Hungary: Government limits FOIA transparency law

In an unexpected move last week, Parliamentarians in Hungary took action to change the country’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in an effort to limit the scope of data accessible to the public under the law. Read More »

Dimon Don’t Cry

The Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, doesn’t like his online nickname “Dimon,” but whatever we think of Dimon’s playground problems how does one stand up to online bullies? And why are so many of them Russian?

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Skolkovo police raid fuels Putin-Medvedev split speculation

On 18 April, Russian authorities searched the Moscow offices of the Skolkovo Foundation, a high-tech incubator, in a move certain to fuel speculation of a widening rift between Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Reuters reports. Read More »

Social Media in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict

Chechen leader makes social network splash

What does an autocrat do with his spare time when he’s not busy stamping out the embers of rebellion? Apparently, he posts pictures of himself holding fuzzy baby chickens, donning historic military garb, or cuddling with a tiger. Read More »

Critics question neutrality of Kazakh Wikipedia

Ties between the Kazakhstani government and WikiBilim, the NGO founded to promote the expansion of the Kazakh-language version of Wikipedia, have prompted critics of the online encyclopedia to accuse it of providing the Kazakh regime with an opportunity to use the website as a propaganda machine. Read More »

In Belarus, converting online power to offline momentum

Belarus is known for its peculiar attitude to its own culture (or maybe it’s better to say we have a peculiar attitude to our president who has been running the country without any changes since 1994). Read More »

‘Carousel Voting’ Goes Viral in Kyrgyz Elections

Nearly three months of intrusive and irksome electoral campaigns in Kyrgyzstan came to an end as votes were counted for the five municipal elections held on November 25. But with the results in, a scandalous piece of citizen media has left a sour taste in the mouth. Read More »

Tajikistan cuts access to Facebook, again

Authorities in Tajikistan have blocked access to Facebook for the second time this year, saying citizens are too tired of the “mud and slander” emanating from the site, according to Reuters. The blockade is one of several measures seen as aimed at dampening public dissent as the country looks ahead to a presidential election in 2013. Read More »

Kyrgyz election candidates timidly test social media waters

As local government election campaigns heat up around Kyrgyzstan, some candidates are looking to social media as an additional platform for political battle and drawing voter attention. Candidates and parties in Kyrgyzstan have begun to recognize the power of social networks following the 2010 revolution. But so far, it seems few candidates are willing to embrace Facebook and Twitter as a campaign tool and dive in head first. Read More »

Kremlin tells top officials to tone down their tweets

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for establishing a new set of rules for Russian officials when they use social network websites, RIA Novosti reports. Read More »

Russia: With Opposition’s Online Elections Over, Scandals Plague Results

The Coordinating Council elections are finally over. Now that the results are in, and the Council has already convened [ru] for the first time, it’s time to look more closely at what happened. Read More »

Russia: Lawmaker Wants to Regulate Social Networks

In the echo-chamber of RuNet it is easy for bloggers to fall prey to sensationalist headlines. A case in point:

A few days ago several bloggers were incensed by the idea that a Duma committee responsible for legislating the Internet was going to propose a new law [ru] requiring passport identification for users of social networks. Read More »

Tajik journalists cry foul over blocks to ‘TajNet’

Journalists in Tajikistan have launched a campaign to protect press rights and protest a recent increase in government censorship online, according to Asia-Plus.

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