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With all of the craziness enveloping our lovely planet these days, from Libya to Japan, there's a fantastic organization you need to know about - Global Voices Advocacy:

We seek to build a global anti-censorship network of bloggers and online activists throughout the developing world that is dedicated to protecting freedom of expression and free access to information online.

The aim of this network is to raise awareness of online freedom of speech issues, and to share tools and tactics with activists and bloggers facing censorship on different parts of the globe. The network is meant not only to provide support to its members, but also to produce educational guides about anonymous blogging, anti-censorship campaigns, and online organizing. By collaborating with software developers, activists, and bloggers, the network hopes to design new and more appropriate tools to protect our rights on the Internet.

For instance, this page documents the situation in Syria where one blogger and journalist are both missing and presumed arrested:

Amidst a crackdown on protests in Daraa, Syria, a journalist is reported missing, while a blogger has reportedly been arrested, not long after being released for a previous arrest.

Twitter users are reporting that Khaled Elekhetyar, a Syrian journalist and blogger is unreachable, and his Facebook account has been hacked and used to post pro-Assad propaganda.

@ramiar tweeted: @wissamtarif #Syria journalist Khaled Elekhetyar unreachable - meanwhile his fb account is hacked and spammed with pro-Asad propaganda.

A friend of Khaled who wishes to remain anonymous said:

"Spoke to him last time around 10pm on 21 march..he was organizing the protest for 22 march in front of Palace of Justice..when we last spoke (10pm the day before the supposed to be protest) he looked scared and concerned for security of the people he knew…last FB msg he wrote was around 10am (you can check on his profile) on 22, protests were supposed to start at 12pm, then silence, his phone always shut down and now these strange messages on his FB profile which really seems to have been hacked or somethin."

Also from that page is the following video from Syria which shows plainclothes security agents arresting people randomly from the streets:

Please, Get Involved!

Follow the links

The best way to support emerging citizen media around the world is to visit the blogs and websites we highlight in the stories on this website. Follow the links, leave comments and let the bloggers know you are reading from abroad.

If you're a blogger yourself, we challenge you to seek out local perspectives from around the world and begin to engage and react to blogs from other countries. Look beyond traditional mainstream media. The global conversation begins with you!

Subscribe

Keep in touch with us. Subscribe to our daily, weekly, or special announcement emails. Follow our Twitter feed. Or connect with us on Facebook.
Submit links and story ideas

Our regional and language editors always welcome suggestions and ideas for stories. Our focus is citizen media from regions or countries that are scarcely mentioned in international media - or marginalized voices from any country.

If you know a blog or website we should be linking to (maybe your own?) please send us links. Also tell us who it's by, and what it's about.

To reach an editor, just select a region in our contact form and email them.

Become an author

Global Voices depends on a team of incredible volunteer authors to report on the daily conversations occurring in blogging communities around the world. Do you blog from or about a region or country that is ignored by traditional media? Do you follow the “conversation” in the blogosphere in your own country or some other country you know well?

If you would like to help us improve our coverage, please contact the appropriate editor for details about how to contribute articles summarizing the activity from your country's blogosphere.

To reach an editor, just select a region in our contact form and email them.

Help us translate

The stories on Global Voices are often translated into multiple languages by our Lingua translators who help maintain Global Voices websites in Spanish, Chinese, French, Arabic and all the languages you can see in the header at the top of this website. You're welcome to join.

If your language is missing from the lineup, you can even volunteer to start a new Lingua website, and build your own team.

Participate in our projects

Global Voices has a series of projects including Global Voices Advocacy, Rising Voices, Threatened Voices, and the Technology for Transparency network that also need your help. Take a look!

Donate

If you are able to make a donation, we are grateful for any amount.

Badges and news feeds

Bloggers around the world -- please link to Global Voices! If you support us then show it with a badge on your own blog (see code below).

You are also welcome to embed any of our many RSS feeds on topics (like "China" or "freedom of expression") directly on your website.

Please support Global Voices Online.

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