Are we ready for Blogblock 2?
Does anybody remember the infamous blogblocks that happened around July this year? It seems to have generated a lot of heat at that time, but is not on ‘anti-censorship’ radars any more, i think. One of the most interesting and thoughtful discussions that I read on this topic is on Ethan Zuckerman’s blog.
I say this because the Reporters without Borders released its Internet Enemies list on 7 November 2006 and India does not even get a ‘honourable’ mention. So much so that neither their press release archives nor their annual report mention the ‘blogblocks’. They have a release on the mediaah ‘cease and desist’ by the Times Group though.
Why so, i ask myself?
The Reporters without Borders list is stomach churning to read and details the censorship that even a hint of ‘free speech’ brings. The most hair-raising quote from the release is the one for me;
Just five years ago, many people thought Chinese society and politics would be revolutionised by the Internet, a supposedly uncontrollable medium. Now, with China enjoying increasing geopolitical influence, people are wondering the opposite, whether perhaps China’s Internet model, based on censorship and surveillance, may one day be imposed on the rest of the world.
I am sure the blogging community in India will rest till ‘Blogblock 2’ happens and scream bloody murder and leave it there. So long till blogblock 2 then….
