19 Mar 2016 | Awards, Fellowship 2016
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
The 2016 Freedom of Expression Campaigning Award-winner Bolo Bhi are a digital campaigning group who have orchestrated an impressive ongoing fight against attempts to censor the internet in Pakistan.
The all-women management team have launched internet freedom programmes, published research papers, tirelessly fought for government transparency and run numerous innovative digital security training programmes.
In 2015 the group turned their attention to the draconian Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill, organising an extraordinary campaign of events, lobbying, press conferences and online actions. They brought international attention to a landmark bill that would otherwise have been pushed through with little public attention.
“This case alone could change everything for free speech in Pakistan.” — Farieha Aziz, co-director Bolo Bhi[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1501491159792-3ba79c79-2409-2″ taxonomies=”8093″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Mar 2016 | Awards, Fellowship 2016
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Set up by anonymous individuals, GreatFire is at the forefront of the fight against China’s severe web censorship.
Using a variety of tools, the organisation tracks China’s censorship infrastructure, hosts mirror sites to make censored material available and, in March 2015, launched an app that allows users to browse the officially forbidden web. Previously, the group created FreeWeibo, an uncensored version of the Chinese social platform. Despite ‘the Great Cannon’, a major cyber-attack by Chinese authorities in 2015, GreatFire has continued the fight for online freedom.
“Our goal is to bring transparency to online censorship in China.” — GreatFire[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1501491235559-71cb86f1-af84-7″ taxonomies=”8199″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Mar 2016 | Awards, Fellowship 2016
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
While journalists and citizens fled, Syrian-native Zaina Erhaim returned to her war-ravaged country and the city of Aleppo in 2013 to ensure those remaining were not forgotten. She is now one of the few female journalists braving the twin threat of violence from both ISIS and the president, Bashar al-Assad.
Erhaim has trained hundreds of journalists, many of them women, and set up independent media outlets to deliver news from one of the world’s most dangerous places. In 2015 Erhaim filmed a groundbreaking documentary, Syria’s Rebellious Women, to tell the stories of women who are helping her country survive its darkest hour.
“In 10 years time, I want a young woman who looks on the internet to find out what happened in Syria to find evidence of the roles women played.” — Zaina Erhaim[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1501491286724-cd18e683-18e7-6″ taxonomies=”8091″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
19 Mar 2016 | Awards, Fellowship 2016
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
The inaugural Music in Exile fellow is Burkinabe rapper and producer Serge Martin Bambara aka Smockey.
An icon of democracy in Burkina Faso, Smockey is an artist, music producer and political activist who fuses hip-hop with traditional local sounds and satire. His acclaimed Studio Abazon was fire-bombed in late 2015. The attack was an apparent attempt on his life as revenge for the role his music and activism played in the deposition of President Blaise Compaoré.
“Not everyone is lucky enough to have a microphone in front of them, so if you have the chance to talk, you have to say something important” – Smockey[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”12″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1501491336082-97fb9e84-f81e-0″ taxonomies=”8072″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
