warning to bloggers

interesting! front page headline that jumped up at me early this morning when i grab the star. those who spread untruths on the net will be detained.

posting this up in a hurry during my office lunch time. will write more tonight when i’m at home.

UPDATED: thursday, 3/08/06, 2:04 AM

ahh… so first we had the information minister, zam and the deputy internal security minister, fu, speaking up about the need to control blogs and websites on the internet. now, the PM gave you a warning… be careful with what you write or else….

“They say all kinds of things, make all kinds of dubious claims. We cannot allow them to abuse the freedom earned under the media. If left alone, they can say or pass on all kinds of things.”

now, i wonder why can’t we as bloggers say all kind of things? a blog is suppose to be personal, right, so up to us to say what we like… with discreetion. anyway, who is to judge what is true and untrue? certainly not for the gomen/police! it’s up to the readers to believe it or not, mr PM. some of what we said may look ‘untruth’ to you but they were actually truth that we dare to speak up, truth that you are in denial of…. thus you said it is untruth. see?

oh, another thing. i guess this sudden clamp-down on internet has to do with our ex PM’s constant criticism directed at the country and the PM. mahathir had turned to the internet for publicity, to have his say published, thus the fear from our present PM and his ‘henchmen’.

some of you might remember that sometime ago, a blogger from singapore, mr brown, was hauled up by the singapore government for some cynical non constructive remarks he made in his blog. on this matter, a writer from strait times interactive had a good article comparing journalists to bloggers and gave a good interesting view of what and how bloggers write.

Most bloggers, on the other hand, do not generally report on something new. Typically, they report on what reporters have reported.

Thus, at best, they are ‘meta-reporters’. Yes, in stories like a 9/11, or the July 7 London bombings, where there are crowds, citizens armed with always-on wireless connections, powerful yet inexpensive mobile digital devices as well as easy-to-use, free Internet publishing tools, citizens in many countries can do first-person, grassroots reporting.

so true. look, i always picked up articles from the mainstream media to blog on. hmm… so i’m a meta reporter?

Essentially then, blogging provides an opportunity for citizens to reflect on their place in the world and develop solidarity with and communicate their needs, demands or desires to others, he said.

At the heart of this activity is creativity. It is not about joining a protest group or going to a demonstration. It is, Dr Atton said, about developing a personal voice through which to make sense of the world, both for oneself and for one’s community.

So while blogging may not impact government institutions in radical ways for now, it has the capacity to change the polity in small, indiscernible ways that may accumulate to make a difference – even at the polls – some day down the road.

that’s so true, right? well continue reading the article here, ok?