Comments on: Leaving WSIS

By: Tunisia’s Cyberwar: Under The Radar — Securing Our eCity - Blog

Tunisia’s Cyberwar: Under The Radar — Securing Our eCity - Blog — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:03:51 +0000

[...] …Some of the people who met with our team were later detained by authorities. It was a memorable introduction to a country that maintains a network of secret prisons, controls the press and the NGO community and systematically suppresses dissent, all while managing to maintain an image as a comfortable tourist destination and a (sometimes) cooperative partner in US anti-terror efforts. (Some notes from my Tunisian trip in 2005 here and here.) [...]

By: …My heart’s in Accra » What if Tunisia had a revolution, but nobody watched?

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:05:26 +0000

[...] Global Voices attended the summit with the support of Dutch foundation Hivos, and we ran a workshop titled “Expression Under Repression” – the Tunisian government removed our workshop from the program, chained the doors of the room where we were to meet and relented only when the Dutch government threatened a diplomatic incident if we weren’t allowed to speak. When we convened, Tunisian security police flooded into the room and began photographing and videotaping the attendees, a technique designed to intimidate anyone brave enough to attend our session. (They also ate all our cookies.) When I led a workshop on internet security, a senior member of the intelligence services introduced himself to me and sat in the front row, taking copious notes, while his associates confiscated the open source software we were attempting to distribute to attendees. Some of the people who met with our team were later detained by authorities. It was a memorable introduction to a country that maintains a network of secret prisons, controls the press and the NGO community and systematically suppresses dissent, all while managing to maintain an image as a comfortable tourist destination and a (sometimes) cooperative partner in US anti-terror efforts. (Some notes from my Tunisian trip in 2005 here and here.) [...]

By: …My heart’s in Accra » The Cute Cat Theory Talk at ETech

…My heart’s in Accra » The Cute Cat Theory Talk at ETech — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:49:15 +0000

[...] in November 2005. (For more on this absurdity, you may want to refer to my posts from WSIS, perhaps starting with this one.) Because Ben Ali is so good at PR, Sami, Astrubal and others see themselves as an ad agency, [...]

By: Ethan

Ethan — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 15:44:42 +0000

It’s a really good point, Brian. It’s certainly got people talking about the topic. But I’m still not sure it was worth the compromise – I think Ben Ali will be wrapping himself in the “success” of WSIS for some time to come…

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 19 Nov 2005 15:06:37 +0000

at first, i thought it was absurd to hold a summit based on the premise of freedom of expression and information in Tunis, but then i realized just how much press attention was subsequently focused on the absurdities and war against those freedoms by the Tunisian police state.