Would You Allow Your Blog To Send You to Jail?

Two articles in Newsweek Magazine literally grabbed my attention.  Blogging is rapidly transforming our world!  In some other parts of the world, Bloggers are so intimidating to the "powers that be" that they are being sent to jail!  Would you be willing to go to Jail for the Content You Write in Your Blog?

I initially read the print version of Dan Ephron's Newsweek magazine article (June 11, 2007) entitled "Unwanted Attention."  The issue that was highlighted was the efforts of Arab dissidents using blogging as a means of political protest.  One Syrian Blogger, Ammar Abdulhamid, now in exile is confined to blogging about the events in his country and other parts of the Arab world from his home in Washington DC.  The article indicates that Abdulhamid  has "watched as regimes from Tunisia to Iran jailed bloggers and intimidated others into ditching their keyboards."

According the Ephron, it is just recently that governments in the Middle East have begun to understand  the power that influential bloggers can have on affairs of  State.  And they're not necessarily pleased with what they perceive...hence jail or severe censure for some blog writers who threaten to upset the status quo with their opinions.

This angst is not limited to the Arab world.China is also monitoring Bloggers much more assiduously.  According to an on-line article by Newsweek writer Sarah Schafer, entitled "Blogger Nation", there are now 1 Million Active Bloggers in China.  Although this number is small  in comparison to the percentage of registered Bloggers which number 30 Million, it is a HUGE increase within the past couple of years.  By comparison, the United States has between 15 Million to 30 Million active Bloggers.

So, why is it a big deal?  Well, this is a Big Deal because in some of the world's most populous nations, the individual voice has historically been severely curtailed.  When it was heard, if at all...it spoke in muted whispers, cloaked in fear & wary of being singled out or intimidated.  Most of the time, the individual voice was smothered in TOTAL silence, despairing of ever being heard in totalitarian systems that oppressed people and deprived them of basic human rights.  Blogging has given the individual back his voice...with a ROAR that could not have been anticipated or easily silenced.

It's been a two edged sword, an unconventional weapon of warfare defined by the  rapid fire of posts typed with staccato clicks onto a keyboard & then launched into the world.  The blogger's post has succeeded masterfully in evading the slow detection methods of the Government Censors to blast open conventions & norms that had been impregnable fortresses for centuries.  All this in 24 Months....

The democratization of such a potent force is an inherent strategic challenge to most power structures.  The power of Blogs to communicate with authority & influence can be likened to the difficulty a nation state has to fighting guerrilla warfare.  How does an organized batallion of infantry defend against an enemy of One?  How do you quickly identify the enemy combatant who slips in & out of uniform or never wears it at all, merely merging into the population when expedient? 

Similarly, how do you police the content of a medium in which millions sign up and contribute just one post before disappearing into the vacuous ethers of the blogosphere never to be heard from again?  How do you monitor everything that's being said by everyone at anytime?  On what basis do you Create the Rules?  Who Will Enforce Them?  And How?

This discussion is not merely occurring overseas.  It is a topic which is rapidly emerging as a focal point at the National level for the real estate industry.  Recently at the National Association of Realtors (NAR) convention, Blogging was briefly addressed & then tabled until November according to a blog post by Real Estate Trainer, Monika McGillicuddy in which she described her participation in the Professional Standards Committee meeting. Among the issues which Monika refers to in her post, "NAR Looking at Blogs" are:

1.  Realtors responsibility for monitoring & editing their blogs and the blogs of those licensed to them

2.  Realtors posting anonymous or unflattering (but true) comments to other Realtor's blogs

3.  Issues with the delay in Blog Comment Postings...Disclosure regarding whether a Blog is run on "Real Time"

One quote from the blog post made me pause in sober reflection;  Monika, referring to her experience at a National Forum for real estate professionals writes:

"One thing I learned while in DC is that there are many-many people who have no clue what blogging is and surprisingly people in important positions who do not see any merit in blogging and will not encourage their sales associates to blog!"

As I reflect on this statement, I wonder if we flatter ourselves somewhat in thinking we far more progressive than governments across the world who are reacting rather than responding the the challenges of this New Age.  They too are responding to the challenges of dealing with a world in cyberspace that they do not understand or refuse to acknowledge.  In this new arena, the implications of not understanding the impact of this medium does not bode well for the creation of policy to protect and enhance the welfare of our organization.  Blogging is a powerful tool!  The essential elements of it's practical implications must be fully grasped if we are to effectively grapple with the scope of issues which are transforming the politics of conversation. 

Blogging has released the power of a Single Voice in much the same way that the splitting of the atom released the awesome & fearful specter of nuclear energy in the atomic bomb.  There is reason to be cautious  and deliberate about determining the best way to move forward.  It is a force that can be ignited for tremendous good...it is also capable of bringing out the worst in us.  There is also wisdom in the knowledge that we cannot go back...this genie has shattered the bottle from which it escaped!