Group items tagged

Although there have been very credible reports that some foreign journalists have had a difficult time getting into Moldova, the New York Times has a correspondent on the ground. This means that Americans will read about events in Moldova in the national paper of record and perhaps I'll no longer have to explain to people where the country is located (though perhaps I shouldn't get my hopes up). The paper's main recent articles are here and here, and the comments page to the first one has a wealth of thoughtful Moldovan voices (+1 more) occupying various points of view but mostly seeming to agree that Tuesday's violence was unacceptable. There are not many other places I can think of where one could see a relatively articulate debate about events in Moldova conducted in English.

Unsurprisingly you could follow what was happening on Twitter. The key hashtags are #pman (the acronym of Piata Marii Adunari Nationale, the square where the protests were taking place), #Chisinau, and #Moldova. But a number of commentators claimed that this was the beginnings of the first Twitter revolution and that Twitter had played a "key role in organising the protests". The Telegraph, for example, jumped straight in with this headline: "Students use Twitter to storm presidency in Moldova". Another Telegraph blog post pointed to this foreign policy piece which claimed that after the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, Twitter "will usher in another revolution in neighbouring Moldova". A TechCrunch post on a similar theme is being retweeted numerous times as I write. But where's the evidence? Not many of the people who have actually written these and similar articles have bothered to find some tweets that might hint at some kind of organisational role for Twitter:

A well-presented aggregation feed for Moldova-related stories and links etc.

Twitter seemingly transforms into a sword with two edges. It seems authorities have learned the lesson and are using it to scare and discourage young people from gathering for protests. During yesterday and today I have seen that on #pman Twitter trend (used as a communication channel between protesters, young people, informing the Westerners on the developments on the protests in Moldova) many messages confirming that claim.

Opposition activists in Moldova won headlines this week for using Twitter and other social media to organize anti-government demonstrations in the capital of Chisinau. But for the moment, the streets are quiet: The Associated Press reports that a small crowd of around 200 people were on the central square today, calling for the Communist government to resign. Russian-language Twitter user 1arsz, who kept up a steady stream of posts during the crisis, wrote about three hours ago that the scene was calm, and no police were visible.

The media, particularly in the US, have stressed the innovative use of Web-based platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in the build-up to the protests gripping Moldova. However, the Internet is also being used by both camps to spread false rumours and fabricate conspiracy theories. Here is a startling example of possible misinformation on Twitter.

It looks like the democracy is hitting the fan in the capital of Moldova today. Sunday's elections resulted in a victory for the ruling Communist Party, and a protest planned for Tuesday morning has now turned violent. Apparently military units are now arriving in downtown Chisinau and protests are being planned or taking place in other cities as well (I have read about Balti and Ungheni so far).

After Orange (Ukraine), Rose (Georgia) and Tulip (Kyrgyzstan) revolutions the first try of next generation demonstration took place in Moldova after last weekends parliamentary elections. Known now as "Twitter Revolution" the protest was self-organized by two youth movements - Hyde Park and ThinkMoldova - using their generation's tools of social messaging network to gather 10,000-15,000 demonstrators on streets in Moldova's capital Chisinau, ransacking presidential palace and parliament building.

Opposition parties in Moldova won the right Thursday to review voter lists in the contested parliamentary elections that set off huge anti-Communist protests here. They said they would comb the lists for possible fraud, including dead or nonexistent people who might have been used by the Communists to pad their victory.

The protests in Chisinau have started because young students were unhappy with the elections stolen by the Communist Party. They have organized themselves through blogs, and social networks like Facebook and Odnoklassniki.ru. By the way, the administration of Odnoklassniki.ru, a Russian social networking site, has reportedly shut down the discussion group that mobilized Moldovan youths. Students wanted to organize just a simple flash-mob, lighting candles on the Great National Assembly Square as if "mourning the Communist Moldova". The initial group did not think about a protest rally, or any big demonstration. However, they were joined by thousands of other young people, who felt and though similar. Their slogans were "Freedom!", "I fight, I resist, I am anti-communist!", "We want another voting!", and so on. Authorities have ignored young people, which were united by the noble idea to defend their rights and their disagreement to accept the lies bought by everyone else (their parents, the public functionaries, other people feeding on the Communist cronyism, international observers and officials). Because they have seen it with their own eyes, they have seen how useless was ODIHR this time in identifying frauds.

To be sure, the Twitter stream of the #pman hashtag -- shorthand for the park in which the protests took place -- is still flowing rapidly. Understanding what's happening in there is, alas, hampered by my dreadful Romanian. But you have to wonder how many of the reporters repeating the "Twitter Revolution" theme speak it much better.

As European officials are on Easter holidays, the post-election crisis continues in M0ldova. I will regularly update the post throughout the following days. News are posted in reverse order.One problem is that many Moldovan websites are taken down by cyber attacks 2-3 times a day. I try to post international links, but if some links do not work at some point, they normally work a bit later:

Collection of videos and links to coverage (in Romanian)

CHISINAU, Moldova - Moldova's Communist president on Friday called for a recount of ballots in last weekend's Parliamentary elections in an effort to restore stability in a country rocked by riots and claims of voting fraud.

by Veronica Khokhlova

A summary and list of sources

First person account with some excellent videos. Parti of a series by Dorina in Chisnau

Russia's sharp reaction to the violent anti-government protests in Moldova's capital this week betrayed deep-rooted fears that the global economic crisis might spark mass protests on its own streets.

This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

Excellent roundup from Thursday April 9