Freedom of Speech on the Net Lives On
The some times difficult part of living in a free society is the ability of people to use our rights in perverse ways. We covered the issue of the government shutting down 70,000 website in one action. Speculation was “an effort to curtail bloggers.” Further review pointed to Al Qaeda websites as the target of the FBI.
If put to a vote, the average person in the US will probably vote against allowing bombing tips on the internet. But is that really what freedom of speech is about? Is it not the authorities responsibility to ferret out evil doers and mete out the appropriate punishment? In this case the federal government is tasked with national defense. Going after terrorists should be in their job description. No violation of State Sovereignty there. Agreed?
The company that hosted the blogs, Blogetery is back in business. And in my opinion, the owner should be. There seems to be no reason to shut someone down if they are not complicit in the terrorist activity. Be it on Blogetery or any other hosting site, people will find a way to present their message if the law allows.
In Saudi Arabia they might be missing a few digits or more if they were allowing the opposition to present violent methods to resistance. Here in the US, we believe everyone has a right to an opinion. The right to harm someone, to provoke someone to harm another, or present material which might be used to harm another falls beyond the boundaries of any rights we grant the individual. That fair?
August 22, 2010 3:07 PM PDT
Terrorists, FBI can’t sink Blogetery
A month ago, it appeared that Blogetery.com, a blog platform that claims more than 70,000 publications, would never be heard from again.
The service was shut down last month by its Web host after FBI agents alleged the terrorist group al-Qaeda was using the platform to distribute recruiting materials, bomb-making tips, and the names of people targeted by the organization for assassination.
