي وتفاخر أنها تحجب 400 ألف موقع، رغم أن نفس البيان الرسمي ذكر أن 95% فقط من هذه المواقع إباحية، ما يعني أن هناك 20 ألف موقع غير إباحي تم حجبها.
تشريعات الإنترنتوأكد كاتب التقرير إيهاب الزلاقي أنه لا توجد في أي دولة عربية تشريعات مفصلة للنشر الإلكتروني، وبالتالي "فإن البديل للحكومة أن تدخله ضمن ترسانة القوانين الأخرى مثل قانون الطوارئ أو قانون النشر العادي كما في مصر".
وذكر أن مصر تحاول "تشكيل جماعة ضغط باتجاه تقييد الإنترنت". واستدل على ذلك بأن وزير الداخلية المصري حبيب العادلي قدم اقتراحا بهذا الشأن في اجتماع وزراء الخارجية العرب في فبراير/شباط 2006 بتونس.
وقال الزلاقي إن الحجب قانونا ليس مشكلة فكل دول العالم تحجب وتتبع بعض المواقع، لكن وفق تشريعات وقوانين واضحة وبعد موافقة القضاء "لكن المشكلة عندنا في طريقة الحجب التي تقع بعيدا عن إذن النيابة وأحكام القضاء، وإنما باختيار ضباط الشرطة وموظفي الداخلية".
الزلاقي يتحدث عن التقرير في نقابة الصحفيين المصريين (الحزيرة نت)فشل ذريعوذكر عيد أن الحكومات العربية لم تجن من التضييق على الإنترنت سوى تشويه سمعتها، بينما فشلت في وقف تدفق المعلومات، وأيده الزلاقي قائلا "بعد ملايين الدولارات التي أنفقتها السعودية لحجب المواقع الإباحية أثبتت دراسة أن 75% من الشباب السعودي يستخدم الإنترنت لزيارة تلك المواقع".
وأوضح عيد أن اختيار عنوان التقرير "خصم عنيد" ينبع من أنه في مقابل زيادة محاولات القمع يظهر نشطاء جدد على خلفية هذا القمع، بينما كان عنوان التقرير الأول "مساحة من القمع" يحمل من التساؤل أكثر مما يحمل من إقرار دوافع.
وقال الزلاقي "بعد أن كانت الحكومة سابقا تحجب المواقع في صمت كامل، تصاعدت الأصوات لعدم الاكتفاء بالحجب وإنما معاقبة وسجن الكاتب"، مؤكدا أن مشروع قانون حكوميا للنشر على الإنترنت يتم إعداده بمصر في الأساس لعرقلة نشاط المدونين.
الجدير بالذكر أن التقرير وهو الثاني من نوعه يقع في 190 صفحة، حيث زيد عدد الدول التي تناولها إلى 18 دولة بدلا من 11 بلدا في التقرير الأول الصادر عام 2004، وتناول الوضع المعقد لمزودي الإنترنت في الأراضي الفلسطينية.
وأشار إلى أن المواقع الإسلامية لا تزال تحتل صدارة المواقع العربية، بالإضافة لتضمنه فصلا كاملا عن ظاهرة المدونات في العالم العربي
Monday, December 11, 2006
DAVE SIFRY
BY DAVE SIFRY
Posted Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006If Google is the web's reference library, Technorati is becoming its coffeehouse, where people go to find out what's being said and by whom. Rather than send you to Madonna's website if you punch her name into its search box, Technorati tells you the latest buzz about her career--and her adoption saga. "We look at the world in a different way from Google," says CEO Dave Sifry. "We're not a library. We're the world's biggest conversation stream, with millions of people talking."
To become a player in the search world, Technorati focused on the growing blogosphere, which it defines as more than 60 million blogs, or Web journals. Sifry says 55% of them are active, meaning they have had at least one new post over the past three months. Every day 100,000 more blogs join the fray. In becoming the first successful blog-search tool, Technorati figured out how to mine blogs for relevant terms and how to sort the creative from the crud. Unlike Google, Technorati's search process dumps links that are more than 180 days old.
Over the past year, Technorati has broadened its reach to include Chinese, Spanish and other languages. Just 38% of the 1.4 million individual blog entries each day are in English. A growing number are moving beyond text to include photos, audio and video, so Technorati provides links.
Sifry has also added a feature that lets people who have a blog see how many other bloggers are linking to them and commenting on their writings. It's all about the community, he says. A longtime programmer who coded an early version of the site in his basement just over four years ago, Sifry says he's finding it a lot harder to be the guy in charge. "It's a luxury to be the guy who isn't sitting in the corner office because you can bitch and moan if things don't go your way," says Sifry. If someone else can run his company better, he says, he'll move aside.
To make money, Technorati markets itself as a viral focus group, where product managers can go to discover what consumers are writing about a product or service. "They can't ask questions, but they can listen in," says Sifry. Paying advertisers can buy sponsored links, which encourage Technorati visitors to check out what bloggers are saying about something, like the movie Fast Food Nation, featured in a recent sponsored ad.
Marketers are eager to throw their wares in the faces of bloggers who can spread the word; paid links are a fresh way to do that. "When people dangle checks, you tend to notice," says Sifry. "But we're trying to focus not just on short-term revenue opportunities but on building a great user experience." That's what they all say on the way to the IPO.
Posted Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006If Google is the web's reference library, Technorati is becoming its coffeehouse, where people go to find out what's being said and by whom. Rather than send you to Madonna's website if you punch her name into its search box, Technorati tells you the latest buzz about her career--and her adoption saga. "We look at the world in a different way from Google," says CEO Dave Sifry. "We're not a library. We're the world's biggest conversation stream, with millions of people talking."
To become a player in the search world, Technorati focused on the growing blogosphere, which it defines as more than 60 million blogs, or Web journals. Sifry says 55% of them are active, meaning they have had at least one new post over the past three months. Every day 100,000 more blogs join the fray. In becoming the first successful blog-search tool, Technorati figured out how to mine blogs for relevant terms and how to sort the creative from the crud. Unlike Google, Technorati's search process dumps links that are more than 180 days old.
Over the past year, Technorati has broadened its reach to include Chinese, Spanish and other languages. Just 38% of the 1.4 million individual blog entries each day are in English. A growing number are moving beyond text to include photos, audio and video, so Technorati provides links.
Sifry has also added a feature that lets people who have a blog see how many other bloggers are linking to them and commenting on their writings. It's all about the community, he says. A longtime programmer who coded an early version of the site in his basement just over four years ago, Sifry says he's finding it a lot harder to be the guy in charge. "It's a luxury to be the guy who isn't sitting in the corner office because you can bitch and moan if things don't go your way," says Sifry. If someone else can run his company better, he says, he'll move aside.
To make money, Technorati markets itself as a viral focus group, where product managers can go to discover what consumers are writing about a product or service. "They can't ask questions, but they can listen in," says Sifry. Paying advertisers can buy sponsored links, which encourage Technorati visitors to check out what bloggers are saying about something, like the movie Fast Food Nation, featured in a recent sponsored ad.
Marketers are eager to throw their wares in the faces of bloggers who can spread the word; paid links are a fresh way to do that. "When people dangle checks, you tend to notice," says Sifry. "But we're trying to focus not just on short-term revenue opportunities but on building a great user experience." That's what they all say on the way to the IPO.
Blogs - the new diplomacy?
Blogs - the new diplomacy?
By Paul Reynolds World affairs correspondent, BBC News website
Jan Pronk's blog on Darfur got him expelledThe attack on the government of Sudan by the UN's envoy Jan Pronk has perhaps pointed the way to a new kind of direct diplomacy - the diplomat's blog.
Mr Pronk was expelled from Sudan after government anger at comments he made on his personal website. The government accused him of "psychological warfare" after he wrote that government forces had suffered two defeats in Darfur and that it had broken Security Council resolutions.
The former Dutch cabinet minister is no stranger to controversy but his use of the internet to publicise his views is new and daring in diplomacy, which traditionally favours discretion.
His blog was startlingly detailed, the kind of information that is normally sent back, encoded, only to national capitals. Sometimes in a one-on-one talk, a journalist can get something similar from a lively envoy, but to get it in the raw on the internet is an innovation.
Pronk has criticised the government of Sudan over DarfurFor example, Mr Pronk wrote of Darfur: "The morale in the government army in North Darfur has gone down. Some generals have been sacked; soldiers have refused to fight... Security Council resolutions which forbid armed mobilisation are being violated."
He is given to public pronouncements on foreign policy. He once called for an "Iraq-style" intervention in Bosnia (Iraq-style as in the 1991 war to expel Iraq from Kuwait) long before the outside world took action.
When the Serbs massacred Bosnian Muslims following the fall of Srebrenica, he was a cabinet minister. He immediately and publicly accused the Serbs of genocide. He subsequently criticised the performance of the Dutch troops who were supposed to defend the town and resigned himself, followed by the whole government the next day.
Uzbek example
Another turbulent diplomat who would have loved a blog when he was trying to get his message over was Craig Murray, the British ambassador to Uzbekistan between 2002 and 2004. He eventually fell out with the Foreign Office over his public criticism of the Uzbek government's human rights record.
You should be able to say more of what you really think - you can't have a cocktail party relationship with a fascist regime
Craig MurrayFormer UK ambassador in UzbekistanHe is now a private citizen but still campaigns and uses a blog to do so.
"I would have loved a blog when I was an ambassador, but they were not really invented then and I doubt even now if the Foreign Office knows what they are," he told me.
"I did get permission for a speech I made making my views public but I was told that approval had been given at too low a level, so I got into trouble.
"A diplomat's blog is a great idea. You should be able to say more of what you really think. You can't have a cocktail party relationship with a fascist regime."
Such diplomats break the traditional mould. I know that Mr Murray's actions upset many of his colleagues who feel that vigorous reporting should be confined to private messages back to base. It is then up to governments to act.
Update: I have had two e-mails pointing me to a blog by the British ambassador to Tunisia Alan Goulty! So the Foreign Office does know what a blog is.
One of the e-mails was from Luke Cholerton-Bozier, a consultant for the British Council and the embassy at the time of the World Information Summit in Tunisia. He says that it was his idea and he mentioned it to an embassy official. The blog is the result.
It is a mixture of politics and diplomatic life - and nothing controversial. The ambassador remarks on the Middle East peace process as well as issues like animal welfare. He invites comments which is a good part of any blog, leading in one posting to his rueful remark: "A correspondent in Gabes chides me for paying more attention to animal welfare in La Marsa than to poor people in the South. " He adds: "of course, both need help."
But what happens when, as in Mr Pronk's case, the diplomat feels that nobody is listening on a matter of great importance?
Armenian agony
There was a famous case during World War I when the US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, started reporting his conclusion that Armenians were the subject of genocide by the Turks.
"It appears that a campaign of race extermination is in progress under a pretext of reprisal against rebellion," he wrote to the State Department.
His cables to Washington did not have much effect so he began to talk to the New York Times and other papers.
The modern equivalent might be to set up a personal website and talk directly to the world instead of to journalists.
Vibbi's verbosity
There was, on the other hand, the example of the young Croatian diplomat which governments are keen to avoid.
Pronk once criticised the Serbs and his own government over Srebrenica
Known online as "Vibbi," 25 year old Vibor Kalodjera blogged from Washington during the 2004 presidential campaign. He dismissed the Democratic candidate John Kerry as "no better" than George Bush, whom he in turn accused of being interested "in oil only".
His opinion of diplomatic life in general came through when he commented on his attendance at a conference. "What a privilege! I'd rather have been at a concert."
"Vibbi" was suspended.
One example of a current diplomat's blog I came across was one run by the Syrian ambassador in Washington Imad Moustapha.
His site is not exactly like Mr Pronk's. It has a picture of the ambassador sitting on a sofa and there is plenty of jolly talk about how wonderful Syria is as well as some interesting Syrian art and photos of the ambassador in Italy. Perhaps he has to resort to this method of communication because he has little contact with the State Department these days. Syria is currently still part of the "axis of evil".
Update: Mr Moustapha has himself sent this message: "I read with pleasure your comments on the Diplomats' Blogs.I have actually found in my blog a very powerful means of outreach and communication. And, yes, it helps a lot when you are considered the envoy of a 'rogue' and 'evil' nation. I usually get a moderate average of 7000 hits weekly. Only twice did my blog receive intense public attention, once when the New York Times wrote a profile about me (123000 hits within a couple of days), and the other time was when the Yediut Ahronot [an Israeli newspaper] used my blog as basis of a story about me (1100 hits within three days). The only point you missed about blogs is that we, diplomats, are after all humans who like to write, talk, and have fun. Writing a blog is real fun."
A quick inspection suggests that most embassy websites are woefully dull.
Embassy efforts
The British embassy site in Dublin, for example, where you might think that an informal approach would be appreciated, looks as if it has been downloaded from a 1950s pamphlet. There is no personal word from the ambassador, just a long CV and a passport-style photo.
Yet one might have thought that his travels around Ireland would produce an interesting commentary on the state of relations with Britain's important neighbour.
On the other hand, the Irish Embassy's website in London is not much better and has misspelt the word "contact".
The US embassy in London, whose ambassador Mr Holmes Tuttle is not, despite his status, one of the more visible diplomats in London, does not reveal much on its website about his activities. There are some pictures of the envoy in full white tie and tail, a garb somewhat distant from that of most Londoners.
The internet does seem to be a foreign thing to most diplomats.
By Paul Reynolds World affairs correspondent, BBC News website
Jan Pronk's blog on Darfur got him expelledThe attack on the government of Sudan by the UN's envoy Jan Pronk has perhaps pointed the way to a new kind of direct diplomacy - the diplomat's blog.
Mr Pronk was expelled from Sudan after government anger at comments he made on his personal website. The government accused him of "psychological warfare" after he wrote that government forces had suffered two defeats in Darfur and that it had broken Security Council resolutions.
The former Dutch cabinet minister is no stranger to controversy but his use of the internet to publicise his views is new and daring in diplomacy, which traditionally favours discretion.
His blog was startlingly detailed, the kind of information that is normally sent back, encoded, only to national capitals. Sometimes in a one-on-one talk, a journalist can get something similar from a lively envoy, but to get it in the raw on the internet is an innovation.
Pronk has criticised the government of Sudan over DarfurFor example, Mr Pronk wrote of Darfur: "The morale in the government army in North Darfur has gone down. Some generals have been sacked; soldiers have refused to fight... Security Council resolutions which forbid armed mobilisation are being violated."
He is given to public pronouncements on foreign policy. He once called for an "Iraq-style" intervention in Bosnia (Iraq-style as in the 1991 war to expel Iraq from Kuwait) long before the outside world took action.
When the Serbs massacred Bosnian Muslims following the fall of Srebrenica, he was a cabinet minister. He immediately and publicly accused the Serbs of genocide. He subsequently criticised the performance of the Dutch troops who were supposed to defend the town and resigned himself, followed by the whole government the next day.
Uzbek example
Another turbulent diplomat who would have loved a blog when he was trying to get his message over was Craig Murray, the British ambassador to Uzbekistan between 2002 and 2004. He eventually fell out with the Foreign Office over his public criticism of the Uzbek government's human rights record.
You should be able to say more of what you really think - you can't have a cocktail party relationship with a fascist regime
Craig MurrayFormer UK ambassador in UzbekistanHe is now a private citizen but still campaigns and uses a blog to do so.
"I would have loved a blog when I was an ambassador, but they were not really invented then and I doubt even now if the Foreign Office knows what they are," he told me.
"I did get permission for a speech I made making my views public but I was told that approval had been given at too low a level, so I got into trouble.
"A diplomat's blog is a great idea. You should be able to say more of what you really think. You can't have a cocktail party relationship with a fascist regime."
Such diplomats break the traditional mould. I know that Mr Murray's actions upset many of his colleagues who feel that vigorous reporting should be confined to private messages back to base. It is then up to governments to act.
Update: I have had two e-mails pointing me to a blog by the British ambassador to Tunisia Alan Goulty! So the Foreign Office does know what a blog is.
One of the e-mails was from Luke Cholerton-Bozier, a consultant for the British Council and the embassy at the time of the World Information Summit in Tunisia. He says that it was his idea and he mentioned it to an embassy official. The blog is the result.
It is a mixture of politics and diplomatic life - and nothing controversial. The ambassador remarks on the Middle East peace process as well as issues like animal welfare. He invites comments which is a good part of any blog, leading in one posting to his rueful remark: "A correspondent in Gabes chides me for paying more attention to animal welfare in La Marsa than to poor people in the South. " He adds: "of course, both need help."
But what happens when, as in Mr Pronk's case, the diplomat feels that nobody is listening on a matter of great importance?
Armenian agony
There was a famous case during World War I when the US ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, started reporting his conclusion that Armenians were the subject of genocide by the Turks.
"It appears that a campaign of race extermination is in progress under a pretext of reprisal against rebellion," he wrote to the State Department.
His cables to Washington did not have much effect so he began to talk to the New York Times and other papers.
The modern equivalent might be to set up a personal website and talk directly to the world instead of to journalists.
Vibbi's verbosity
There was, on the other hand, the example of the young Croatian diplomat which governments are keen to avoid.
Pronk once criticised the Serbs and his own government over Srebrenica
Known online as "Vibbi," 25 year old Vibor Kalodjera blogged from Washington during the 2004 presidential campaign. He dismissed the Democratic candidate John Kerry as "no better" than George Bush, whom he in turn accused of being interested "in oil only".
His opinion of diplomatic life in general came through when he commented on his attendance at a conference. "What a privilege! I'd rather have been at a concert."
"Vibbi" was suspended.
One example of a current diplomat's blog I came across was one run by the Syrian ambassador in Washington Imad Moustapha.
His site is not exactly like Mr Pronk's. It has a picture of the ambassador sitting on a sofa and there is plenty of jolly talk about how wonderful Syria is as well as some interesting Syrian art and photos of the ambassador in Italy. Perhaps he has to resort to this method of communication because he has little contact with the State Department these days. Syria is currently still part of the "axis of evil".
Update: Mr Moustapha has himself sent this message: "I read with pleasure your comments on the Diplomats' Blogs.I have actually found in my blog a very powerful means of outreach and communication. And, yes, it helps a lot when you are considered the envoy of a 'rogue' and 'evil' nation. I usually get a moderate average of 7000 hits weekly. Only twice did my blog receive intense public attention, once when the New York Times wrote a profile about me (123000 hits within a couple of days), and the other time was when the Yediut Ahronot [an Israeli newspaper] used my blog as basis of a story about me (1100 hits within three days). The only point you missed about blogs is that we, diplomats, are after all humans who like to write, talk, and have fun. Writing a blog is real fun."
A quick inspection suggests that most embassy websites are woefully dull.
Embassy efforts
The British embassy site in Dublin, for example, where you might think that an informal approach would be appreciated, looks as if it has been downloaded from a 1950s pamphlet. There is no personal word from the ambassador, just a long CV and a passport-style photo.
Yet one might have thought that his travels around Ireland would produce an interesting commentary on the state of relations with Britain's important neighbour.
On the other hand, the Irish Embassy's website in London is not much better and has misspelt the word "contact".
The US embassy in London, whose ambassador Mr Holmes Tuttle is not, despite his status, one of the more visible diplomats in London, does not reveal much on its website about his activities. There are some pictures of the envoy in full white tie and tail, a garb somewhat distant from that of most Londoners.
The internet does seem to be a foreign thing to most diplomats.
Reporter's Log: Le Web conference
A blogging conference means laptops are at the readyLe Web 3, a conference for bloggers and supporters of internet media developments, is taking place in Paris, France.
Robin Hamman, a journalist for BBC English Regions and co-ordinator of the BBC Blogs Network, will be filing regular updates from the conference.
1630 PARIS (1530 GMT)
Loïc Le Meur, the organiser of Le Web, explained earlier today that one of the interesting things about the conference is the way it was marketed.
Instead of sending out e-mails, posting brochures, contacting trade magazines and advertising, the organisers of Le Web used the tools used by their audience and simply blogged it. Word spread fast and, as soon as registration was closed, Le Meur started fielding calls from people who hadn't acted fast enough to register.
Yesterday he got the most unexpected of those calls, from the office of Shimon Peres, former Prime Minister of Israel and joint winner (with Yithak Rabin and Yasser Arafat) of the Nobel Peace prize.
The big names are here this year too
Quick guide: Blogs
He's in Paris and wanted to know if he could come along and give a presentation. Le Meur, who still sounded a bit shocked when recanting the story, says he initially thought it might be fun to say the conference was full up but decided against it and told Peres's assistant that he was more than welcome to come.
As another conference goer said to me a few minutes ago, Peres isn't exactly a name most people would associate with the internet. So what is Peres going to talk about?
About 5% of the presenters listed on the conference blog come from Israel, long a hotbed of technology and software development.
Perhaps it doesn't really matter if Peres talks about the internet or not.
There is widespread consensus that the most interesting part of the day thus far was the one given by Hans Rosling, a Swedish Professor of International Health who didn't even mention the web during his presentation about the stereotypes people have when discussing income, health, and child-birth rates in different countries to their own.
Maybe Peres, who turned 83 in August, will break down some of our age stereotypes by demonstrating that really does understand the whole interenet thing.
1530 PARIS (1430 GMT)
Dave Sifry from Technorati, a blog tracking service, just completed his "state of the blogosphere" address.
Dave Siffry is an influential figure in the blogosphere
No surprises here. As usual, the number of blogs has continued to grow phenomenally over the third quarter of the year and Technorati is now tracking around 60 million blogs worldwide.
Sifry doesn't know when the growth in blogging will slow down and says, "I'd love to able to tell you. It obviously has to slow down at some point.
"I mean, there are only so many human beings on the planet. We've been seeing about 100,000 new blogs being created world wide every day.
"To give you an idea, that's one new blog being created somewhere in the world every single day."
Sifry always gives a spirited presentation and did his best to woo French bloggers by explaining that although he knows there are lots of great French blogs, at the moment his service has a difficult time finding and tracking them.
With Technorati being the blog content search tool of choice for many bloggers, this essentially means that French blog content is not just under-represented in his figures, but also largely invisible outside the French speaking world.
This may very well explain why, for the conference this size, Le Web 3 has thus far appeared to have a fairly small footprint in the English language blogosphere.
1200 PARIS (1100 GMT)
A lot of people are grumbling about here on the floor that there is no web at Le Web which is why, if you were planning on following the conference via its blog buzz, you might find yourself left in the dark.
Like many technology and media conferences, free wi-fi is being provided for attendees. In the past this has never worked very well for me - when too many people try to connect and download content, or because of the nature of this particular conference to upload it, wi-fi routers and networks tend to groan or fall over from the strain.
The same is happening here today, with internet access intermittent, showering us with good bandwidth one moment and the next moment, nothing. It might not sound like a big deal to many readers, but for this audience, not having the ability to post stuff to your blogs is akin to being locked in a room without being told when you're to be let out.
The choice is difficult - sit and watch the conference or head to the back in search of internet access.
1130 PARIS (1030 GMT) MONDAY 11 DECEMBER
With 1,000 people attending from 37 countries, Le Web 3 is almost certainly the biggest conference of its type anywhere in Europe.
Like many of the technologies that are being discussed here, and the markets for them, the two-day conference itself is in transition.
In his opening address, the organiser, Loïc Le Meur from Six Apart, a company which provides a number of consumer blogging platforms including Typepad, admitted that the conference had drifted from its roots as a conference for and about blogging.
Now it's all a bit flash for mere bloggers with corporate sponsors in abundance, a slickly prepared venue with theatre-size screens projecting multi-camera video and presentations, croissants and latte served on metal trays and an exhibition area set aside for more than 50 start-ups, mostly European, to demonstrate - and perhaps sell - their wares.
The big names are here this year too. Not just from the worlds of blogging and technology like Technorati, TechCrunch, Mozilla, and Skype, but also representatives from companies that have already become household names such as Yahoo, Nokia, Google, Orange, Lastminute.com.
Over the next two days, I'll be speaking with bloggers, geeks, the start-ups, venture capitalists and internet heavy-hitters to find out what motivated them to join 1,000 other people in Paris for Le Web 3.
Robin Hamman is also
Robin Hamman, a journalist for BBC English Regions and co-ordinator of the BBC Blogs Network, will be filing regular updates from the conference.
1630 PARIS (1530 GMT)
Loïc Le Meur, the organiser of Le Web, explained earlier today that one of the interesting things about the conference is the way it was marketed.
Instead of sending out e-mails, posting brochures, contacting trade magazines and advertising, the organisers of Le Web used the tools used by their audience and simply blogged it. Word spread fast and, as soon as registration was closed, Le Meur started fielding calls from people who hadn't acted fast enough to register.
Yesterday he got the most unexpected of those calls, from the office of Shimon Peres, former Prime Minister of Israel and joint winner (with Yithak Rabin and Yasser Arafat) of the Nobel Peace prize.
The big names are here this year too
Quick guide: Blogs
He's in Paris and wanted to know if he could come along and give a presentation. Le Meur, who still sounded a bit shocked when recanting the story, says he initially thought it might be fun to say the conference was full up but decided against it and told Peres's assistant that he was more than welcome to come.
As another conference goer said to me a few minutes ago, Peres isn't exactly a name most people would associate with the internet. So what is Peres going to talk about?
About 5% of the presenters listed on the conference blog come from Israel, long a hotbed of technology and software development.
Perhaps it doesn't really matter if Peres talks about the internet or not.
There is widespread consensus that the most interesting part of the day thus far was the one given by Hans Rosling, a Swedish Professor of International Health who didn't even mention the web during his presentation about the stereotypes people have when discussing income, health, and child-birth rates in different countries to their own.
Maybe Peres, who turned 83 in August, will break down some of our age stereotypes by demonstrating that really does understand the whole interenet thing.
1530 PARIS (1430 GMT)
Dave Sifry from Technorati, a blog tracking service, just completed his "state of the blogosphere" address.
Dave Siffry is an influential figure in the blogosphere
No surprises here. As usual, the number of blogs has continued to grow phenomenally over the third quarter of the year and Technorati is now tracking around 60 million blogs worldwide.
Sifry doesn't know when the growth in blogging will slow down and says, "I'd love to able to tell you. It obviously has to slow down at some point.
"I mean, there are only so many human beings on the planet. We've been seeing about 100,000 new blogs being created world wide every day.
"To give you an idea, that's one new blog being created somewhere in the world every single day."
Sifry always gives a spirited presentation and did his best to woo French bloggers by explaining that although he knows there are lots of great French blogs, at the moment his service has a difficult time finding and tracking them.
With Technorati being the blog content search tool of choice for many bloggers, this essentially means that French blog content is not just under-represented in his figures, but also largely invisible outside the French speaking world.
This may very well explain why, for the conference this size, Le Web 3 has thus far appeared to have a fairly small footprint in the English language blogosphere.
1200 PARIS (1100 GMT)
A lot of people are grumbling about here on the floor that there is no web at Le Web which is why, if you were planning on following the conference via its blog buzz, you might find yourself left in the dark.
Like many technology and media conferences, free wi-fi is being provided for attendees. In the past this has never worked very well for me - when too many people try to connect and download content, or because of the nature of this particular conference to upload it, wi-fi routers and networks tend to groan or fall over from the strain.
The same is happening here today, with internet access intermittent, showering us with good bandwidth one moment and the next moment, nothing. It might not sound like a big deal to many readers, but for this audience, not having the ability to post stuff to your blogs is akin to being locked in a room without being told when you're to be let out.
The choice is difficult - sit and watch the conference or head to the back in search of internet access.
1130 PARIS (1030 GMT) MONDAY 11 DECEMBER
With 1,000 people attending from 37 countries, Le Web 3 is almost certainly the biggest conference of its type anywhere in Europe.
Like many of the technologies that are being discussed here, and the markets for them, the two-day conference itself is in transition.
In his opening address, the organiser, Loïc Le Meur from Six Apart, a company which provides a number of consumer blogging platforms including Typepad, admitted that the conference had drifted from its roots as a conference for and about blogging.
Now it's all a bit flash for mere bloggers with corporate sponsors in abundance, a slickly prepared venue with theatre-size screens projecting multi-camera video and presentations, croissants and latte served on metal trays and an exhibition area set aside for more than 50 start-ups, mostly European, to demonstrate - and perhaps sell - their wares.
The big names are here this year too. Not just from the worlds of blogging and technology like Technorati, TechCrunch, Mozilla, and Skype, but also representatives from companies that have already become household names such as Yahoo, Nokia, Google, Orange, Lastminute.com.
Over the next two days, I'll be speaking with bloggers, geeks, the start-ups, venture capitalists and internet heavy-hitters to find out what motivated them to join 1,000 other people in Paris for Le Web 3.
Robin Hamman is also
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Egypt: Bloggers open the door to police brutality debate
‘Extraordinary rendition’ has passed into common parlance over the last year as human rights organisations have accused the US government of exporting suspects to be tortured in regimes like Egypt, Morocco and Syria. But while cases involving international suspects get the headlines, these countries are regularly cited by human rights activists as having a major domestic torture problem, with the police in particular seeming to act with total impunity.
Now in Egypt, bloggers have struck a blow against police torture, by publicising videos shot by police officers of their colleagues beating suspects, and of police cadets receiving training. Add to this articles in the independent press and protests by civil society organisations, what’s fast becoming a national campaign is gathering momentum.
Demagh Mak and Wael Abbas writing in Arabic, and others writing in English, such as Hossam e-Hamalawy, have consistently sought out and brought to light videos of incidents of police brutality on their blogs over the past few months. It’s videos like this one - uploaded by Wael Abbas - that appear to be shifting the debate:
As reported by Hossam el-Hamalawy, an investigation has been launched into the conduct of the officer shown slapping the suspect in the above video, although it has now emerged that the officer in question has not yet been suspended from duty.
The brutality of Egypt’s police is not a new story - Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights have regularly documented and condemned police brutality in briefings and reports.
But sustained pressure from the bloggers, and the publication of an investigative piece into the police torture video in the independent Egyptian weekly newspaper, El-Fagr, have forced the story into the mainstream. On 27th November 2006, El-Fagr published an expose on violence against suspects in the country’s police stations, identifying the officers in the video above, and describing a second, much more brutal video.
That second video (which I won’t show here) shows a group of officers torturing a suspect - handcuffed, stripped from the waist down, and on the ground - by inserting a stick into his anus. Now Wael Abdel Fattah, the journalist who wrote the 27th November piece in El-Fagr, has published the names of the officers who carried out the torture, and tracked down and interviewed the victim, a bus driver. Sharqawi and Hossam el-Hamalawy cover the story and relay the victim’s account of how he came to be arrested, and of the horrific acts of torture perpetrated by the police. Both bloggers publish the victim’s name, which, although it’s in the public domain in El-Fagr, has caused debate, with one blogger, Elijah Zarwan, wondering at The Skeptic, whether this was the right thing to do.
With Ikhwan (the Muslim Brotherhood) now alleging police torture of one of its activists, and lawyers threatening a national strike in protest against police harassment, the anti-torture campaign in Egypt is growing in confidence and pace.
One YouTube user has now posted a video tribute to the bloggers here (3′42):
If bloggers like Wael Abbas, Demagh Mak, Misr el-Horra can continue to cover and make unignorable the stories that the traditional media find harder to publish, as with the Eid sexual harassment incidents, then it may open the door for the media to enter the debate - which might finally make Egypt’s Interior Ministry take the problem seriously.
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