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Anonymous Blogging tips for the oppressed – are you from Iran, China, Malaysia or Zimbabwe?

Anoniblog is a new Web site which offers tips on blogging anonymously for those people who live in countries that restrict free speech. The site warns that bloggers can't be absolutely safe, but it offers information about risks in each country and tips for minimizing risks. There are Arabic, Chinese and English versions of the guides, targeted specifically for people in Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, Malaysia and Zimbabwe. The site is backed by Spirit of America, a nonprofit that supports the American military and civilian workers abroad. The group states that it aims to advance freedom, democracy and peace around the world.


I believe that this form of communication can in fact be used in a manner to aid liberation or at least freedom of speech/expression. The technological advancement in the above mentioned countries thus could benefit this development if sanctions on the use and distribution of technology are not introduced. Anoniblog for instance states that

“Mugabe, in April of this year, contracted with the Chinese government to secure access to their Internet censorship knowledge and technology. There has yet to be any report that these have been implemented and in October of this year even the Chinese found Mugabe so isolated it refused to help him with his food problems, outgrowth, in part, of his seizure of white-owned farms, which he gave as gifts to political supporters. Bloggers press on. The efforts of these individuals, estimated to number between 50 and 100, exert a disproportionate influence on their country and on international discourse about Zimbabwe, due to several factors: The lack of any other information and the resolution and intelligence of the bloggers themselves, who have broken news such as the daylight murder of a woman by the police in Bulawayo and the bulldozing of housing for the poor in Harare.”

Check out this blog on Zimbabwe...

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