Iran’s Internet and Text Message Fails Ahead of Protests

Internet connections are crawling in Iran and text message traffic has been disrupted ahead of planned anti-government protests in that country this week. The timing is raising eyebrows.

[via Mashable]

Submit a question for President Obama by Text Message

Organizing for America (OFA), a project of the Democratic National Committee that carries on the work of the Obama presidential campaign, launched a text last night in connection with an upcoming event called 'A Conversation with the President.'

In line with the continuing push for transparency -- embodied Monday by the YouTube interview with the President featuring questions submitted by the public and voted up in Google Moderate -- this event, scheduled to happen Thursday at 5:45, features questions from the public.

The twist this time is that people can submit questions by text. Active subscribers to the Barack Obama SMS program -- which is at 62262 -- received this message explaining how to send the President a question:

Join us for a Conversation with the President on Thurs at 5:45pm EST live at BarackObama.com. To submit a question, reply ASK with your NAME, STATE & question.

OFA staff will continue to gather questions through some time Thursday before the event gets underway.

Text Messaging Vital in the Fight for Immigration Reform

The ease, speed, and relatively low cost of texting has made it an ideal tool for grassroots organization. It has proven particularly useful in the movement for immigration reform, as many activists and beneficiaries living illegally in the U.S. have limited access to tools such as the Internet. Switched reports via The Huffington Post.

The Center for Community Change organized the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), a group dedicated to giving voice to those who are often not free to come forward themselves. The most important tool in FIRM's arsenal has been a text messaging network.

Read full article.

emily | 6:27 PM | permalink

China cracks down on text messaging in Xinjiang

Authorities in China's troubled north-western region of Xinjiang have punished residents for spreading rumours and "splittist" content via text messages, within days of turning services back on, according to local media, reports The Guardian.

Officials cut off the internet and short message services across the region after inter-ethnic violence in the capital, Urumqi, left almost 200 dead and 1,700 injured last July. At least 26 people have since been sentenced to death over the riots.

A report from the Xinjiang website Tianshannet, carried on another Chinese website, said one man was in criminal detention after sending messages with "splittist" content.

Read full article. Image from MSNBC.

Previously: Text messaging services resume in Xinjiang six months after riot

Nigeria. Text Messages fuel killings of hundreds

Text messages that urged people to murder and then burn their victims' bodies helped stoke inter-religious violence in central Nigeria that killed hundreds of people last week, police and rights activists said on Tuesday. iAfrica reports.

Rights activists have identified at least 145 texts that circulated on mobile phones in the central city of Jos, the epicentre of four days of Muslim-Christian clashes that authorities said killed 326 people.

"The messages helped escalate the violence in Jos in that some of them instructed people on how to kill, dispose of and burn bodies," said leading rights activist Shehu Sani.

One of the messages read : "War, war, war. Stand up ... and defend yourselves. Kill before they kill you. Slaughter before they slaughter you. Dump them in a pit before they dump you."

Read full article.

Obama team sends out text messages about State of the Union Address

Tuesday, the Obama team sent out text messages about State of the Union Address, reports The Examiner.

The text messages were sent to urge people to attend watch parties for the State of the Union address on Wednesday night.

The text message list was put together during Obama’s presidential campaign and now the Democratic National Committee has a copy of the list.

Iranian opposition movement initiates 'green silence day'

Green Party declares 'media boycott' day to protest cooperation between Iranian media companies, government that enables supervision over online, cellular traffic. Ynet.news.com reports.

An Iranian website on Tuesday reported that in recent days many people received text messages that called on opposition supporters to participate in a media boycott "from 7 am until 8 pm on Wednesday we shall not use any forms of communication – SMS, phone and cell," read the message.

Read full article.

Text messaging services resume in Xinjiang six months after riot

Text messaging services have been "gradually" restored since midnight Sunday for mobile phone users in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, six months after the July 5 riot in the regional capital of Urumqi, when services were cut down to prevent further violence.

[via China View]

Iran issues warning

Iranian authorities have warned opposition supporters against using text and e-mail messages to organise protest rallies. The BBC reports.

The country's police chief said these systems were monitored and people misusing them would be prosecuted. "These people should know where they are sending the SMS and e-mail as these systems are under control. They should not think using proxies will prevent their identification," Mr Ahmadi Moghaddam said.

Read full article.

Civil rights advocate using text messages to thwart racist Sheriff

A civil rights advocate is using text messages to alert residents when the local Sheriff conducts one of his infamous immigration sweeps. BloggerNews reports.

The Sheriff calls the sweeps crime suppression actions, but to most civil libertarians, law professors and critics, it’s simply an excuse by a reputed racist with a badge to abuse minorities. Ms. Guzman said her text messages are part of an effort to protect folks from becoming victims of racial profiling by sheriff’s deputies and posse members.

... Guzman said she sends her text messages to a wide range of individuals, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, Cop watch and various immigrant-rights. She concedes some who receive the text messages could use the information to avoid being caught and deported.

Read full article.

Philippine Congress Backs Off From Text Tax

With elections for Congress coming up in May 2010, the Committee on Ways and Means of the Philippine Congress is backing off from a plan to tax text messages. Groups opposed to the bill have threatened to vote against congressmen who would vote for the text tax. All Headline News reports.

The proposed text tax is 0.1 cent for every text message. The measure could have raised $430 to $775 million based on an average 10 SMS sent per day by 70 million Filipinos using prepaid subscription. The Philippines is considered the texting capital of the world.

Read full article.

Relatled:

-- SPECIAL REPORT: Efforts to pass a law taxing text messages in the Philippines are not new

-- Philippines. Scientist computes the real cost of a text message

-- Philippines. House retreats from text-tax bill

-- Philippines. SMS is tax goldmine

-- Philippines. "No to Text Tax!" campaign

-- Online campaign launched vs. text tax in the Philippines

-- Philippines. House body OKs tax on text messages

-- Related attempts to tax SMS around the world

SMS to Vote Reminders for Uzbek Electors

All the mobile communication companies of Uzbekistan will send out text messages tto Uzbek electors (16 million of them), reminding them of the coming elections to the lower (legislative) chamber of the Uzbek parliament, which are scheduled for December 27, Russian news agency Itar-Tass said Monday.

[via Bernama]

SMS to remember 25th anniversary of Bhopal disaster

Twenty five years after the Bhopal disaster the gas is still poisoning maiming and killing people. On twitter the #bhopal25 hashtag is jumping, and Sunil Sinbad started a SMS campaign with the message:

This SMS came into your inbox uninvited. Just like the poisonous gas in Bhopal. You can delete this SMS from your phone memory but remember 3/12/1984.

[via AdLand]

Authorities Warn Iranians Not To Protest -- By SMS

The Iranian news website Tabnak and several bloggers are reporting that authorities are sending text messages to citizens warning them not to take part in antigovernment protests. Spero News reports.

According to Tabnak, the SMS warns recipients that they have been identified as participants in past protests, and that they should stop attending demonstrations.

The reports come ahead of Student Day on December 7, which the opposition has vowed to “turn green” in support of the Green movement backing opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi.

Read full article.

Still No Internet or SMS Allowed in China's Muslim Region

Nearly four months after deadly ethnic riots in China's Muslim region led authorities to shut off the Internet there, local residents are still barred from sending text messages and getting online, reports PC World.

The clampdown on telecommunication in China's western Xinjiang province, where rioting claimed nearly 200 lives in early July.

The rioting between Uighurs, a mostly Muslim minority group native to Xinjiang, and Chinese Han, the country's ethnic majority, also led China to block various social networking Web sites nationwide. Twitter, similar Chinese services and Facebook all remain inaccessible in the country.

California watchdogs consider regulating campaigns’ electronic messages

Between tweeting, YouTube videos and text messaging, the age of the Internet means political candidates now rely on more than snail mail to reach voters, and California's ethics watchdog agency is responding to the changing times. The LA Times Blog reports.

The state Fair Political Practices Commission announced today it is launching a review of the Political Reform Act, written in 1974, to determine whether there is a need for more regulation of electronic communications in political campaigns.

Arrested for using SMS to coordinate protesters at G20

A New York man who protested the G20 summit in Pittsburgh may be the first to be arrested for using text messaging to coordinate protesters, reports The Times Online.

A criminal complaint filed in Pittsburgh, the site of last month's Group of 20 meeting, accuses Elliot Madison, 41, a New York City social worker who has described himself as an anarchist, of using text messaging to "(direct) others, specifically protesters of the G20 summit. He is charged with "hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime".

The Pennsylvania State Police said he was found in a hotel room with computers and police scanners while using the social-networking site Twitter to spread information about police movements, The New York Times reported Monday.

... Madison, who was released on bail shortly after his arrest, may be among the first to face charges while sending electronic information to protesters about the police.

[via Times of the Internet. Image from CBCnews.ca]

Philippine Military sets up anti-terrorism text campaign

The Philippino military has launched yesterday an anti-terrorism hotline via text messaging, Major Gen. Benjamin D. Dolorfino, said, to empower the public in the campaign. Business Online reports.

The anti-terrorism hotline — 0928-994-4361 — is being manned round the clock by a military unit.

Mr. Dolorfino said the information will be treated with strictest of confidence. The campaign, called "I-text Mo Ang Terrorista Kay Sarge," was launched amid a series of activities in line with the city’s celebration of Fiesta Pilar this month.

SPECIAL REPORT: Efforts to pass a law taxing text messages in the Philippines are not new

Archie Orillosa, in a special for The Manila Times recaps how the Philippino government has tried to tax text messages since 2001.

Plans to impose taxes on SMS messages are not new. They were among the main reasons why TXTPower was formed in 2001. That year, due to the government’s ballooning deficit, the International Monetary Fund proposed new taxes on SMS. As the world’s texting capital and SMS being one of the most popular and accessible means of communications, the texting public was one of the targets of the government, which hopes to cash in on the texting craze. Each time, the public resisted the imposition of the tax.

Read full article.

Related:

-- Philippines. Scientist computes the real cost of a text message

-- Philippines. House retreats from text-tax bill

-- Philippines. SMS is tax goldmine

-- Philippines. "No to Text Tax!" campaign

-- Online campaign launched vs. text tax in the Philippines

-- Philippines. House body OKs tax on text messages

-- Related attempts to tax SMS around the world

Philippines. House retreats from text-tax bill

Just over a week after the Philippine politicians approved plans for a tax on text messages, the measure is to be subjected to an investigation following strong public opposition. The measure had been approved by the House of Representatives. [via Cellular News]

The law is seeking a tax of five centavos (US$0.001) on every text message sent by mobile phone. Its backers estimate that the tax would raise up to US$700 million in revenue for the government.

The committee agreed that more public hearings should be conducted on the controversial measure as some groups complained they were not heard at the earlier meetings.

... The Cellphone Owners and Users of the Philippines (COUP) has separately filed a lawsuit to put a halt on the legislation.

"The class suit is filed in order to prevent temporarily, and later on permanently, the illegal, prohibitive and unconstitutional imposition of an excise tax on SMS and overseas calls." the lawsuit claimed.

Related: - Philippines. SMS is tax goldmine

Philippines. SMS is tax goldmine

Filipinos send an estimated two billion text messages a day on their mobile phones, making the Philippines the texting capital of the world. Consumers are against the proposed five-centavo tax on every SMS sent. The Straits Times reports.

The Short Message Service (SMS) is seen as a potential goldmine for the cash-strapped government because of the vast number of text messages - estimated at two billion a day - sent by Filipinos.

Such heavy reliance on text messaging has generated huge revenues for telecommunications companies, which are protesting against the proposed tax.

A Bill in the House of Representatives is seeking a tax of five centavos (0.15 Singapore cents) on every text message sent by mobile phone. Its backers estimate that the tax would raise between $590 million and $1 billion in revenue for the government.

The measure was passed this month by a key congressional committee, putting it firmly in the legislative pipeline. In the Senate, some lawmakers have said they will not approve the special tax if it hits the pockets of the poor.

The administration of President Gloria Arroyo, which has majority support in the House, is backing the measure as long as consumers do not have to shoulder the tax. Its chances of being passed will improve if Congress can be convinced that will indeed be the case.

Not surprisingly, service providers are lobbying hard against the tax. They argue that consumers would be affected because cheap SMS promotions offering, for example, unlimited texting over a given period, will no longer be feasible.img alt="quotesmarksleft.jpg" src="http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/images/set3/quotesmarksleft.jpg" width="20" height="15" />

Related:

-- Philippines. "No to Text Tax!" campaign

-- Online campaign launched vs. text tax in the Philippines

-- Philippines. House body OKs tax on text messages

-- Related attempts to tax SMS around the world

Ghana to launch people's SMS to government

The Deputy Information Minister of Ghana will soon launch an SMS service to enable Ghanaians across the country to send text messages on concerns or information they want immediate action on to the government. GhanaDot News reports.

“We think that as the managers of government information, we should be able to interact with people on one-on-one basis so that we will be able to address their issues and take their concerns,” Mr Ablorkwa told the press in an interview.

Philippines. "No to Text Tax!" campaign

Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) have started an online protest against the plan to impose a 5-centavo tax on every text message, reports Philstar.

At the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Hotel forum, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile vowed yesterday to block the passage of the bill.

Susan Ople, president of the Ople Policy Center said the protesters must reach out to other sectors and use every medium available to build a strong coalition against the text tax to stop Congress from passing the bill.

“The No to Text Tax! online campaign has more than a thousand supporters since its creation three days ago,” she said.

Ople urged the public to join the protest and sign up and post their comment on the Facebook wall.

Related - Online campaign launched vs. text tax in the Philippines

Clickatell recepient of MOBI award

Last week, MOBI announced its top picks for its prestigious awards to honor those companies making history advancing mobile, marketing and advertising with innovative campaigns. Clickatell was nominated in the "Best Mobile Direct Response" category for its industry-first SMS campaign working with the US State Department, which sent 'live' text messages to global citizens during President Obama's Cairo and Ghana speeches this past summer.

Creating a "Mobile Town Hall Without Borders," this mobile text campaign reached the masses of people who might not traditionally have a 'voice' during these events. View a video of the white house administration talking about the success of the Ghana event,. Actual SMS responses from the speeches can still be viewed on America.gov.

[via Internet ITBusiness]

Previously:

-- More than 5000 Africans text message Obama

-- Obama’s speech from Cairo by SMS - how it happened

Philippines. House body OKs tax on text messages

The Inquirer reports that a committee of the House of Representatives approved Tuesday a bill seeking to impose a five-centavo excise tax on every text, picture, and video and audio clip sent through mobile phones.

The proposed tax is expected to generate between P20 billion and P36 billion (between $414million and $745million I think) a year for the government.

Nearly 70 million prepaid subscribers nationwide send on the average at least 10 text messages a day.

For years the issue of taxing SMS has been brought up by the Philippines and other countries:

-- Related attemps to tax SMS around the world

-- Sacramento voters to decide whether to tax text messages

Italian Ministry Offers Free SMS Information Service

In July, the the Italian Ministry of the Interior launched on its web portal a short messaging information service for citizens.

The users of the entirely free of charge service will regularly receive, on their mobile phone, text messages with the Ministry’s latest news as well as relevant notifications, reminders, invitations to events and much more.

[via The Gov Monitor]

Cellphones spread Kenyans' messages of hate

In the wake of Kenya's recent chaos, some observers warn the cellphone could play a larger role in future ethnic conflicts in Africa if its omnipresence and the vulnerability to abuse of SMS technology are not countered with better laws. The Globe and Mail reports.

No other continent struggles with ethnic conflict like Africa. With SMS the preferred method to communicate (they're cheaper than calls) and with cellphone-happy Kenya now picking up the pieces after ethnic war, the potential for SMS to incite hate is coming into focus.

The most infamous of the screeds stated, simply, "41 versus 1" — a nod to the 42 tribes of Kenya and the belief that one of them, the Kikuyu, of which President Mwai Kibaki is a member, has been hoarding the country's riches at the exclusion of others. The unwritten message: it's payback time.

... Caesar Handa, director of Strategic Research, a media monitoring firm in Nairobi that has kept its ears to the airwaves, agreed that a lack of laws and a litany of messages over SMS and radio airwaves are one of the reasons behind the Kenya's recent violence.

Read full article.

Image from flickr.

Cell phones flared riots in Kandhmal

Orissa’s senior government officiacs have said that mobile phones played a big role in flaring up communal riots in Orissa's Kandhamal district a year ago while religious conversion was one of the major reasons of disharmony among the people living peacefully for generations. [via MyNews.in]

"I will like to blame use of new technology like mobile phones for flaring up the riots in Kandhamal", Orissa's Director General of Police, Manmohan Praharaj, said while speaking at a national seminar on the "Role of Police in promotion of communal harmony and national integration" here yesterday.

The DGP said mischief mongers had easy access to mobile phones to engineer and organise riots across the communally sensitive district. "While controlling riots earlier was comparatively easy for police, it had become difficult now because of the advent of new technology".

Radio, cell phones to help US in Afghanistan?

The US has turned to radio stations and cell phones in its alleged fight against militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan, after realizing that it is losing the war.PressTV reports.

The US State Department says it is establishing a new unit for what it calls countering militant propaganda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the New York Times reported on Sunday.

The unit will be given up to $150 million a year to spend on local FM radio stations and on cell phone service to battle for the hearts and minds of the natives of the two Asian countries.

The move is aimed at denigrating militants and their messages by producing audio and video programming, as wells as pamphlets, posters and CDs.

Related:

-- Once media-shy Taliban go hi-tech in propaganda war

-- British Intelligence bomb Taliban with SMS in psychological warfare

-- SMS text messages urge rebels to surrender in exchange for a fair trial

-- Lebanon. Psychological warfare on phone

-- Israel steps up "psy-ops" in Lebanon

Iran: Regime uses SMS messages to threaten people

NCR-Iran reports that the clerical regime's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) sends threatening mobile phone text messages to Iranians, threatening them that they will be “summoned and interrogated” by suppressive organs “in the event of continuing illegal gatherings and activities.”

The text message, which has recently been sent to people, reads: “In the event of continuing illegal gatherings and activities, VAJA [Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence] will summon and interrogate you.”