Blog censorship handbook released
BBC/RWB | 22.09.2005 18:03
Blog censorship handbook released
Blogs have become a popular and easy way to express opinion
A handbook that offers advice to bloggers who want to protect themselves from recrimination and censors has been released by Reporters Without Borders.
The media watchdog said it gives people who want to set up a blog tips on how to do so, how to publicise it, as well as how to establish credibility.
It also offers advice about writing blogs from countries with tough media restrictions, such as Iran and China.
The handbook was part-funded by the French government.
Key international bloggers, experts and writers helped to produce the guidelines, such as US journalist Dan Gillmor and Canadian net censorship expert, Nart Villeneuve.
"Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure," Reporters Without Borders said on its website.
"Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest."
Blog clamp-down
Included in the booklet, called The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents, is advice about how to blog anonymously, as well as how to identify the most suitable way to circumvent censorship.
It also outlines some help on developing ethical and journalistic values.
Blogs - easy-to-set-up diary-like websites - are proving increasingly popular on the net as vehicles through which people can publish their own thoughts.
Technorati, a blog search engine, tracks more than 17 million blogs globally. Blogs can be anything from personal diaries, to technology news, and political comment.
Screengrab of the Reporters Without Borders blogger guidebook
People have turned to blogs where mainstream media is under pressure
Many have turned to blogging in countries where mainstream media is restricted. But they are increasingly being targeted by strict authorities.
Iranian authorities have been clamping down on mainstream media for some time, but it has recently turned its attention to cyber-dissidents and bloggers.
Campaign groups say at least two dozen Iranian bloggers have been jailed as a result of the clamp-down. It is estimated that there are some 46,000 bloggers in the country.
The issue of blog censorship and freedom of speech is truly global, however.
In June, Microsoft's MSN Spaces site in China started to block blog entries which used words such as "freedom", "democracy" and "demonstration".
Microsoft said the company abided by the laws, regulations and norms of each country in which it operates.
China recently introduced regulations that required all blog owners to register their sites with the state by 30 June.
And on Wednesday, two Chinese Singaporeans appeared in court charged with posting racist remarks about minority Malays on the net.
The blogger booklet can be downloaded from the Reporters Without Borders website in English, French, Chinese, Arabic and Persian.
Download the free handbook here:
http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542
Blogs have become a popular and easy way to express opinion
A handbook that offers advice to bloggers who want to protect themselves from recrimination and censors has been released by Reporters Without Borders.
The media watchdog said it gives people who want to set up a blog tips on how to do so, how to publicise it, as well as how to establish credibility.
It also offers advice about writing blogs from countries with tough media restrictions, such as Iran and China.
The handbook was part-funded by the French government.
Key international bloggers, experts and writers helped to produce the guidelines, such as US journalist Dan Gillmor and Canadian net censorship expert, Nart Villeneuve.
"Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure," Reporters Without Borders said on its website.
"Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest."
Blog clamp-down
Included in the booklet, called The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-dissidents, is advice about how to blog anonymously, as well as how to identify the most suitable way to circumvent censorship.
It also outlines some help on developing ethical and journalistic values.
Blogs - easy-to-set-up diary-like websites - are proving increasingly popular on the net as vehicles through which people can publish their own thoughts.
Technorati, a blog search engine, tracks more than 17 million blogs globally. Blogs can be anything from personal diaries, to technology news, and political comment.
Screengrab of the Reporters Without Borders blogger guidebook
People have turned to blogs where mainstream media is under pressure
Many have turned to blogging in countries where mainstream media is restricted. But they are increasingly being targeted by strict authorities.
Iranian authorities have been clamping down on mainstream media for some time, but it has recently turned its attention to cyber-dissidents and bloggers.
Campaign groups say at least two dozen Iranian bloggers have been jailed as a result of the clamp-down. It is estimated that there are some 46,000 bloggers in the country.
The issue of blog censorship and freedom of speech is truly global, however.
In June, Microsoft's MSN Spaces site in China started to block blog entries which used words such as "freedom", "democracy" and "demonstration".
Microsoft said the company abided by the laws, regulations and norms of each country in which it operates.
China recently introduced regulations that required all blog owners to register their sites with the state by 30 June.
And on Wednesday, two Chinese Singaporeans appeared in court charged with posting racist remarks about minority Malays on the net.
The blogger booklet can be downloaded from the Reporters Without Borders website in English, French, Chinese, Arabic and Persian.
Download the free handbook here:
http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542
BBC/RWB
Homepage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4271062.stm
Comments
Hide the following 3 comments
Freedom, and the french- don't make me laugh!
23.09.2005 00:29
Is this supposed to be a really bad joke :( Do you KNOW how many people the french are taking to court for criticising the various war crimes committed by Israel. France, the country that states to children "wear a headscarf, and we will withhold your education". France, the country that states that 'secular' does NOT apply to the people providing government services, but to the people RECEIVING THEM!!! However, one ethnic group dominates the french legal system (hence the racist acts listed above), and that group is at the forefront of operation NUKE IRAN!
The pity is that Iran and China deserve a lot of criticism for the nasty way they treat the cyber-rights of their citizens. However, here's the thing. The censorship systems that restrict the Internet in Iran and China are NOT homegrown. Instead, they are provided by some of the biggest IT companies in the West. Sounds a lot like the role IBM played in the so-called holocaust (with the evergreen fact that the original Nazi concentration camp tattoos that prisoners received were actually IBM processing codes).
The best form of protection for free expression on the Internet will be the development of secure peer-to-peer distributed message boards, capable of being tunneled through any internet protocol. Such software really doesn't exist at the moment, because existing programs are more convenient, but Blair is planning a MASS ATTACK on all internet freedoms very soon, and we are all going to have to get a lot smarter, and a lot more determined.
twilight
Racist
23.09.2005 07:13
See how much sense this stupid racist logic makes?
Do you really think _all_ French people and _all_ French organizations act as one with the same agenda? Right-wing Americans were renaming "french fries" to "freedom fries" only 2 years ago. Now you're behaving exactly the same. Congratualions.
Qwerty
reporters without borders(without morals)
23.09.2005 23:19
Hence the organisations constant attacks on Cuba and any other nation that dose not report daily, the diet of the Beckams or shagging in the Big Brother house as worthy "independant" news.
Not to be trusted.
daggle