Cyber activists are appealing to Libyans to protest against Colonel Gaddafi’s regime

Cyber activists lead protest movements in Libya   

« enough of Gaddafi, enough of his regime » These young Libyans are angry and have been inspired by the revolutions carried out by their neighbors in Tunisia and Egypt. In these videos which are currently circulating on social networks, they are calling for a popular uprising against Colonel Gaddafi, who has been in power for the past 42 years. 

Their frustration is also being expressed via music. One rapper, who uses the pseudonym Ibn Thabit, has posted his songs on the Internet, denouncing poverty, corruption and sharing his desire for freedom.

Messages like this can now also be heard in the streets. Many videos are available on Facebook or YouTube bearing witness to the clashes that have erupted in Libya over the past few days.

Amateur footage is emerging denouncing the repression. The person who filmed these images says they show clashes between protesters and police in Benghazi, in the east of the country, we see a police van charge demonstrators who were throwing stones in its direction. 

And according to Shebab Libya, a young activist’s organization set up in the wake of the Egyptian revolution, the authorities have cut off the Internet, SMS services and electricity in certain areas of the country. 

So the movement is relying on web users based abroad to relay information. This interactive map, set up by a web user called Arasmus, is aiming to catalogue all the rallies, clashes and also arrests that have been reported across Libya.

Protests in Bahrain 

Following on from Tunisia and Egypt, a strong protest movement is now taking place in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Thousands of Shiite demonstrators have taken to the streets since Monday, protesting against poverty and unemployment and demanding political reform. The authorities have used force to deal with these rallies.

These anti-government demonstrations have been widely relayed on the web as 80 % of people in the kingdom have web access. So dozens of amateur videos like these ones filmed over the past few days have emerged on sharing sites. The footage shows protesters gathering in large numbers, notably around the Pearl roundabout in the capital Manama, denouncing, amongst other things, discrimination towards the Shiite community.  

The rallies have been marred by clashes between demonstrators and police, as we see here; the police used tear gas to disperse the protesters, several of whom were killed during the confrontations. They were immediately depicted as martyrs in the following demonstrations and their coffins were presented to the crowds so that final respects could be paid. 

And as was the case with Tahrir Square in Egypt, protesters have decided to occupy the Pearl roundabout day and night, making it the nerve centre of the protest movement. As we see in these images filmed in Manama, the authorities have taken brutal action and in the early hours of Thursday morning they sent in the army and security forces to drive the protesters out.

This heavy handed raid left many injured, prompting doctors to protest on Thursday morning against working conditions and their powerlessness to deal with the influx of protesters who had been harmed in the violence. The health workers were notably asking for more ambulances so they could take care of the wounded at Pearl roundabout. 

Green Patriots 

Green patriot is an online project set up by American environmental activists who use art to raise awareness amongst web users as to the climatic and environmental issues that affect our planet. There are dozens of posters available on the site aimed at drawing people’s attention to diverse subjects like greenhouse gases and also the dangers of deforestation. 

Grafftube 

Put street art in the spotlight! This is what the site Grafftube is proposing with hundreds of videos and photos devoted to the graffiti that adorns cities all over the world. Artists biographies, images filmed whilst they work as well as advice on avoiding problems with the police … everything is revealed on this site which will plunge web users into the world of street art. 

Video of the day 

This video allows you to experience a ski jump as if you were actually there – a small camera has been attached to the helmet of Norwegian ski jumper Jon Araas: Spectacular, thrilling images, showing you what the skier sees as he reaches a speed of 103 kilometers per hour and jumps over 192 meters in the air.