Saudi Arabia's most popular blogger is under arrest
The New York Times reports this morning, and several bloggers have noted that Fouad al-Farhan, an outspoken 32-year-old Saudi Arabian blogger was “being questioned about specific violations of nonsecurity laws,” according to the Saudi interior ministry.
They must have a lot of questions, Fouad, who writes about social issues and is his country's most popular blogger, has been detained since Dec. 10.
The heartening slice to this story, is that friends have taken over his blog site for him, changing the title to "Free Fouad," and bearing the quote "I don't want to be forgotten in jail," as a subhead. That's the way a democracy is supposed to work. When one voice gets silenced, many voices rise.
Except that Saudi Arabia is no Democracy, not even close and I greatly admire the courage of both Fouad and the many voices that are rising in that country on Fouad's behalf.
Shel,
When I read stories like this, I'm reminded of Friedman's analysis in "The World Is Flat", which went along the lines of:
- Minorities in democracies see the man in the castle at the top of the hill, and say "When I grow up, I will be that man."
- Minorities in non-democracies see the man in the castle at the top of the hill, and say "When I grow up, I will kill that man."
Mark
Posted by: Mark Harrison | January 02, 2008 at 08:44 AM
Freedom often has a very bloody price, and once again men like this pay. I feel for Fouad al-Farhan, just a one did for Nelson Mandela when he was locked up. The tool may be a blog, but the mission and purpose is the same.
My own experiences in Egypt showed a culture that was not thrilled about such voices. Similarly,my wife-- who is stationed in the United Arab Emirates -- found her Skype account shut down today, and has lost access to Flickr, Twitter and other social media forms.
Autocracies hate social media. It's a big threat.
Posted by: Geoff Livingston | January 02, 2008 at 09:21 AM
Geoff,
You should blog about what your wife is going through. It's important that people know what's happening. Have yo left Egypt? I had really wanted you to meet Wael Abbas.
Posted by: shel israel | January 02, 2008 at 09:29 AM
Yeah, I'm back in the United States. I think I will blog about the shut down Shel. Look for it in the next few days. Thank you for your encouragement.
Posted by: Geoff Livingston | January 02, 2008 at 07:21 PM
As promised, http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/blog/2008/01/05/the-united-arab-emirates-blocks-skype/
Posted by: Geoff Livingston | January 05, 2008 at 08:04 AM