In Saudi Arabia, Fouad is Still in Prison

Mary — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:12:03 -0400

I've been blogging a lot recently about Fouad Mourtada, the young Moroccan man sentenced to three years in jail for posting a joke profile of the King's brother on Facebook.

Yet there is another Fouad - Fouad Alfarhan - who has been in jail for three months with no release imminent. Fouad, who is a politically vocal blogger, was arrested on December 10th, and an online campaign to free him started soon after.

However, when President Bush visited Saudi Arabia in mid-January, Fouad's wife asked the people taking part in the campaign to back down, fearing that the campaign

(Read more)

Free Fouad Petition - 5000 Signatures for Fouad!

Mary — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:31:00 -0300

Despite heavy press coverage, Saudi blogger Fouad Al-Farhan remains in prison.
Now Avaaz, an international digital activism organization with over 1 million members worldwide, is joining the fight free Fouad.
They have posted a petition demanding Fouad's release and are hoping to get 2500 signatures.

Only 2500 signatures for Fouad? I bet we can get at least twice that!

Let's get 5000 signatures for Fouad!

Here's what you can do:

1. Sign the petition to free Fouad here (English) of here (Arabic).

2. Write a post on your blog asking your readers to sign the petition too.(Read more)

Free Fouad on CNN

Mary — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:39:16 -0300

A great piece on CNN about Fouad Alfarhan's imprisonment and the blog campaign to free him:

Day of Blog Silence for Fouad

Mary — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:43:41 -0300

Free Fouad Quote Randomizer

Mary — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:03:56 -0300

Please ad the Free Fouad quote randomizer to your blog. The quote randomizer scrolls through a list of quotes by jailed Saudi blogger Fouad Alfarhan. Even though the Saudi government is trying to silence Fouad, should them that jailing a blogger will only carry their words further.
Just embed the following code in the sidebar of your blog:
"

Day of Blog Silence for Fouad

Mary — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 14:59:04 -0300

What? Day of Blog Silence to Protest the Imprisonment of Blogger Fouad Alfarhan
When? Sunday, January, 2008
Where? blogs around the world
How? On that day, bloggers will not write on their blogs, but instead will post a Free Fouad banner, like the one above. (Both banners are posted full-size at the bottom of this post.)
Why? To free a blogger imprisoned for criticiznig his government and to send a message that we will not tolerate the persecution of free speech in the blogosphere.
Who is organizing the action? Mideast Youth
(Read more)

The Campign to Free Fouad

Mary — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 20:35:41 -0300

Fouad Alfaran, only of Saudi Arabia's most important bloggers, was arrested on December 10 for blogging about Saudi Arabia's political prisoners. Ironically, he is now a political prisoner himself.
The campaign to free him is taking advantage of several digital activism techniques, including a Free Fouad blog (in English and Arabic), a Free Fouad Facebook group, and an e-petition.
Please consider taking action by signing the petition, joining the Facebook group, and learning more about the case on the blog. I'll be posting more about this campaign as it develops.

The Internet That Was

Mary — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 17:44:18 -0400

Why do people want to be "on the Internet?" One of the main reasons is simple freedom. The Internet is a rare example of a true, modern, functional anarchy. There is no "Internet Inc." There are no official censors, no bosses, no board of directors, no stockholders.
Today that paragraph, written in 1993, seems naive and ill-informed. There certainly are censors on the Internet. Look at China and Saudi Arabia. While there is no "Internet Inc." the Internet is most certainly a commercial entity with its associated "bosses," "boards of directors" and "stockholders." I am not just talking about the
(Read more)