Global Voices in Spanish would like to provide an incentive to blogging and to promote blogger networks through “Blog Festivals.” In this manner, GV in Spanish is helping to create original content with a certain level of reflection and analysis. The participating bloggers will benefit through greater visibility of their work by being featured on Global Voices. Here are the details for the second Festival:
Featured Country: Venezuela
The chosen site and geographic area of the second Blog Festival is Venezuela, which is known for the considerable amount of people who participate in online activism, and where we have a number of collaborators that can help publicize this virtual event. The majority of well-known bloggers can be found in the capital city of Caracas, and we hope that bloggers from the cities of Maracaibo, Valencia, Maracay, Barquisimeto, and others can also participate. Participation is not restricted to bloggers that exclusively write about the topic (see the next paragraph), as any blogger may participate.
Topic: Venezuela: Freedom of Expression on the Internet.
The emergence of new media and online social networks brings more possibilities for citizen expression. However, are these being fully taken advantage of in Venezuela? All of us like to express ourselves, but this is only the first step. Is there online dialogue? Do we listen or read one another or are there only group monologues that prevents a real gathering of ideas? What happens when the opinions encounter intolerance and/or exclusion? On the other hand, is freedom of expression a war horse for hidden interests? What about the groups that are not represented on the Internet? Is freedom of expression guaranteed on the Internet in Venezuela? What are users doing to protect their rights?
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