From the Global Voices Advocacy Summit in Budapest

Arrived Budapest yesterday. Its a buzzing European city and it has a live night life. Of course the Euro 2008 football craze contributed to it and I watched the game in a roadside bar with big screens with some of the fellow GVers . I felt sorry for the Turkish fans (wearing Turkish jerseys) right in front of the TV screen. At one point of time the live broadcast was off and we were being showed result which went from 2:1 to 2:2 and 3:2 for Germany in minutes. Extra ordinary scenes were in the bar where both of the supporters cheered.

A large number of activists have gathered in Budapest to discuss about threats to online free speech and finding out ways towards a global anti-censorship movement.

The morning session of the Global Voices Advocacy summit has started and in the opening remarks the co-founder of Global Voices Online Ethan Zuckerman thanked everybody who came to the summit. Sami Ben Gharbia, the Advocacy director of Global voices noted that some activists could not make the summit due to visa problems and other restrictions.

Some pictures from the summit as it progresses:

Rob Faris listening to Rebecca MacKinnon

Some of the panelists

Some of the participants

Please check for the updates in the summit website or in the Global Voices Advocacy site.