An Icelandic advocate of freedom of expression lent his services to beleaguered Tunisia in helping them get through the state-enforced internet firewall.
DV reports that Smári McCarthy, whose experience with freedom of expression and computer science saw him working with Wikileaks, had been following recent events in Tunisia, like most of the world. On 17 December, when Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire to bring world attention to the repressive situation in the country, Smári decided the time had come to act.
Smári got in contact with two Tunisians who had both already fled the country. He offered them to lend his services in getting their countrymen through the firewall that the Tunisian government had set up, so that everyday Tunisians could get access to information, as well as let others in the world know what was going on.
He and ten others, he said, compiled their efforts earlier this month to effectively punch a hole through the firewall. Access to sites such as YouTube and DailyMotion now became available to Tunisians. From there, many citizens uploaded a number of videos of police activity and general repression, which helped bring greater attention to the situation in the country.
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