From time to time governments try to suppress freedom of speech by blocking websites and blogs. When this happens it is important that all of us who have those freedoms use them to speak out. In a globalised world an attack on one is an attack on us all.
According to a number of sources including a report by Amira Al Hussaini on Global Voices, dozens of websites have been blocked in Bahrain, following a new crackdown by the Ministry of Information. The latest sweep makes sites ranging from Google Translate to those of social, religious, human rights and political groups inaccessible to people in Bahrain.
Bahraini blogger Manaf Al Muhandis, who blogs at TheRedbelt.com comments:
I am sure most of you know of the efforts of the Ministry of Culture and Information to ban websites. I think we are all together that this is unacceptable, unimplementable, and simply put: ILLEGAL as it goes against the Bahraini Law which protects the freedom of speech.
A group of us tried to avoid this by introducing the Anti Hate Code of Ethics (http://www.bahraincodeofethics.com) and prefer that any offending website be prosecuted under the law with a chance of representation rather than resort to this old and ineffective method.
My friends, Whether you signed the code or not, I implore you to write about the matter in your own blogs. We should also unify our forces to make our voice heard. We could hold up a rally or send one letter of objection bearing our signatures. I invite you to come up with more suggestions on what we can do about it.
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
3 comments:
Thank you for voicing your solidarity. You are absolutely right, what affects one affects all. I couldn't have said it better.
I have mentioned you in my post.
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