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Tag: Syria

  • Select Google Software Now Available In Syria

    Did you know that U.S. sanctions also applies to software downloads? Generally, a country uses economic sanctions to prevent food and much needed supplies from reaching a rival country to coerce them into cooperation. The sanctions can also apply to software downloads as in the case of the president of Syria having to use a proxy to gain access to iTunes.

    Speaking of Syria, some of those software sanctions have been lifted. Google announced today that they are now able to offer Google Earth, Picasa and Chrome to the residents of Syria. I don’t know how much use they will have for it since they’re in the middle of a war.

    Still, it’s nice to see that those not involved with the conflict can now gain access to what is arguably the world’s most popular Web browser. The addition of Google Earth could also probably help those who want to avoid the regions that are currently embroiled in conflict. I wonder if we’re going to see any pictures of the country on Picasa?

    It would appear that Google has to fight the U.S. export controls to get this software into the hands of the people in these countries. As has been proven in many uprisings around the Middle East, the use of technology to communicate has been key in the numerous successes that we’ve seen. Google shares this sentiment by saying that they have to walk a thin line between complying with U.S. sanctions and offering people the tools they need to “communicate, find and create information.”

    While we may have our own gripes with Google and their practices here in the U.S. over privacy and other issues, I think it’s only fair to give them this one. There doesn’t appear to be any ulterior motive except getting technology into the hands of people who actually need it. While we’re just sharing pictures of cats, access to technology is a matter of life and death in a country like Syria.

    I don’t want this to devolve into one of those, “Think of the starving children in Africa” stories, but Google did good today. We need more people lobbying for the delivery of essential information technology to those fighting for independence the world over. Besides, it should help level the playing field since the government has been using technology against activists.

  • Syrian Activists Targets of Facebook Phishing

    On the heals of recent reports of YouTube being hacked due to a phishing scam which tricked users into entering their information into fake fields on decoy Google sites, a new rash of Facebook-related attacks has targeted the Syrian rebellion. The latest scams have also installed surveillance malware into computers of the activists targeted, including Burhan Ghalioun, Chairman of the Syrian Opposition Transitional Council.

    One of the new malacious applications in circulation is called FacebookWebBrowser.exe. An unsuspecting user might see it as a legitimate Facebook security app, and click to download. Below are some screens of the malware in action, courtesy of The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Inc.:

    facebook malware

    facebook malware

    From here, FacebookWebBrowser.exe uses a keylogger to gain access to whatever – email, YouTube, Facebook, Skype, financial institutions, etc. – As if those who oppose the Syrian government didn’t have enough to worry about besides murder. The EFF points out that Ghalioun has been targeted by the Syrian Electronic Army for allegedly having a hand in leaking emails written by Syrian president Bashar Assad. The emails in question paint a picture of a flippant president who seems to be generally uninterested in events surrounding the civil unrest in his country.

    Another instance of Syrian Electronic Army phishing surrounds fake Facebook sites being hosted at a site called Cixx6. A screen below depicts a false Facebook Login field:

    facebook malware

    The fake sites log information that unsuspecting users enter while attempting to access their accounts. It is also noted that a user’s Facebook friends might also be victims of malware, and that any links posted by friends on walls or sent in messages might be compromised. And, judging from the screens above, one should be cautious of URLs while accessing Facebook. When one is used to accessing a certain site over and over, it is easy to be duped by a fake site that looks very similar to the real thing.

  • Iran, Syria Receive New Sanctions for Using Technology Against Protesters

    The White House announced an executive order today that details new sanctions on Iran and Syria due to each country’s use of technology for the cause of human rights abuse. The sanctions include a provision to ban U.S. visas against specific individuals, companies, or other entities who have employed technology in order to perpetuate the abuse of human rights.

    The order, which is effective as of 12:01AM EST on April 23, 2012 (today), describes how the “the governments of Iran and Syria are endeavoring to rapidly upgrade their technological ability to conduct such activities.”

    Cognizant of the vital importance of providing technology that enables the Iranian and Syrian people to freely communicate with each other and the outside world, as well as the preservation, to the extent possible, of global telecommunications supply chains for essential products and services to enable the free flow of information, the measures in this order are designed primarily to address the need to prevent entities located in whole or in part in Iran and Syria from facilitating or committing serious human rights abuses. In order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergencies

    President Obama also included some financial restrictions in the order as a means to communicate a cautionary message to technology companies that do business within the two countries. According to comments from senior administration officials obtained by the Washington Post, today’s order was designed specifically to raise awareness among companies that provide technology to Iran and Syria and how their products might be making it easier for authoritarian governments to keep their boot heels on the necks of the political opposition.

    Technology use in countries such as Syria and Iran has so far been a double-edged sword for protesters. On the one hand, communication technology such as internet access and mobile phones have been vital to organizing the opposition as well as continuing to keep the outside world informed of what is happening in the countries (and even then, we still know so little).

    On the other hand, those same technologies have been employed by the governments in order to quell and suppress the opposition. In addition to the standard spying and communications blackouts, Syria has gone so far as to deploy fake versions of YouTube and Facebook, sites that have been crucial in how activists have maintained communication, in order to infect computers with malware. Additionally, recently leaked emails of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad show how the government has used social media as a way to muzzle the opposition and promote pro-regime propaganda in the outside world.

    Iran has been less subtle – although only slightly – with how it manipulates technology into squashing any opposition forces. Prior to today’s order, President Obama has previously admonished the Iranian government for diminishing the access to reliable online communication. For the past two months, Iran’s government has shut down all access to various popular websites such as Gmail, YouTube, and Google, and some reports indicate that the government may have shut down the entire internet at times. These blackouts typically occur during times of expected political unrest, such as around last month’s elections.

    Iranian authorities have also made no secret about their plans to eventually launch a nationalized internet by early next year. Depending on which government official you want to pay attention to, this nationalized internet could mean that the general internet will be permanently blocked in Iran or that the two internet services would be coexist (although it’s hard to imagine that the general internet would still remain unrestricted given that’s kind of the point of a national internet).

  • YouTube Decoy Targets Syrian Activists With Malware

    Syrian activists, beware: in addition to avoiding arrest and murder, now the Syrian government is trying to attack activists with a fake YouTube site that’s infecting Windows machines with malware. The YouTube decoy attempted to get Syrian activists to visit by hosting videos related to the opposition movement but, really, it’s like a small bulb dangling from the antena of an angler fish.

    Once users have visited the page, they’re asked for their YouTube log-in info in order to leave comments but in addition from sponging up your personal account info, it installs some nasty malware disguised as an update to Adobe Flash Player. It should also be noted with much gravity that if you did enter your YouTube log-in on this page, you just handed over the keys to your Google account and all services associated therein. Doubleplusungood.

    The Electronic Frontier Foundation provided the following screenshot of the Fakey YouTube. Although the decoy site has already been taken down, the EFF advises people to be on the lookout for similar traps.

    I’ve included below some closer screen captures of pertinent regions of the webpage. I know it’s easy to slip into the habit of assuming that the site you’re visiting is the same old website you’ve always visited, but typosquatting is a growing problem and now that authoritarian governments are taking a page out of scummy internet scammers, it’s all the more important to double-check the URL of the website whenever you visit it, especially if you detect that something is the slightest bit awry or unfamiliar.

    (Just a note: if you ever end up at a site with the word “wankbook” in the URL and you aren’t actively trying to visit a site with the word “wankbook” in the URL or title, you should probably leave that site. For many reasons.)

    Additionally, if you’re ever asked to install software, be mindful of the request and verify that you aren’t on a malicious site waiting to infect your computer with some nasty malware.

    This low-blow from the Syrian government isn’t only a means to prevent members of the opposition from broadcasting and finding updates about what’s happening in the country via YouTube, but it’s doubly evil because it’s siphoning users information while also punishing them with computer-crippling malware.

    The following are instructions from the EFF’s website find out if you may have been infected by the malware.

    To see if you have been infected, look for the following files:

    These files are “system files” and will not be visible by default. To change your settings to make system files visible in Windows 7, Start–>Control Panel–>Appearance and Personalization–>Show hidden files and folders, then select the radio button called Show Hidden Files, Folders, and Drives. Remove the checkbox labeled “Hide extensions for known file types.” Remove the checkbox labeled “Hide protected operating system files.”

    C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\sysglobl.exe
    C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp\mscordbc.exe

    On Windows 7 systems, you can find them here:

    C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Temp\sysglobl.exe
    C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Temp\mscordbc.exe

    If you have definitely been infected, though, you may be left with one really inconvenient choice in order to purge your computer of the malware: re-install Windows. If anybody has happened across similar malware sites like the Syrian government’s YouTube fake-out, feel free to share info in the comments below to let others know what to watch out for.

  • Syrian Leader Assad’s Private Emails Leaked

    Syria has been in shambles these past few months as violence has rocked the Middle Eastern nation. A lot of the blame has been placed on its leader, Bashar al-Assad, for allowing the bloodshed and countless civilian deaths to continue. In what may be the first blow against the leader, emails sent between him and his wife were leaked online today.

    The Guardian obtained exclusive access to the emails that were allegedly obtained by the Supreme Council of the Revolution, a group within Syria that’s fighting Assad and his forces. The emails contain information on Assad’s private life and information on the current events in Syria.

    In a move pulled straight out of a spy thriller, the emails were obtained when a mole within Assad’s inner circle obtained his username and password. This allowed the opposition movement to track Assad’s movements against them for several months until the leak was discovered in February.

    The emails paint a picture of a leader that’s wholly disinterested in the rebellion that’s currently rocking his nation. It’s said that he and his wife have spent thousands of dollars on frivolities like chandeliers from Paris and gadgets like the iPad.

    Some of the more interesting facts pulled from the emails and reported by the Guardian include Assad being offered exile from Qatar and that he sidestepped US sanctions by using a third party with a US address to purchase songs off of iTunes.

    Iran is brought up as well since it appears that the country gave Assad tips on how to go about striking down the resistance. Iran has never been shy of letting the world know it doesn’t like its citizens, or their right to the Internet for that matter, that it’s no surprise that Assad went to them for advice.

    One of the more interesting things pulled from the emails is the use of social media by Assad’s regime to downplay the opposition. It’s reported that Assad’s has two US-educated media advisors who have used social media in their favor to dupe CNN into reporting pro-regime information. It was also reported that his media advisors talked Twitter into shutting down fake Syrian regime accounts.

    Anonymous has been one of the most outspoken supporters of the opposition movement in Syria and the group is celebrating this recent leak.

    Anonymous has already been deeply involved with the current events in Syria with their #OpSyria campaign. While this sounds like the usual DDoS attack campaign, which there were a few, it went beyond that. Anonymous members raised money to buy medical supplies and treat the wounded in Syria. The team apparently made it into Syria on March 11 and are currently attending to the wounded.

    It remains to be seen if Anonymous had any hand in helping the SCR distribute the emails to the Guardian for publication, but they are still fighting for Syria’s freedom even if they weren’t directly involved with this particular event.

    You can track Anonymous’ fight to help Syria with the #OpSyria hashtag.

    [Lead image courtesy of watchsmart/flickr]

  • Russia Urges UN Envoy to Syria on Twitter

    Russia proposed that the UN send a special envoy to Syria on Twitter Tuesday, to help coordiniate security and humanitarian efforts. Russia’s foreign ministry has urged the U.N. Security council to prompt the U.N. Security General to set these efforts in motion.

    This comes after Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin stated the world should help correct the humanitarian crisis in Syria on Monday, after Damascus permitted the Red Cross to bring aid to some regions. Russia had also recently opted out of the “Friends of Syria” meeting in Tunisia, citing that the oraganizers failed to invite any members of the Syrian government.

    Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said the meeting in wouldn’t facilitate a dialogue, saying that “the global community should act as friends of the entire Syrian people, and not just one part.”

    Syria is the last ally Russia has in the Middle East, and Moscow has maintained close ties with Damascus since the Cold War era, when Syria was led by President Bashar Assad’s father, Hafez Assad. Russia, along with China, have already vetoed two Security Council plans that were backed by the Arab League, fearing a repeat of the resolution in Libya. In that instance, Russia refused to vote, which cleared the way for months of NATO air force attacks that assisted Libyans to end Moammar Gadhafi’s regime.

    So far, this is the sole reaction to Russia’s urging of a UN Envoy to Syria:

  • Asthma Attack Kills Pulitzer Winner

    Foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid has died in Syria.

    Mr. Shadid had won two Pulitzer Prizes for his coverage of the war in Iraq. His assignments had taken him into danger many times. Once he was shot in the shoulder. He went into Syria on a motorcycle across rugged terrain.

    In 2011, Shadid and three colleagues were reported missing in Eastern Lybia, reporting on the uprisings against Ghaddafi. Two days later, Lybia agreed to free him and his colleagues.

    But, in the end, it was not these sorts of dangers that killed Shadid. It was an asthma attack. Shadid apparently was allergic to the horses that some guides in Syria used. He had endured one asthma attack already and the second bad one caused his death.

    The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America lists some startling facts about the disease:

    Every day in America:

  • 40,000 people miss school or work due to asthma every day.
  • 30,000 people have an asthma attack every day.
  • 5,000 people visit the emergency room due to asthma every day.
  • 1,000 people are admitted to the hospital due to asthma every day.
  • 11 people die from asthma every day.
  • There are more than 4,000 deaths due to asthma each year.
  • Asthma is indicated as “contributing factor” for nearly 7,000 other deaths each year.
  • Since 1980 asthma death rates overall have increased more than 50% among all genders, age groups and ethnic groups. The death rate for children under 19 years old has increased by nearly 80% percent since 1980.

    • Shadid left behind a wife and two children.

  • Syrian Regime’s Attack: U.S. Embassy Uses Facebook To Post Satellite Image

    The U.S. Embassy Damascus posted the following image to Facebook on Thursday, with the note, “Here’s a larger image of the Syrian regime’s artillery attack on residential neighborhoods in Homs.”

    Photo from Embassy Facebook Page

    The Embassy also used Facebook to post a statement about the suspension of Embassy operations in Syria.

    CNN quotes U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford as saying, “We know who’s shelling Homs. It’s not the opposition, it’s the government.”

    “The armed opposition has rifles, machine guns, grenades, but it doesn’t have artillery,” he’s quoted as saying. “Only one side has artillery,”

    Here’s a new visual report from Sky News:

  • Syrian President’s Email Hacked By Anonymous

    Okay, I’m not denigrating Anonymous’ obvious skill with the hacking of the computers. They’ve got some formidable chops. But can it really be considered hacking if the hacked person’s password for their email account is “12345”? I’m sure there was more computer savvy trickery involved than simply tapping in the first five digits on a keyboard, but can we still consider it “hacking” if the person getting hacked is really that naive about protecting his email account?

    Seriously, I’ve seen bubble gum dispensers with better security than Assad’s email account but, well, it doesn’t matter. It’s what happened to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his email account and, yes, the password to his account really was “12345.” Anonymous was able to access 78 inboxes of Assad’s aides and advisers, some of whom also used the incredible password, “12345.” That Assad puts a higher priority on slaughtering the inhabitants of the country he presides over than email security is a completely new level of wholesale revulsion.

    And speaking of that atrocity, Anonymous found some peculiar information that provides a glimpse into how Assad prepared for a recent interview with Barbara Walters wherein he denied that his government was killing citizens in Syria. “We don’t kill our people,” Assad told Walters. “No government in the world kills its people, unless it’s led by a crazy person.”

    One of the leaked documents was a list of talking points designed to prep Assad for his interview with Walters in December. The document is chilling with how it aims to portray the Syrian government as a unlawfully besieged entity and completely denies any of the violence inflicted upon the people of Syria. Impossibly, the document actually attempt to portray the Syrian government as the victim of the conflict by recommending Assad talk about “how many soldiers and security forces have been killed” and that “the American audience doesn’t really care about reform” so then “a brief mention of the reforms done in the past couple of months is more than enough.” It even invokes Obama’s lessened popularity as a basis for why the United States doesn’t have enough clout or moral authority to criticize Assad’s government.

    Oh, and the document also says it doesn’t torture people, but I have difficulty believing that people who have been arrested and withheld by the government will agree with that claim.

    The depiction that Assad offers of Syria in the interview along with how defensive this leaked memo doesn’t gibe with anybody I’ve seen on Twitter. Here’s a sample of what people are saying:

    (image)@DTNLibya
    DTN Libya     DTN Libya Uprising: ‘They want to finish us,’ Syrian cries: The slaughter of Syrians is unrelenting. As the grus… http://t.co/ff80Jtrt(image) 55 minutes ago via twitterfeed ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@andersoncooper
    Anderson Cooper    #breaking news: just talked to man in homs #syria says it’s under heavy attack. over 200 dead in past three hours. Latest @AC360 8pm, 10pm(image) 4 days ago via Twitter for BlackBerryÂŽ ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@HuffingtonPost
    Huffington Post    Syrian troops pound Homs with tanks and mortars http://t.co/qHZzcX2V(image) 2 hours ago via The Huffington Post ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@RazanSpeaks
    Razan Saffour    2 year old boy killed today, when a rocket bomb fell on his house in Baba Amr, #Homs. Danny Abduldayem reports: http://t.co/oiWQ0yPV #Syria(image) 1 hour ago via Tweet Button ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@AlexanderPageSY
    Alexander Page    CONFIRMED more tanks being deployed to city of #Homs the situation is becoming unbearable #Syria(image) 46 minutes ago via Twitter for Mac ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@tweetminster
    Tweetminster    More than 400 civilians killed across #Syria http://t.co/r63zqED3 More than 200 in the city of Homs http://t.co/90uXiFKY(image) 4 days ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@acarvin
    Andy Carvin    Graphic; tragic. MT @brincessaman: Son watches dad take last breaths there r no med supplies to save him #Homs #Syria http://t.co/oRznBcAk(image) 57 minutes ago via HootSuite ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@RazanSpeaks
    Razan Saffour    2 year old boy killed today, when a rocket bomb fell on his house in Baba Amr, #Homs. Danny Abduldayem reports: http://t.co/oiWQ0yPV #Syria(image) 1 hour ago via Tweet Button ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@AnonyOps
    Anonymous    #Assad denies massacre of 200 in #Homs http://t.co/n1K6owSr Without Internet, we’d have no idea he’s completely lying. #Syira(image) 4 days ago via Bird Herd ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Yeah. Nobody getting killed around there.

    Assad’s brutal denial of any of it only emphasizes the importance of groups like Anonymous that are willing to penetrate the sickening cover-up by governments willing to murder and terrorize its own citizens. Keep 12345-ing the hell out of those despots.

  • Syrian Blogger Charged With 3 Insanely Vague Crimes

    For all of the news that the rest of the world gets about Syria, one couldn’t be blamed for believing that the country has all of the activity of an abandoned amusement park; it’s a near-blackout. But then news like this emerges from a neighboring country via Amnesty International and you realize, no, that quiet impression is about as far from the truth as you can get:

    Razan Ghazzawi, the Syrian blogger who was detained earlier this month, has been tried in front of the magistrate and charged with three crimes, Amnesty International told The Daily Star.

    According to her lawyer, her charges include “establishing an organization that aims to change the social and economical entity of the state” and “weakening the national sentiment, and trying to ignite sectarian strife” and “weakening national sentiment” — all of which can lead to a penalty of three to 15 years in prison.

    “Weakening national sentiment.” A more obscure trespass couldn’t be offered. Everything from molotov cocktailing vehicles to demanding more foam on a latte in a Starbucks could be manipulated to fall under the crime of “weakening national sentiment.” What a farce. Worse, Syrian officials appear undeterred to continue with their kangaroo court convictions of Ghazzawi.

    After no updates on her condition or legal status for days since she was arrested, Ghazzawi’s trial appears to have already occurred and was in no doubt intended to deliver a message to the rest of the media who have strived to keep the world abreast of what is happening in Syria. The Syrian government has kept a virtually complete ban on all international news media from the country which has elevated the importance of bloggers like Ghazzawi and Anas Maarawi and Hussein Ghrer, two other bloggers who have been targeted by the government. Ghrer was eventually released after posting a $1,000 bail but never formally charged with anything. Maarawi was arrested but eventually released and is still facing charges.

    The blog that Ghazzawi kept, Razaniyyat, was closed down after her arrest although past posts are still available to be read.

    Ghazzawi, an activist and blogger who has maintained a public profile in spite of the government’s hostile assault against anyone identified as part of the media, was arrested by government authorities on December 4th while attempting to cross Syria’s border with Jordan. Word quickly spread on Twitter and Facebook of her disappearance and demands for her release reverberated across the Internet. Supporters on Twitter contributed to the “Free Razan” cause via the hashtag #FreeRazan, in addition to a Facebook page that, as of today, claims over 4,600 followers. Al Jazeera English has covered the online support of Ghazzawi in the video below:

    The most recent activity on Twitter still shows a growing concern for Ghazzawi’s fate:

    (image)@Dima_Khatib
    Dima Khatib ??? ????    They are having “free” local elections in #Syria while people like @RedRazan are in jail? No comment ! #FreeRazan(image) 59 minutes ago via HootSuite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@Gheblawi
    Ghazi Gheblawi    Razan @RedRazan is strong and brave and she will overcome this hardship and come out stronger and always #FreeRazan(image) 1 hour ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@donatelladr
    dona    Charging @RedRazan of “igniting sectarian strife” the weirdest thing I`ve ever heard(after accusing @alaa of terrorism) #freerazan #freealaa(image) 4 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@nellyali
    Nelly Ali    Do not be fooled. No one in this world is free, if somewhere, someone is behind bars fighting for your freedom. #FreeRazan #FreeMaikel(image) 5 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@abirsasso
    ????    @donatelladr : Razan risks 15 yrs in jail for ridiculous charges http://t.co/3t6GHJ7Y #FreeRazan #Syria(image) 3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@NadineGhazzawi
    Nadine Ghazzawi    #FreeRazan sis has been charged from 3 to 15 years in Jail, hopefully just a routine. pls stop asking it’s hard 2 say when it’s my sister 🙁(image) 17 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Yes, you read that last tweet correctly: that was from Ghazzawi’s sister, Nadine Ghazzawi.

    Stay updated on Ghazzawi’s situation on Twitter using the above hashtag or on the Free Razan Facebook page.

  • Syrian Blogger Razan Ghazzawi Arrested

    Syrian Blogger Razan Ghazzawi Arrested

    A blogger in Syria, Razan Ghazzawi, was arrested on Sunday evening while attempting to cross the country’s border with Jordan in order to attend a media conference. Since the arrest, no news of her location or condition has been released by the Syrian authorities.

    First Syria’s government banned virtually all foreign media from the country then, just last week, attempted to suppress citizens’ ability to dispense updates and footage of events to the world by banning anyone from possessing an iPhone. Ghazzawi’s last post on her blog before being arrested elated that fellow Syrian blogger, Hussein Ghrer, had just been released by the Syrian authorities after being detained for 37 days.

    Twitter users have demonstrated their support by changing their userpics to a photo of Ghazzawi as well as unifying their support with the hashtag #FreeRazan:

    (image)@CrimsonBeirut
    Maya.H    Day 2, Razan detained and no single news about her WHATSOEVER this is unacceptable #FreeRazan(image) 32 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@_MohamedTarek_
    ???? ???? ??     Dear oppressors,do you realize that you’re breeding thousands of @alaa s and #Razans every time you imprison one? #FreeAlaa #FreeRazan(image) 40 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerryÂŽ · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@jilliancyork
    Jillian C. York    Why @redrazan is one of my heroes: http://t.co/VB4RrRgK(image) 49 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@Rana_Masri
    Rana Al-Masri    please sign and share…. Freedom for Razan Ghazawi, Freedom for all political prisoners in Syria #FreeRazan http://t.co/ahgdNzRA(image) 42 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@Rana_Masri
    Rana Al-Masri    Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression | Arrest of the Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi: http://t.co/leAeqCVy #FreeRazan(image) 23 minutes ago via Tweet Button · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@nellyali
    Nelly Ali    as if putting a bird in prison breaks her wings?! #FreeRazan #FreeMaikel #FreeAlaa #FreeOurPeople(image) 15 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    In spite of the Syrian government’s outright aggression against reporters, Ghazzawi maintained her blog under her real name – a point that some have speculated made her a vulnerable target. In what could only be regarded as a deeply grim irony, that Ghazzawi’s disappearance should become a rallying point contrasts with the pragmatic if not humble importance she reserved for herself:

    So for some reason, people think that my existence in conferences is useful in a way. The so-called “Arab Spring” is getting a lot of NGOs rich, and these NGOs must get “involved” in the revolutions that have swept the Arab-speaking region in 2011. Conferences love bloggers the most. The world still assumes that the revolution in Egypt was made by bloggers, and hence bloggers in Arab-speaking countries must be invited, because they must have some interesting role in their country, and not to mention how journalism always create “heroes” in every “crisis,” the Hollywood-style. I’ve said it many times on this blog and I am saying it again: “online activists are overrated,” and not just in Syria, but all over the MENA region. And the “social media + revolutions” is the stupidest and most irritating topic made by ignorant “experts.”

    Follow #FreeRazan on Twitter for updates on Ghazzawi’s status and further developments in this story. Additionally, Mideast Youth has compiled a list of actions for supporters to do to demand the release of Ghazzawi.

  • Syria Bans iPhone To Suppress Protesters

    Syria Bans iPhone To Suppress Protesters

    Attention iPhone dependents: Could you imagine what it might look like if your government told you that you couldn’t use your beloved, probably integral-to-your-new-way-of-life iPhone? Well, in Syria, it looks like this:

    That’s a photo of the mandate (which is currently making the rounds on Twitter and Facebook) being issued to activists in Syria by the country’s Customs Department of the Syrian Finance Ministry. I am not versed in Arabic, but reports say that the slip of paper being handed out reads, “The authorities warn anyone against using the iphone in Syria.”

    The Twitterscape was quick to react to the news:

    @Hanijt
    Hani jt    #iPhone is now banned in #Syria..I’m afraid that the next step is banning air as well 24 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Since the protests began in January, Syria has banned just about all foreign press from entering the country so devices like iPhones have been crucial in ensuring that the rest of the world has any clue as to what’s going on in Syria. One observation I can’t quite overlook is… yeah, iPhones are surging right now in popularity so of course they’re going to be targeted first, but they’re not the only hand-held device that can record photos or videos. This decision by the Syrian authorities makes about as much sense as if a government decided to prevent anybody from drinking alcohol but then only banned bourbon (I just assume that bourbon is the most popular liquor because it’s my favorite). Does the Syrian government just not know that Apple is not the be-all-end-all of smartphones? This did not go unnoticed in the reactions:

    @sa3dan
    G.    The hightech community woke up today to pleasant news. #Syria has banned #iPhone. #Android will be part of national anthem. 13 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Of course, the top-shelf tweet so far goes to this astute observer:

    @hnfirehose
    HN Firehose    Syria bans iPhone, the greatest device ever built by a Syrian. Go figure.: http://t.co/K3COhyzt 43 minutes ago via twitterfeed · powered by @socialditto

  • Gay Girl in Damascus a Hoax, Actually A Straight Guy in Scotland

    Well, I guess this is one way to cure your writer’s block.

    It turns out that the person behind the “Gay Girl in Damascus” blog is actually an aspiring fiction writer from Georgia. And by Georgia I mean the state. And the ‘gay girl” is also a married guy.

    Last week, a story was picked up about a pretty young girl living in Syria who had been kidnapped by state forces in the country and taken to an unknown location. The girl, named Amina, was the author of a popular blog entitled “Gay Girl In Damascus.” On June 6th, her readers were shocked to see a post from Amina’s cousin, who said that the girl had been kidnapped by “security services of the Baath party militia.”

    The blog has nearly one million page views and provides followers with poetry, political statements and autobiographical content – all purportedly written by Amina, an out lesbian in Syria. The blog had even contained posts detailing encounters with anti-gay Syrians, most notably one where Amina’s father supposedly shamed two armed men out of kidnapping her in the middle of the night. Everything on the blog was reported as fact.

    As the post about the kidnapping went live, it didn’t take long for the #freeAmina hashtag to trend on Twitter and a Facebook page declaring the same garnered thousands of likes in hours. When the story became national news many began to question not only the kidnapping account, but the identity of the blogger as well. Did Amina really exist?

    Many on the internet, especially on Twitter, began to doubt the validity of Amina’s story. NPR’s Andy Carvin was one of the first to ask his followers if anyone had actually ever seen Amina? The answer was a resounding no. Her only interviews had been given via email and nobody could say with certitude what she looked like.

    The many supposed photographs of Amina that began popping up on Facebook turned out to be unauthentic, as the Wall Street Journal broke the true identity of the girl in the photos. A London woman named Jelena Lecic came forward when her ex-husband notified her that her picture was all over various news sites.

    Over the weekend, more information came out that linked the “Gay Girl in Damascus” to a man named Tom MacMaster, an American living abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland. After confronted with questions from various journalists regarding his role in the blog, he finally came clean.

    The Gay Girl in Damascus blog is now entitled “A Hoax.” Yesterday, MacMaster issued this apology on the blog (still posted as Amina A.)

    If you read that the way that I read that, it’s pretty far from an apology. MacMaster instead sticks by his actions, saying that he has created awareness and that he hasn’t harmed anyone.

    But when you carry out interviews with the likes of CNN as Amina, you make people care about your story. And if you carry on a months-long online relationship with another woman who thinks you are real, I’m pretty sure that qualifies as harming someone. Whether MacMaster had a change of heart or just saw all the criticism he was taking on the internet, he sure changed his tune today.

    Today, he has provided a much lengthier and more detailed apology, where he discusses his motivations for creating the Amina character out of thin air. According to MacMaster, the whole thing was an exercise in fiction writing –

    It started innocently enough without any intention whatsoever of creating a massive hoax or duping the world. Ever since I was a child, I’ve wanted to write fiction but, when my first attempts met with universal rejection, I took a more serious look at my own work and I realized that I could not write conversation in a natural way nor could I convincingly write characters who weren’t me. I tried to get better and did various exercises (such as simply copying overheard conversations). Eventually, I would set up a number of profiles on dating sites with identities that were not my own as ways of interacting with real people in conversation but with a different personality than my own.

    He says many times in this apology that he knows he has hurt people, and that he is sorry for that. He says that the whole situation spun out of control –

    I wasn’t trying to pick fights or stir up controversy … I was instead trying to enlighten people. I posted comments on a blog; the owner asked me to contribute columns. I did so. I set up a blog to publish some of the things I’d written as Amina and, maybe, get a few comments. I did not expect anyone to read it or to care if they did.

    And in the first month and more it was up, it received only a few visits. That was more than I had expected. Then, I wrote a perfect little story about the situation in Syria and the mutual affection between father and daughter … and to my shock, it went viral ….

    And everything spiraled out of control. I couldn’t think of how to shut Amina down but …. It just kept on growing …

    What a bizarre story this has turned out to be. Of course it’s the obvious move to put all the blame on Tom MacMaster for purposefully misleading everyone involved. He definitely shares the majority of the responsibility. But some blame has to be put on those who would believe everything they see on the internet.

    Sometimes, the only way we can tell the difference between a novel and a history book is by its place on the shelf in the bookstore. On the internet, we don’t get convenient groupings, so I guess the moral of this story is to always stay vigilant. Always know that when you emotionally invest in someone’s life story online, there’s the chance that it is simply an elaborate work of fiction.

    Here are some of the most poignant tweets about the story:

    @acarvin
    Andy Carvin    We shouldn’t. RT @michele_norris: @acarvin What does the Amina hoax tell us about the need to impose a narrative on the Arab Spring? 4 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @monaeltahawy
    Mona Eltahawy    To all complaining that #Amina distracted from #Syria and real Syrians: it’s v easy: stop tweeting about it and tweet about Syria instead. 2 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @dylanhorrocks
    Dylan Horrocks    Before we let the #Amina hoax put us off online citizen journalism, remember how quickly it was uncovered – by online citizen journalists. 18 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    [Image via Picasa via NPR]

  • “Gay Girl In Damascus” Story Questioned By Skeptics

    As the story of a young Syrian-American blogger being kidnapped makes its way across the internet, many are beginning to question the validity of the story – even the validity of the blogger in general.

    Amina Abdallah runs the popular blog “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” which is described as “an out Syrian lesbian’s thoughts on life.” Her blog posts include poetry, personal stories and commentary on the recent violence sweeping Syria as the government cracks down of anti-regime protesters.

    On Monday, a post appeared on the blog reportedly from Amina’s (full name Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari) cousin. She reported that Amina had been abducted by three uniformed, armed men near a bus station. She was thrown into a red van and taken to an unknown location. From the post:

    The men are assumed to be members of one of the security services or the Baath Party militia. Amina’s present location is unknown and it is unclear if she is in a jail or being held elsewhere in Damascus.

    The cousin later posted an update, saying that Amina’s father is desperately trying to find out where she is, but all they know right now is that she is in fact missing.

    “A Gay Girl in Damascus” had become popular partially thanks to a post entitled “My Father, the hero.” In this post, Amina details an event where her father averted her kidnapping from her home by two armed men by shaming them into leaving.

    Not only did the traditional media jump on the story, but the internet exploded as well. #FreeAmina began to trend on Twitter and a Facebook page popped up entitled “Free Amina Abdalla, Syrian Blogger.”

    Now here’s where the story gets really interesting. A particular photo (see left), supposedly of Amina, was posted to the newly erected Facebook page and the media, both internet based and traditional, used the photo to identify Amina. It appears, however, that the picture that was circulating may not actually be Amina.

    According to the WSJ, a London woman is saying that the photos supposedly of Amina Abdallah are actually in fact photos of her. The woman, Jelena Lecic, provided proof in the form of more photos that appeared to match the ones being passed off as Amina. Apparently Lecic’s ex-husband spotted the photos being circulated as Amina and recognized his ex-wife.

    NYT blogger Robert Mackey just tweeted this, about the alleged photos’ similarity to Lecic’s Mypace account photo.

    @RobertMackey
    Robert Mackey    Photo from #FreeAmina FB page does look just like Myspace image of Jelena Lecic, Londoner identified by the publicist http://mysp.ac/ll5HHI 1 hour ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    Here’s a screencap from her profile photo, as all the rest are set to private:

    Many are also beginning to become skeptical about the existence of Amina, as it is coming out that nobody has really ever met Amina face to face. She has been interviewed by CNN, the BBC, and Al Jazeera but only via email.

    NPR’s Andy Carvin asked this question via Twitter, and is having trouble finding any takers:

    @acarvin
    Andy Carvin    Just wanted to ask again: has anyone met #Amina (Gay Girl In Damascus) in person? If so, pls contact me. 21 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    Sandra Bagaria, who is identified as Amina’s girlfriend, apparently has never seen her either. Their relationship is totally virtual, not even having seen each other via Skype. From the NYT Lede blog:

    Although it remains possible that the blog’s author was indeed detained, and has been writing a factual, not fictional, account of recent events in Syria, readers should be aware that the one person who has identified herself — to The Times, the BBC and Al Jazeera — as a personal friend of the blogger, Sandra Bagaria, has now clarified that she has never actually met the author of the Gay Girl in Damascus blog. Ms. Bagaria told The Lede that she had also never conversed with Ms. Arraf face to face via Skype, but had conducted an online relationship with her since January entirely through Internet communications in writing, including more than 500 e-mails.

    This sure is a compelling story, as somebody wrote all those blog posts, even if “Amina” doesn’t really exist. The flip side of this is that she may very well exist, and has simply kept an extremely low profile on purpose. If a person has actually been taken and is being held for some blog postings, it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or woman, or if their name really is Amina – or what they look like. It’s a fascinating and deeply troubling story.

    The social media angle in all of this is compelling as well. It demonstrates, once again, how something can catch fire so quickly on Facebook and Twitter, while the facts don’t even come close to adding up. It’s fascinating to think that it’s possible that Amina was somehow crafted out of thin air, and given life on the internet.