Putting heavy emphasis on the role of the internet in this revolution (a subject of much debate regardless of sympathies), AccessNow's list of actions those of us not actually in Egypt can take is the only one of its kind I've seen. With the turn to violence that occurred during the protests today, taking any of these actions seems more vital than before.
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Dear Duane,
Today, millions of Egyptians took to the streets in the biggest day of protests yet. Their dictator’s response? “I’m not going anywhere.” The people of Egypt are surging towards political freedom, but with the internet blocked and the mobile networks deliberately throttled, they need us to stand with them more than ever. Almost 50,000 of us have taken an action in the last few hours. Here are 5 ways you can help wherever you are in the world:
1) HELP GET THE INTERNET BACK ON BY SIGNING THIS PETITION TO VODAFONE
The Egyptian government shut down of the Internet and mobile phone networks is an attempt to plunge the country into an information blackout. Sign this petition calling on the ISPs (including Vodafone) to open the internet and to the mobile operators (including Orange/France Telecom) to break the blackout and restore mobile service.
Sign here: https://www.accessnow.org/getegyptbackonline
2) TELL OBAMA TO MAKE AID CONDITIONAL
Sign Access’ petition calling on President Obama to make U.S. aid to Egypt conditional on Egyptian authorities reopening the channels of communication and honoring the Egyptian people’s demands for true democracy.
Sign here: https://www.accessnow.org/Democracy-NOT-Dictatorship
3) DONATE
In preparation for Egypt coming back online (and to help those who still have access), we’re setting up Tor-enabled servers that will help people reach blocked sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Gmail. The more money we have, the more people we can help to anonymously jump the firewall.
Donate here: https://www.accessnow.org/page/contribute/Help-Egypt-With-Tor
4) JOIN THE CLOUD BY ADDING YOUR COMPUTER TO THE TOR NETWORK
If you’re a little more technically minded, join the Global Proxy Cloud by downloading Tor, a free anti-censorship program developed by the Tor Project. The more people that donate their extra bandwidth to Tor, the easier and faster it will be for people to access blocked sites.
Download here: https://www.accessnow.org/proxy-cloud/page/join-the-cloud
5) WATCH ACCESS’ LIVE STREAMED SYMPOSIUM (this Thursday at 12PM EST at www.accessnow.org/live)
With so much going on across the region, many questions are being asked about the internet, revolution, and the Middle East. We'd like to you invite you to an online symposium that we’ll be live streaming on Thursday at noon EST featuring: Frank La Rue (UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression); Tarek Amr (Egyptian Blogger), Jillian York (from Harvard's Berkman Centre), Marietje Schaake (Member European Parliament), and others.
Watch here on Thursday: https://www.accessnow.org/live
With hope,
Brett, Jochai, Daniel, Joe, Aasil, and the Access Team
*Welcome to those of you who came to us through MoveOn! You can learn more about the Access global movement for digital freedom at https://www.accessnow.org/about
