Online campaign for detained journalists in Egypt

Online campaign for detained journalists in Egypt

« Beaten arrested in Interior Ministry » ; This tweet was posted in the early hours of Thursday morning by American-Egyptian editorial writer Mona Eltahawy, raising concerns amongst the country’s web users who have mobilized en masse, demanding her release.

After twelve hours in detention, the journalist was finally released. She has posted a photo of her wounded hand as proof of her ordeal during which she says she was also sexually assaulted by security forces.

A blogger and devout feminist, Mona Eltahawy has provided ongoing coverage of recent events in Tahrir Square via the Internet, and also traditional media, like here for the BBC, just several hours before she was taken in for questioning.

Her arrest has fueled the anger of demonstrators taking part in protests against the ruling military. Her friend Dima Khatib, who is also a blogger and journalist, feels this latest episode is further proof that things have not improved since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

She is not the only journalist or blogger arrested in recent days. With photos to back up their claims, web users have reported that activist Maged Butter, who was also released this Thursday, was beaten up by security forces.

And the online campaigning for Jehane Noujaim also continues. This American born documentary maker was taken in for questioning as she was filming the clashes that erupted around Tahrir Square. According to lawyer Ragia Omran, she could be charged with filming without a permit.

Life in the world’s largest refugee camp

This photo was uploaded to Flickr by the NGO Oxfam. Thousands of makeshift shelters spread out as far as the eye can see, illustrating the staggering size of the Dadaab camp in Kenya, which is now home to over 450 000 refugees, victims of the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa.

Actress and Oxfam ambassador Scarlett Johansson went to visit the camp a few weeks ago. She kept a video diary of her time there and shared the journal on the Internet. The videos focus on the various projects set up in the refugee camp to improve living conditions, and also feature the victims of the humanitarian crisis. The aim is to raise global awareness and prompt the international community to help these refugees who are in such desperate need.

Amy Burke works for “Lutheran World Relief”, another NGO working on site in Dadaab. Through her blog, which she updates on a regular basis, she tells the stories of the refugees living there, and their ongoing struggle to live in dignity. The moving accounts are illustrated with photos, and give a glimpse of the daily reality of the people living in this huge camp.

Journalist Natasha Elkington works for British Press Agency Reuters, and she has uploaded this video which looks at the thousands of children living in Dadaab. The clip reminds us that although the children continue to play and go to school in the camp, they are still the most vulnerable and the most at risk from the food crisis gripping the Horn of Africa.

24 hours of uploaded Flickr photos printed out

Print out all of the hundreds of thousands of images uploaded to Flickr in a 24 hour period. Erik Kessels came up with this completely crazy idea for an exhibition at Amsterdam’s Foam museum. You can see parts of his somewhat invasive installation on British web site “Creative Review”, the aim of the exhibition being to provoke debate on the future of photography in the web 2.0 era.

Now trending on social networks

The latest online initiative from the « Occupy » movement is « Occupy Amazon ». It's targeting a page from online retail store Amazon which appears to be selling pepper spray! Web users are not letting this go unnoticed and to denounce the repression of Occupy Protests, and the crackdowns that have at times turned violent, they have been flooding the page with sarcastic comments like “accept no substitutes when casually repressing students” or “great for getting rid of 99 % of problems”. This police officer became a symbol of the repression when he pepper-sprayed students on a University campus in California.

Video of the day

Thrill seekers, this is for you : In the Austrian Alps you can hit the slopes all year round, even when there’s no snow, by riding a cart down the single-pipe alpine coasters. You can check it out in this video which puts you in the driver’s seat.