Blogging Can Be Dangerous

Most blogs I have read talk about popular subjects such as health, beauty, hobbies and finance. In our class, almost all original blogs have been about entertainment, how to or technological innovations. We all posted our comments and reflections on the groundswell and the growth of social media. But to me it's obvious most take for granted the possibility of constantly being able to blog, tweet, text or email. The fact is that access to social media is not easy in many regions of the world.

 

Journalist Antony Loewenstein, author of The Blogging Revolution,

talks about bloggers around the world who live and write under repressive regimes.

Many bloggers have to struggle to reach their audiences, not because of technological problems or lack of computer skills but because deliberate action on the part of government censors that attempt to block all blogs, tweets and even emails when they consider opposing views might be presented. Many people risk their lives every day by writing blogs, not to entertain or make money but attempting to inform the world about what they consider injustices and political repression in their countries.  A recent report by the Committee to Protect Journalists says more internet journalists are jailed today than journalists in any other medium. 


For example, in Iran Mohamad Nasab was imprisoned for posting an open letter to a religious leader.  His pregnant wife and other bloggers who commented on the arrest were also imprisoned.  In Egypt, Abdul Nabeel and other bloggers were convicted to over four years in prison for criticizing the treatment of women by Hosni Mubarak’s government. In Cuba, Yoani Sanchez and Miriam Celaya have been prosecuted and their blogs blocked from reaching the internet because they speak out against the oppression in the island nation. Fearing the effect of blogs and twitters, the Cuban government has prevented most of its citizens from having access to the Internet. 

As several of my Chinese classmates have confirmed, China’s government monitors electronic communications to censor and limit the flow of information.  The use of words such as “Tiananmen Square” could cause prosecution and even jail time.  Blogger Liu Shaokun received a one year sentence for publishing pictures of a collapsed school in the Sichuan province as the government feared being accused of poor construction. 

Collapsed School in Sichuan Province

In my home country of Venezuela, many bloggers who oppose Hugo Chavez’s government are being persecuted for attempts to bypass government controls of the news and social media.  There are an increasing number of laws to prohibit or restrict the expression of political views through social media, defend political prisoners, report crimes and denounce corruption. Venezuelan blogger Martha Colmenares continuous to report human rights violations, ignoring threats against her and her relatives. Bloggers face similar or worse dangers in many other countries, including Greece, Ecuador, Haiti, Jakarta, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Vietnam. 

Luckily, no government or organization has found a way to silence social media or even deter its growth. It’s very difficult to stop the millions of people from sharing their opinions and point of views. Perhaps some governments could attempt to block some of the media sites, but those governments are more occupied prosecuting people than developing technical advances to block smart phones, tablets or computers. The preoccupation of these governments to repress bloggers and social media confirm what we have been repeating during the class: using the immense power of social media, ordinary citizen can mobilize the groundswell to challenge the power of giant companies and even powerful governments. Meanwhile, those of us who have the privilege of  access to Internet should continue developing our skills to write professional and effective blogs and learning how to join and influence the groundswell.