This is the day when thousands of voices blog about one issue on the same day. The next date is coming up very soon, on the 15th of October, where everyone will unite through their blogs and write about issues concerning the environment.

This is a very great idea if you run campaigns, you can ask others to commit to writing about your subject in an attempt to increase awareness. In fact we might try this idea with our Free Kareem campaign, setting up a network where everyone writes about freedom of speech with a dedication to Kareem, who is an Egyptian blogger serving prison time merely because he practiced his right to free speech on his personal blog.

The Turkish government has blocked WordPress, a blog publishing system, in all of Turkey because of a private defamation case. Because this censorship silences the voices of thousands of Turkish bloggers, we are petitioning for their rights to free speech.

Banning WordPress is a clear violation of free speech that effects the citizens of Turkey, WordPress bloggers, and readers all over the world. Certainly these disputes can be handled more judiciously by the Turkish courts.

We, the undersigned, respectfully ask the Turkish authorities to reconsider the decision to block WordPress.

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION!


Click and add this banner on the sidebar of your blog. Support free speech in Turkey.

Blogs were one of the most important softwares that started the idea of “Web 2.0″, the new era of communication and sharing of information. Some people started using blogs to share their thoughts and ideas, others use it for sharing information with the world, hence why they are also referred to as “citizen journalists.” Nowadays, people are using blogs to raise awareness of the issues that effect us all. It’s a powerful tool for global awareness.

Since then, blogging started to get more and more popular and developers started to make more developments to make a blog more of a multi-media sharing utility, that’s when vlogs were introduced.

Vlog stands for Video Blog, which is one of the more effective type of blogging, why? Well… think of it this way, what do you prefer, reading the newspaper, listening to the radio or watching the TV? Honestly, I prefer watching TV, because it brings you everything in motion with voice! You can see and heard everything that’s happening; emotions, views, people…etc.

Anyway, that’s a long introduction as it is, let’s get to the point: What do I need to get my own vlog? The answer is, almost nothing exept for a computer and a camera, you can use a webcam if you want a personal vlog, in your own room, or to record outdoors. You can use your cell phone if it has a built-in camera, but it’s better to have a digital camera for video quality.

All you have to do is get your camera, start recording what you want to put on your vlog, and if it’s not good enough or you want to add some effects and cut some of the parts out, you could use a video editor, such as “Windows Movie Maker” that comes with Windows XP and newer versions. Or you can search for some video editing software on the internet, you’ll find some good and free editors out there, here’s a list of some on Download.com

Well now after you got your video all you have to do is find a place to host it. You can host your videos on one of the Video-sharing sites such as Youtube, Google Videos, Metacafe, Lulu TV, the new Arabic website called Ikbis.com, or any of the many other choices available. The upside to this way is that you host your videos on a community website where people that don’t know you or your website can watch your videos, and you get your own “Channel” or Album, where people can watch all your videos.

After that, if you want, you can have a normal blog, either hosted free on one of the blog-hosting services, such as Blogger, or Wordpress, or you can get a hosting plan where you install a blogging software, so you could add comments, or make the video part of an article you are writing.

Blogging, Podcasting and Vlogging have changed the way that people get information, and it’s a new way where everyone can say whatever they want.

According to their website, Civiblog Central “is an international initiative with the aim of giving voice to individuals and organizations involved in global civil society. We provide platforms and resources for NGOs, activists, dissidents and individuals at risk through the medium of blogging.”

It seems like a promising source for those in highly restricted locations. You can easily create a blog here. And here is a list of some of the blogs involved and countries represented.

A lot of questions have been raised about the reliability of cyber activism. Can we effectively change the way we are being treated by the authorities, who moderate us, harass us, threaten us, and in some cases, imprison us merely because we chose to bravely express our opinions on a blog or website?

We think that we can achieve many things if we start networks like these where we come together in order to fight towards a common cause.

Press freedom should be valued! Don’t be scared to express your opinions. Every time you reconsider posting or starting a blog due to fear, you should think of how many others you are silencing with you. Speak up, and speak loudly. We are here for you, and we support your right to free speech!

(Thanks to Siham for the video.)

Blogging services have been banned periodically in India and Pakistan, as is documented by Wikipedia here and here respectively. In such cases, to access blogs please use:

inblogs.net/yourblogname or pkblogs.com/yourblogname

So if your blog address was http://mynameis.blogspot.com, you will now type in http://inblogs.net/mynameis or http://pkblogs.com/mynameis

Inblogs.net and Pkblogs.com were developed by tech savvy Indians and Pakistanis when the Blogger ban first came up in both countries.

If blogging services are also banned, there are a host of anonymizer websites that will allow you to post through it, for example KProxy and Anonymouse.

The Pakistani blog community launched a ‘Dont Block The Blog’ campaign when the blogger ban was first enforced, and asked all Blogger users to spread the word through banners and stickers. In the event that your country’s telecommunication or IT ministry has indeed blocked blogging services, it is advisable to contact all renowned news services such as BBC, Reuters, CNN, etc, which have in the past investigated and aired reports about such issues. One can also spread the word by sending press releases to tech websites such as Boing Boing.

Remember, no one can take your right away to express yourself, and certainly not some idiot in the government who thinks he can control the internet, which has emerged as the most powerful medium of the 21st century. Viva le revolution!

After you start your campaign (which you can learn how to do here):

- Contact international news services and agencies. We recommend:

Do not just request for this information to be on the BBC News website, rather ask them to include it in the news agenda so it can be mentioned on the BBC World channel as well. Provide screenshots of your campaign, preferably with pictures of the subject in the banner, in order for it to appear on the news channel. Make yourself available for BBC Radio interviews both in English and Arabic (or Farsi, Urdu, French, depending on the case and location.)

Contact Al Jazeera by e-mail at first and request that your information be provided on their website. Ask them to write back if they have further questions or if they request an interview with the campaign’s co-founders and staff.

Sample letter:

To whoever it may concern,

I am writing to you requesting your urgent help concerning a recent case that took place in [Country]. [Blogger's Name], my [friend/colleague] has recently been arrested and we would greatly appreciate it if this can receive some coverage in your news hour, if only briefly! This is a serious case and is a violation of human rights in [Country,] and reporting it is very important so that the world is aware of what is going on. [Blogger's Name]’s only crime is freedom of expression, and no matter how much one may disagree with [Blogger's Name]’s writings or opinions, free speech should never be considered a punishable crime anywhere.

We have started a campaign to Free [Blogger's Name], which can be viewed on [website.] The campaign’s founder can be reached at:

Name: Your full name.
E-mail: Your e-mail address.
Phone #: Your phone number.
Fax #: Your fax number.
Website: Campaign’s website.

Please help us spread the word, and contact us for further information. We are available for media interviews.

Take a very brief video of you discussing the case and send it to Al Jazeera’s The Listening Post. They accept all formats, but .mpeg is preferable for ease and quality. Don’t just state what happened; ask for help! Remember to give the address of your campaign in the video or request that it appears on the bottom in order for people to know how they find your campaign.

[Here are their tips on how to start a video blog. You can scroll to the bottom of this page and "send it" using the links provided.] You may be required to register on YouSendIt in order to send the video file, but registration is free and easy. Direct the file to the following address:

listeningpost[at]aljazeera[dot]net (Note: Remember to replace the @ and . to the appropriate symbols, they were replaced initially in order to avoid spam.)

More networks to include in your contact list: