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Blogs Are Banned & We Don't Seem To Notice

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Submitted by Chris_Hedges on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 7:04am
4 comments
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self-centeredness-banned-blogs.mp3
self-centeredness-banned-blogs.mp3

Inspired by Lorelle's post about self-centered bloggers forgetting to stand up for free speech rights:

I think bloggers around the world have become apathetic. Lazy. Uninspired. Dumbed down. Honestly. When the term echo chamber was coined, it was a good label for all the regurgitation of content spread all over the web, drowning individual voices. Self-interest blogging is pervasive. What happened to altruism and using the blog publishing platform to support freedom of speech and bloggers around the world?

What happened to us? Why am I not seeing protests and opinions on this issue all over the web? Why isn’t the banning of three million WordPress.com blogs a big deal? Why aren’t we talking about this instead of the latest iPhone gizmo and useless SEO techniques? Why didn’t people get angry and protest loudly when WordPress.com blogs were banned in Turkey, China, and other countries? WordPress.com continues to be banned in places - why aren’t we talking about this?

Have we really become desensitized to the plight of other bloggers and the oppression of freedom of speech?

 

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Comments

1 Comment by chivespa1 | 04.19.08 | 09:04 am
I hardly think of the word lazy when I think of myself but I honestly missed this somehow because I was totally unaware that this had happened. I absolutely agree with you that we have to stand up for our online freedoms and fight for them. The internet is not under the governance of any one organization which means that, as long as we are willing to fight the fight, we have the opportunity to promote and build true freedom of speech as well as copyright law and norms which is not slanted towards large corporate interest and is instead focused on the individual. Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention!
2 Comment by Chris_Hedges | 04.19.08 | 09:04 am
Hi Chivespal,

I hadn't heard of it anywhere -- until I saw Lorelle's post.

If there is any area that has a slippery slope, it is the First Amendment. There are many people are afraid of free expression and the internet and their natural inclination is to block access to the methods of propagating that speech as a whole.

3 Comment by IGTB | 04.18.08 | 09:04 am
Actually you hit it on the head with your comments and I do agree. I also think that people should know that letting blogging services host and do the brunt of the work are good and bad situations. The bad situation is that they are easily allowing the powers that be whom ever they actually really are is another question, to block blogs way too easily. The good is only about marketing effort and it's effectiveness to reach people in mass. What bloggers need to become are unfortunately more geek savvy,like a hacker and build their own servers in redundant arrays and align with other bloggers doing the same and then using mirroring techniques of distribution. Also sites like this one allow for a much bigger area coverage of listeners than most individual blogger sites can get individually in the long run. setting up blog streams may actually be a better new approach for bloggers as well. Unfortunately there are always a few tyrants out there trying to control every aspect of human involvement to some degree, we just have to be smarter and quicker in our tactics to evade such monsters who like to eat free speech and your personal privacy, which is another topic I suppose. It is up to the individual to get more proactive and constantly seek out ways to propagate what they believe in. It's only a matter of time that the monsters out there will find a way to completely control the internet itself. Oops ranting too much here. cya
4 Comment by Chris_Hedges | 04.19.08 | 09:04 am
Hi IG,

I've had blogs on hosted sites and have decided to host my own. You are right that if you have your blogs hosted on a free service, you are subject to their whims and wishes of the free service provider. If you host your own, you are a lot freer -- although, it is always good to have a backup copy because some providers have also pulled to plug on their paying customers as well. I like the idea of becoming technologically savvy as well as interconnected with other bloggers so that bloggers can adapt as needed.

But, when there is a will, there is a way. There's a blogger in Cuba who takes risks to publish a blog using her name by sneaking internet access where she can find it.

It's too bad that there is so little outcry when services are banned anywhere. If it can happen in one country, it just makes it easier for other powers to be to decide to institute bans.