The Committee to Protect Bloggers – Risking Your Life for Your Words

Abhijit Nadgouda of iface, someone I don’t know personally but consider a friend, recently introduced me to The Committee To Protect Bloggers, a part of Civiblog, a multi-blog hosting service acting under “an international initiative with the aim of giving voice to individuals and organizations involved in global civil society.”

I’ve written about a lot of bloggers, and few have moved into the amazing realm of self-less motivation and risk that this blog does. According to their mission statement, The Committee to Protect Bloggers is dedicated to “the preservation of the life, liberty and freedom of speech of bloggers across the globe.” It’s a big task and they do it well.

• The Committee to Protect Bloggers will serve as a clearinghouse for information on incarcerated members of our community, as well as those whose lives have been taken from them because of their enthusiasm for the free exchange of information that blogging allows.
• The Committee to Protect Bloggers will serve as a pressure group to force unrecalcitrant governments to free imprisoned bloggers, and make restitution for tortured and murdered ones.
• The Committee to Protect Bloggers will bring to bear the formidable communicative power of the blogosphere to keep pressure on governments to stop arresting and abusing bloggers and to mitigate or reverse measures designed to restrict speech.
• The Committee to Protect Bloggers will act as direct agents in negotiations to free imprisoned bloggers.

We are driven by our enthusiasm for knowledge, by our affection for the possibilities of blogging, by the love we have for our fellow bloggers and by our belief in the free exchange of ideas.

We are guided by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Their mission statement makes it clear that they are primarily interested in the well-being of the bloggers themselves, not just the freedoms they promote. They are seeking information on bloggers imprisoned or “otherwise the vicitims of state-sanctioned oppression.” By bringing their cause to the public’s attention, they hope to support, defend, but mostly encourage the continual freedom of expression and freedom from oppression.

The articles cover a wide range of geographical locations, but the focus is totally on the risk, prosecution, threats, imprisonments, dangers, and challenges that face bloggers who risk their life for their words, hopes, dreams, and community.

Recent posts include:

• Enough is Enough: The New Zimbabwean Democracy Super-Blog
• Blogswana Project Blog
• Yemeni Sites Blocked
• Singapore Bloggers Subject to Arrest During Elections
• Videoblogger Subpoenaed by FBI
• Blogswana: Botswana, AIDS and Blogging
• Pakistan Blocked Wikipedia

They also list some wonderful resources to help anonymous and political bloggers defend and protect their rights and continue to get the word out.

• Berkman Center AnonBlog Guide
• BlogSafer Anonymous Blogging Guides
• Electronic Frontier Foundation Guide
• Freerk’s How To Bypass Internet Censorship
• RSF’s Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents
• Spirit of America Anonymous Blogging Campaign

They cannot serve their cause without help. Help for The Committee to Protect Bloggers comes in a variety of forms. They need money and help promoting their cause and finding stories, but mostly they need publicity. They need your help to keep the public informed, and through that publicity, put pressure on governments and other agencies to protect or free bloggers, and to help protect their work for freedom and change. Spread the word.

Related Articles

• Freedom of Speech – Bloggers Legal Rights
• Reporters Without Borders – Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents
• Delaware Supreme Court Extend First Amendment Protection to Online Comments
• Just a Reminder About Freedom: Blogging Comes With a Price
• 10 Things You Need to Know Before You Blog
• Now Blogs Not Safe for Work
• Blogging Threatened by Impending Legislation – Be Warned and Be Armed
• Imprisonment for Annoying People Online
• Big Brother, Government, Corporations, and Perverts May Be Reading Your Blog
• Full Disclosure on Corporate and Commercial Blogs
• US Federal Protection for Political Bloggers

---

Site Search Tags: freedom, risk, danger, threats, blogger, bloggers, blogging, blogs, writing, political, culture, cultural, politics, campaign, imprisonment, prison, fines, freedom+of+speech, speech, blogswana, committee, protection, protect, propoganda, change, writer, write
Copyright Lorelle VanFossen