Blogger arrests hit record high

Blogger arrests hit record high

news.bbc.co.uk

More bloggers than ever face arrest for exposing human rights abuses or criticising governments, says a report.

Since 2003, 64 people have been arrested for publishing their views on a blog, says the University of Washington annual report.

In 2007 three times as many people were arrested for blogging about political issues than in 2006, it revealed.

(visit the link for the full news article)

In the last four years, British, French, Canadian and American bloggers have also been arrested.

Long live Freedom of speech and expression
Freedom from oppression
freedom in all its glory

Long live freedom

Long live ATS

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 16-6-2008 by Extralien]

This is why everyone needs to look up net neutrality. These brave people are finding injustice and lying and exposing it on a system that anyone can get access to for a minimal fee. If they corporatise the internet as they so wish then these bloogers will not be able to post all this stuff. It wil be removed faster than you can say suppresion of information.

I cannot believe people are being arrested for blogging, don't get me wrong if someone blogged they were going to kill a political candidate, or just kill anyone for that matter, then they should be arrested. Simply exposing a corporations human rights abuses though, should that really be an arrestable offence? Once we set that precident, that the police work on behalf of corporations, then we are doomed.

Oh, say, can you see... Können Sie sehen?


A blast from our ancient past:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Oh, look at that: the Bill of Rights.

They'll be arresting me, next.

reply to post by bsbray11


Or something...

Eh I would be in this same boat.. but my site isnt used and just as storage of 9/11 things..

Anyway i have known this was happening.. as long as people say nothing we will all be screwed in the end..

And when people start bitching... it will be well to late...

What the hell?!?

WHY ISN'T THIS THREAD FLAGGED AND STARRED THROUGH THE ROOF?

Here it is people!! What we have been warning everyone was going to happen! It's already beginning!!

Does anyone actually read these things AND do a little self-driven research before they flap their online gums about it?
news.digitaltrends.com...

Bloggers in France, the UK, and the United States have also been arrested for material published in their blogs…although the U.S. case involved a man who blogged about his attraction to young girls, and the UK case involved a blogger threatening a police officer's family.

I recall this case because it was big news here in the Seattle region. This scumbag wasn't a blogger in the sense the bloggers in China, Egypt, and other totalitarian countries who were arrested were. He was a sicko that blogged about which elementary schools, parks, public pools, etc he had sat outside of in his van watching little girls (we're talking pre-teen girls.) and how he thought of them while pleasuring himself later. He listed addresses, including home addresses, where little girls had been seen, described what they were wearing, and encouraged others to email him descriptions and locations which he would later post as contributions to his blog. If allowing this piece of excrement to do that falls under freedom of speech, then by all means, let's start trimming down that particular right ASAP because it has no place in the world.

EDIT: Here's the local news story about this perverted piece of crap: seattletimes.nwsource.com...

The rest of you, is it really a shock that countries like China, with all of their massive human rights issues, restrict and criminalize political speech on the net? This isn't a sign of anything other than continuance of the status quo in muslim nations and communist nations.

[edit on 16-6-2008 by burdman30ott6]

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


I really think you're flag obsessed you know, don't tell people what the flag they'll do it themselves. Just because everything else you post gets falgged don't expect it each time lol.

However i do agree this is very important, they are cracking down on the last place where free speech truly is free. We will soon be left with nothing me than corporate media and government shills.

For those who say that the corporations will tell us the truth, well remember that corporations give money to elected officals and running candidates. Do you think there is no conflict of interest there? A blogger is quite often some random muppet (like myself) who researches things because he or she is passionate about an issue.

They usually back themselves up with heavy facts and figures because they know they will be held to a far higher standard than your average journalist. Because unlike said journalist, if they make a mistake, they can't run back to the editor with an apology. People will abandon their blog but the journalist still keeps their column.

Bloggers are the last voice, lets not have them silenced.

reply to post by burdman30ott6


Yep i read it and i remember the two cases you're on about. That's why i mentioned in my last reply that anyone for example threatening someones life on a blog should be arrested.

However there have been calls to arest bloggers for far less. I remember reading one where the guy had been visited by police for criticising the british muslim council. He didn't hate them, he didn't say islam was wrong, he said the council is promoting gaps between religions instead of understanding. That got him a visit from the police, as far as i'm aware he only got a wanring.

Why should he even have had that though? That's what worries me, slippery slope.

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984


LMAO. I couldn't care less what you think about me encouraging others to flag posts. Don't like it? Too bad. If I see a thread that i think is important, I will try and draw as much attention to it as I can. Who cares if you approve or not.

Anyway, back on subject.

In an era were we have near total infiltration and corruption of our corporatized and consolidated MSM outlets, the independent internet news sites and bloggers are like our last true REPORTERS trying to share the info that none of these bought and paid for shills will no longer touch with a ten-foot pole. We've got maniacs like Lieberman screaming for net censorship on youtube and trying to ram through the "homegrown terrorism Act", which labels anybody going against these idiots policies as potential "enemies of the state".

This is of the utmost importance.

I myself have personally been visited by the secret service for joking about George Bush on a website. I do not want to repeat the joke for obvious reasons, but lets just say they noticed...and they came knocking on my door two days later on a saturday at nine in the morning because of it. And they had a printout of the entire website with them in a thick stack of papers that they slammed on the table. They then proceeded to open it and go to the offending part which they highlighted.

Here's the funny part though....

They went on my computer and used the windows search function to search for words like, bomb, and president, and assassinate to see what they could find. LOL. Geniuses....

However, this is very serious. You guys have no idea the extent to which your words can be monitored. In fact, the mentioned words above will probably throw up some sort of flag and have them checking out the post.

[edit on 6/16/2008 by Mad_Hatter]

For the very fact that our freedoms may be removed completely in the not so distant future, I really wish people would form solid action and support groups. Where they could sign their own round table agreements and support each other through campaigns to protest and inform the public by all means necessary should any of their members be targeted.

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
LMAO. I couldn't care less what you think about me encouraging others to flag posts. Don't like it? Too bad. If I see a thread that i think is important, I will try and draw as much attention to it as I can. Who cares if you approve or not.

Calm down and learn to laugh, i was just messing around, chill out and breath would you, notice how i agreed that we need to take care of this issue? I also flagged it, don't take things so seriously. Let's put that behind us shall we, didn't mean to annoy you.

In an era were we have near total infiltration and corruption of our corporatized and consolidated MSM outlets, the independent internet news sites and bloggers are like our last true REPORTERS trying to share the info that none of these bought and paid for shills will no longer touch with a ten-foot pole. We've got maniacs like Lieberman screaming for net censorship on youtube and trying to ram through the "homegrown terrorism Act", which labels anybody going against these idiots policies as potential "enemies of the state".

This is of the utmost importance.

Agreed and pretty much what i said above. Bloggers don't have to answer to an editor. For anyone who has spoken to a journalist at even the lower levels of reporting, you'll find out that they are often told to drop stories, cut things from their articles including scary figures, or accoridng to someone i used to know "Find more agreeable sources". Does that sound like freedom of the press?

Bloggers don't have any of that, if they find truth they can post it, figures, facts and if needed documents they shoudln't really have. Granted the last part would have to be done anonymously but that's the other beauty of the internet, if you know what to do you can post smething without anyone knowing who posted it. That leads to a free and open society where people aren't afraid of being arrested if they inform the public of the truth.

[edit on 16-6-2008 by ImaginaryReality1984]

Any chance we could get a list of the bloggers arrested, and what their crimes were, also the country that arrested them..

Thanks in advance!

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984
I cannot believe people are being arrested for blogging, don't get me wrong if someone blogged they were going to kill a political candidate, or just kill anyone for that matter, then they should be arrested.

If I got a visit for every death threat I have ever screamed (or type-screamed...) at someone, mostly good ol' Counter Strike, then you people wouldn't see me...forever.

Arresting someone for threatning someones life is a little much.

Originally posted by spines
If I got a visit for every death threat I have ever screamed (or type-screamed...) at someone, mostly good ol' Counter Strike, then you people wouldn't see me...forever.

Arresting someone for threatning someones life is a little much.

I'm sure i've shouted "die (insert profanity here), on Call of duty or something. That's slightly different to threateninga political figure, or religious figure on a blog. There should be a careful monitoring of that one thing, if someone threatens a life, a building etc then it must be taken seriously.

However the rest of the time you should be able to say whatever you damn well want without being harrassed and arrested. Especially when you're simply telling the truth.

reply to post by Mad_Hatter


Dude are you serious? Did they have a search warrant?

Must have been one hell of a joke!

That's kind of scary to think about. What happened to freedom of speech?

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984


Threatening someone with written words? Is that really a threat or an opinionated rant? This is a very thin line we are crossing here.There should be no crime in putting thought on paper(or the ethernet)A crime is committed when a physical action is taken against a person or property.

Arresting bloggers for thoughts for any reason is dubious.Even the sicko writing about what the little girls were wearing.What actual crime did he commit?I emphatically agree that his actions and intent are suspect and in polite society completly unacceptable. Yet are we really willing to allow for the advent of the thought police? Or are we still a country that believes in personal freedoms and freedom of speach?

reply to post by Extralien


i want true/real freedom..what we have now is not freedom imo.


freedom!
www.youtube.com...

NESARA
www.nesara.us...
www.white-knights911.net...

Originally posted by AcesInTheHole
reply to post by Mad_Hatter

 

Dude are you serious? Did they have a search warrant?

Must have been one hell of a joke!

That's kind of scary to think about. What happened to freedom of speech?

Yes, I am dead serious. And no they didn't have a search warrant. They didn't really care and neither did I because all they did was scold me. They didn't arrest me or anything. I was in high school at the time. I think they realized it was just a high school kid playing a joke and decided it was nothing serious, because it wasn't. They were actually pretty cool about the whole thing. They thought it was funny, but said they were required to do their job and investigate it.