Winners 2013 - The Bobs - Best of Online Activism

Best Blog

Jury winner

李承鹏博客

Chinese

Li Chengpeng is a book author and columnist. He is extremely popular among young Chinese and has millions of followers on China’s social media platform Weibo. He engaged in the research of collapsed schools after the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, ran as an independent candidate for the local parliament in 2010, and wrote books on social critical topics. His new book “The whole world knows” was published this year and he was forbidden to talk at all book-signing events. The picture of him with a black mask and words written on his T-Shirt “I love you all” becomes a symbol for young Chinese who are fighting for their freedom of speech because “there is no other way out”.

blog.sina.com.cn/lichengpeng

People's Choice winner

مسیح علی‌نژاد

Persian

Masih Alinejad is well known for her criticism of the Iranian authorities. While a journalist in Iran she was a parliamentary reporter, before being banned from parliament in 2005for a report on a significant increase in deputies' salaries, which had not been made public. She is now based outside Iran and maintains a blog in which she continues to bring issues of provinces and fringe groups into the public attention.

masihalinejad.com/

Best Innovation

Jury winner

自由微博

Chinese

"Welcome to FreeWeibo.com. We offer an uncensored and anonymous Sina Weibo search. We ignore relevant laws, legislation and policy." That's how Free Weibo introduces itself. You can search on this website for thousands of keywords that are blocked on Sina Weibo, including the names of the new political leaders of China.

freeweibo.com/

People's Choice winner

শিক্ষক ডটকম

Bengali

The Shikkhok.com project aims to provide free online education and high-quality courses with educators from around the world in the Bengali language to rural and disadvantaged students in Bangladesh and India. A low-cost model for online education on basic and advanced topics for students in the developing world, Shikkhok, which means "teacher," serves as an open, free and cheaper alternative to traditional educational institutions.

www.shikkhok.com/

Best Social Activism

Jury winner

475

French

475 is a collective initiative by Moroccan youth to raise awareness on the plight of raped women forcibly married to their rapist, on account of Law 475, which allows a rapist to escape punishment by marrying his victim. Their campaign for Amina, one such victim who committed suicide in 2012, led to a crowdfunded documentary and a campaign on social media - Facebook, Flickr - in French, English, Arabic. The Moroccan government has recently pledged to amend law 475.

www.facebook.com/475LeFilm

People's Choice winner

نه به حجاب اجباری

Persian

Na be hejab ejbari, Persian for "No to Imposed Veils," is a Facebook page with around 40,00 subscribers. Its mission is to fight against forcing a dress code on Iranian women.

www.facebook.com/na.be.hejab.ejbari

Reporters Without Borders Award

Jury winner

Fabbikouassi’s Blog

French

A journalist and human rights activist uses her blog to cover Togo, her small West African native country where citizens - and especially journalists and bloggers - live under an autocratic rule and constant threats of brutality. Fabbi relays the plight of those who fight for freedom of the press and information at great personal risk.

fabbikouassi.wordpress.com/

People's Choice winner

پادکست‌های کمپین بین‌المللی حقوق بشر در ایران

Persian

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran publishes a podcast every Friday in which Kambiz Hosseini discusses the recent issues related to the human rights situation in Iran. The podcasts are posted on Sound Cloud and its 30,000 followers produce many comments.

soundcloud.com/ichripodcasts

Global Media Forum Award

Jury winner

তথ্যকল্যাণী

Bengali

Infolady is a social project that offers a variety of ICT-based services as well as legal advice to women at their very doorstep in remote villages in Bangladesh. A typical Infolady is a trained young woman who uses a bicycle to travel about five to ten kilometers a day and is usually a member of the community that she serves. She acts as a human interface for the community to access the World Wide Web and other information portals. With the portable technology she carries - generally a netbook, digital camera and Internet-connected mobile phone - she can get information and connect to experts and find solutions to agricultural, health and development questions raised by the community.

www.pallitathya.org.bd/infolady/

People's Choice winner

مهار بیابان‌زایی

Persian

Mohammad Darvish’s Combating Desertification is by far the most active environment-oriented Persian blog. His blog is an extension of his other advocacy work regarding the necessity of maintaining the ecosystem in the face of development, including from tourism, dams, and other industrial uses of land, water and air.

mohammaddarvish.com/

Most Creative & Original

Jury winner

Me and My Shadow

English

Tactical Tech's collective site helps Internet users visualize the traces of information they leave behind every time they go on the web. Me & My Shadow's friendly graphics demystify often complex issues around online security and privacy.

myshadow.org/

People's Choice winner

सर्प संसार

Hindi

A website full of information about snakes made for a country where superstitions about the reptiles abound. World of Snakes works to demystify snakes and do away with irrational beliefs by confronting them with hard, scientific facts. Facts like: no matter what impression Bollywood might try to make, humans cannot turn into snakes and snakes cannot turn into humans.

snakes.scientificworld.in/

People's Choice for Arabic

People's Choice winner

مدونة أحمد جدو

Arabic

A Mauritanian blogger, who brings issues from his distant country to the general Arab audience. He also frequently comments on events taking place other Arab countries.

ahmedjedou.blogspot.com/

People's Choice for Bengali

People's Choice winner

শৈলী

Bengali

Shoily shows the picturesque and colorful side of Bangladesh. This community platform also publishes books by bloggers, whom they call "stylists."

shoily.com/

People's Choice for Chinese

People's Choice winner

奇闻录

Chinese

Qiwenlu means "odd news" and is an online aggregation of absurd but real news on China.

qiwen.lu/

People's Choice for English

People's Choice winner

Mideast Youth

English

Mideast Youth is a collection of websites and applications that all amplify voices of dissent in the Middle East. The group behind the project have repeatedly come up with innovative and well-designed ways to address issues of freedom of expression, access to information and minority rights.

www.mideastyouth.com

People's Choice for French

People's Choice winner

Guinée plurielle

French

A talented blogger comments on current events in his restive country of Guinea. The West African country is currently preparing for elections.

lims.mondoblog.org/

People's Choice for German

People's Choice winner

Publikative.org

German

The blog Publikative.org addresses the radical right and right-wing tendencies in Germany. It documents far-right activities and points out the failings of official institutions in dealing with this threat.

www.publikative.org/

People's Choice for Hindi

People's Choice winner

तस्लीम

Hindi

TSALIM is a science blog/website run by several scientists trying to promote interest in science through their various blog projects.

Scientificworld.in

People's Choice for Indonesian

People's Choice winner

Blog Dokter

Indonesian

Put simply, he doctor writing Blog Dokter has been infected by blogs. He writes about everything surrounding health and health issues. Readers can call him on Skype to discuss their health problems and get his recommendations for treatment.

www.blogdokter.net

People's Choice for Persian

People's Choice winner

عمه سنگری

Persian

Ama Sangari is an Afghan girl. She says she loves her country and wishes for its better days. She writes for "friends whom she is possibly never going to meet."

amasangari.wordpress.com

People's Choice for Portuguese

People's Choice winner

Jovem Nerd

Portuguese

"The pop world gets funny in Jovem Nerd," that's the motto of "Jovem Nerd" or "Young Nerd." A Brazilian humor and news blog created in 2002 and run by Alexandre Ottoni and Delve Pazos, it has turned into a phenomenon. The team has created a huge community of fans and followers, covering topics on Internet, social media, cinema, TV series and science fiction.

jovemnerd.ig.com.br/

People's Choice for Russian

People's Choice winner

Блог Константина Рубахина

Russian

The blogger and environmental activist Konstantin Rubahin inspired the "Save Khoper" campaign, which aims to prevent copper-nickel mining in Russia's Voronezh region. Khoper is the name of a local river and national park. Because of its extraordinary fertile land Voronezh region is one of Russia's key agricultural areas. Ecologists and the local population fear that copper-nickel mining could endanger - or at least diminish - agricultural production. Since Russia is one of the biggest corn exporters worldwide, it could have an impact on global food security, activists say. Since the start of the campaign, local authorities and police have tried to intimidate Rubahin and his supporters with house-checks, interrogations and campaigns against them in local media and social networks.

mnog.livejournal.com/tag/savekhoper

People's Choice for Spanish

People's Choice winner

Sesion de Control

Spanish

Even as bloggers tend to rail against Spanish politicians and citizens talk about how they aren't interested in what their elected officials have to say, Sesion de Control puts together a group of active politicians, journalists and professors from across the political spectrum who try to show that everything is connected to politics. They also attempt to improve people's opinion of policymakers.

www.sesiondecontrol.com

People's Choice for Turkish

People's Choice winner

Yüksekova Haber

Turkish

A courageous local news website from Yüksekova, a locality in southeastern Turkey, with alternative media content. It's a very effective source of information about Turkish politics related ethnic problems. The website is under heavy censorship by the authorities, but handles it well thanks to popular support.

www.yuksekovahaber.com/

People's Choice for Ukrainian

Best Person to Follow Arabic

People's Choice winner

ناصر ودادي

Arabic

Mauritanian activist, focused on civil rights in the Mideast and North Africa. He speaks more than 5 languages, and he has about 29,000 followers on Twitter.

twitter.com/weddady

Best Person to Follow Bengali

People's Choice winner

সাইফ সমীর

Bengali

Writer · Poet · Film Critic · Blogger facebook.com/moviecriticblog ·somewhereinblog.net/blog/writer74b…

twitter.com/MovieCriticBlog

Best Person to Follow Chinese

People's Choice winner

莫之许的推特

Chinese

Columnist, semi-vagrant

twitter.com/mozhixu

Best Person to Follow English

People's Choice winner

WMC’s Women Under Siege

English

Women Under Siege is a Women's Media Center project documenting & advocating against sexualized violence in conflict.

twitter.com/WomenUndrSiege

Best Person to Follow French

People's Choice winner

Okea News

French

Please enter the description for https://twitter.com/Okeanews

twitter.com/Okeanews

Best Person to Follow German

People's Choice winner

Marie von den Benken

German

Jung, unglaublich schlagfertig und ein klassischer Unterhaltungsaccount: "Marie von den Benken" twittert, wie es ihr gefällt - und ihre Fotos sind: echt.

twitter.com/regendelfin

Best Person to Follow Hindi

People's Choice winner

दुधवा लाइव

Hindi

A very interesting and colourful blog which describes daily life of animals and plants in Dudhwa, a wildlife sanctuary in central India.

Dudhwalive.com

Best Person to Follow Indonesian

People's Choice winner

Anies Baswedan

Indonesian

Cursing Darkness?? Better light more and more candles

twitter.com/aniesbaswedan

Best Person to Follow Persian

People's Choice winner

وحید آنلاین

Persian

Vahid Online is by far one of the most followed Iranian on almost any social network. He reads the news unlike anyone else and is considered by many of his 23,000 followers as the source for daily news and information. Vahid had to flee Iran after he was tracked down for his activities during the early post-election period. By that time he acted as a source of information for the media outside Iran regarding the developments inside the country. He was almost shot while escaping from the border police on a donkey.

plus.google.com/u/0/107365676925051486913/posts

Best Person to Follow Portuguese

People's Choice winner

Oficial João

Portuguese

Página do Facebook de João Pedro C. Motta.

www.facebook.com/oficialjoao?ref=ts&fref=ts

Best Person to Follow Russian

People's Choice winner

Столичный лоск

Russian

Микроблог новосибирского художника, кинооператора и гражданского активиста Артема Лоскутова.

twitter.com/kissmyba

Best Person to Follow Spanish

People's Choice winner

Luis Carlos

Spanish

Jugando al periodismo en la Venezuela electoral. Glocal | Tejedor de redes | Docente de nuevas tecnologías, ciberactivismo e infociudadanía | Caracas, Venezuela · http://bit.ly/luiscarlos

twitter.com/LuisCarlos