Censoring the Internet has been a big issue that affects the worldwide population every day. Every day, millions of people post millions of blogs on website, stating their opinion freely. They are acting upon their constitutional right of freedom of speech. Censoring the Internet infringes on our basic rights, and we shouldn’t be trialed for what we say
Eskinder Nega was an Ethiopian journalist and blogger that was jailed several times by the Meles Zenawi government with charges of terrorism and treason.[1] He was first arrested in 2005, after the Ethiopian elections because he posted a post on his blog that said he believed that Meles Zenawi rigged the elections in his favor. Soon after it was posted, he was arrested for criminal offense towards the constitution. He was jailed because he was expressing how he felt on his blog.
The fact that he was jailed for expressing his beliefs showed that the Ethiopian government went against the constitution to protect themselves and they are in the wrong. He was acting upon his basic right, and he should be able to do so without fearing any wrong backlash he might get. He was wrongly jailed, and that demonstrates that censoring the Internet past the borderline of invasion.
I am not the only one to be against such madness. Tumbler openly spoke out about its disadvantages.[2]They posted their representatives numbers, so that the users could contact them with their opinions and “say no”. They used that as a method to encourage people to stand up for their rights and not let the government take control what they can or cannot say on the web. They feel that they are being stepped on and stripped away of their constitutional right.
As you see, I am not the only one who thinks this way. If a popular website believes in my thought, I must be right. Censoring used to be for communist countries, but now that wave of too much government power has hit the new world, and we must stop it before it gets out of hand.
[1] BBC News. “Jailed Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega honoured,” 2 May 2012.
“http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17921950”
[2]http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonoberholtzer/2011/11/16/tumblr-speaks-up-about-internet-censorship/
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