Senior executives from Google and Twitter promised Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez that they would technological tools to protect the freedom of expression of Cuban civil society.
The author of the blog Generation Y, in an interview with martinoticias.com, said that with her visit to Silicon Valley in California she established serious conversations with these social media giants regarding the need for protection of Cuban activists.
Twitter Representatives agreed to provide resources to detect fake profiles used by people in the service of the Cuban government to discredit and threaten independent journalists living in Cuba.
During a meeting with students and professors at the University of Miami, Sanchez spoke about the elements that characterize the current Cuban civil society and the impact of technology as a force for change to awaken youth and the Cuban population general from their apathy.
For Sanchez, technology is a unifying element that will help the Cuban people to lose their fear of the Castro regime. Her plan to create a digital newspaper aims to contribute to this.
With regards to that publication she said that there are 8 journalists preparing every detail of the launch, so this will be “a newspaper of the 21st century.” So that it can circulate in a printed edition in Cuba, it will be available on the site in a pdf version.
For young people at the University of Miami, who have studied Yoani Sánchez’s work in class, it was particularly interesting to see the positive spirit this communicator maintains, in the face of daily obstacles in Cuba.
The blogger, who has over 526,000 followers on her Twitter account, is considered a pioneer in the use of new technologies in Cuba.
Cubanet, 30 October 2013
