Courtesy of the husband: Blog Crusaders Needed.
BEIJING: China is targeting blogs -- diary-style personal pages for
Internet users -- in its latest attempt to censor the increasing
popularity of the Internet in the country, according to a rights group.
Two sites hosting blogs for thousands of people -- who express their
views about news, themselves or anything they want -- have been shut
down by the government, the Paris-based media rights group Reporters
Without Borders said One of the blogs, "BlogBus.com," hosted more than
15,000 blogs that have now been made inaccessible, the group said in a
statement.
The site was shut down on March 11 for allowing a letter to be posted
that was critical of the government.
This is basically the equivalent of the US government shutting down
Blogger for one inflammatory Bush Bashing post. In fact, Blogger and
TypePad are blocked in China. The crackdown on blogs coincides with the opening of the 60th
session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, at which China
has a seat without respecting its international commitments, the
international press freedom organisation said.
It also comes days after China's legislature approved an amendment to
its constitution to say for the first time that the state respects and
protects human rights.
Ugh. I have an odd sort of appreciation for the PRC's ability to smile
cheesily while it's obvious to a blind man on a galloping horse that
they're lying, but this is beyond the pale. It's another attempt at
cracking down. It's just one more way for them to control the content
and to crush dissent. We bloggers can talk until the cows come home
about free speech. It's easy for us to take our rights for granted.
When we disagree with someone, we roll out Voltaire and quote, I may not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it. We BlogIran. We support average Iraqis who
are telling us a story that the mainstream media has patently ignored.
But we don't do much about China, do we? There's not much we can
do about China, it seems, to let them know we support their cause. They
control the internet there. They close off access to sites they don't
want people visiting. They cut off thousands of bloggers because of one
post.
I did a little research and I found Adopt a Blog.
It should be called Guerilla Blogging. This is for all of those
bloggers who have their own hosting and domain name and perhaps a
little extra space to share with a blogger who's been blocked by the
PRC so that they can keep writing. They can write about the fact that
their dog has fleas for all I care. Blatant political dissent isn't a
necessary content requirement. But those those of us who take our
freedom of speech for granted should care that people aren't allowed to
write that their dog has fleas in the first place.
I would do this in a heartbeat if I weren't on Blogger. When I move
this site, I will help out. In the meantime, the best I can do is to
get the word out.