I'm really curious to know why only 420 people have  signed this petition against Internet censorship in Bahrain. 

Does this mean that the remainder of the population is in agreement with the draconian law which bans and blocks and censors access to information without a court order - at the whim of some little child who can rest his behind on a chair and tell us what we can and cannot access online? 

Are they fine with the rest of the world laughing at our country at a day and age when you cannot block out the sun, cannot say no to free speech and cannot, under any circumstances, block access to information and censor the world wide web? 

And while many of you say that such a petition is useless, in a democracy, which we were the last time I checked, petitions are a legitimate and civil means of protest. 

By signing the petition, all you do really is clear your conscience and say no to another injustice being committed against you, in your name. 

And for those who have told me about how afraid they are to sign this petition, which they insist is useless, because adding their name to the cause will be taken against them at some point, some day, I would like to give you all a big hug and tell you that darkness is spooky, but if you all join hands, and try to draw back the curtains in one big push - maybe you will still be able to let the sun rays in. 

Don't let them block the sun. Don't let them terrorise you. You have the right to access information and they shouldn't be allowed to bully you. 

And if it really is a law to protect us, then let them stand up and SHUT DOWN the entire Internet  -- because we want it all, or nothing at all. 




2 comments:

Unknown said...

All right, you got my signature. I kinda thought the petition was specifically for the January blocking which seemed to me to be over by the time I read it in the newspapers.
(via http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/02/11/qatar-and-bahrain-disappearing-the-internet/ )

Unknown said...

I will sign and hope it gains some momentum. Sadly i signed too many petitions and almost all had no success. 90% weren't even acknowledged even though they had thousands of signatures. So i will sign and keep hope but not much of it.

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