Bloggers beware
I was just reading the news and came across the story of Abdel Kareem Soliman. He is an Egyptian blogger who has just been sentenced to four years in jail for insulting Islam and the president of Egypt on his blog.
As the blogoshere, now a global soap-box, propagates can governments (oppressive or not) hope to control or censor what is said. Is this the first time in history that everybody has access to free speech or should blog accounts come with a health warning ?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6385849.stm
1 comment:
As far as I am aware this is the most extreme case of 'punishment' against a blogger.
There have been instances of people being fired for their oh-so-honest accounts of what it is really like to work for that corporate behemoth...obviously the management didn't like their dirty washing being aired in public.
The golden rule? Common sense should prevail and don't say anything that you wouldn't be able to defend or are prepared to accept the consequences of...
Consequences obviously vary by culture and country. Jailing someone for stating their opinions may seem harsh...but that opens up a debate about what defines 'free speech'.
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