Posts tagged advocacy

The ‘At Risk’ Blogger’s Contingency Plan

In 2011, we have witnessed the incredible power of bloggers and social media users capturing the world’s attention through their activism. At the same time, regimes appear to be quickening the pace of their cat-and-mouse game with netizens.

Aware of the threats to their safety, bloggers often devise contingency plans in the event they are detained. 

EFF together with Global Voices Advocacy have created a set of questions to consider. This list is by no means exhaustive, but should offer a starting point from which bloggers can develop their own contingency plans.

• Consider providing someone outside the country with the following information:
  • Login credentials to your social media, email, and blog accounts
  • Contact information of family members
  • Information about any health conditions
• Regularly back up their blog, Facebook, email, and other accounts
• Consider mirroring your website if you want to ensure it remains up without your attention to it
• Encrypt sensitive files and consider hiding them on a separate drive
• Consider using tools like Identity Sweeper (for Android users) to secure/erase your mobile data
• Consider preparing a statement for release in case of arrest– This can be helpful for international news outlets and human rights organizations
• Consider recording a short video identifying yourself (biographical info, scope of work) and the risks that you face and share with trusted contacts
• Develop contacts with human rights and free expression organizations*
• Think about a strategy/contingency plan for what to do if you’re detained (see below)

Read the whole article and find out more tips and advice.

Syria: Free Razan Ghazzawi

Syrian authorities have arrested blogger Razan Ghazzawi on the Syrian-Jordanian border today. Ghazzawi was on her way to Amman to attend a workshop on press freedom in the Arab world.

Her arrest has drawn criticism and anger from bloggers and activists around the world, who are calling for her immediate release.

- Free Razan Ghazzawi