Burma: The Banishment of the Cyber Dissidents
September 26th, 2007
By DR. CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTÉS, Assistant Editor, TMV Columnist
Print
My sources in Rangon tell me that the military has orders to stop and frisk civilians and anyone caught with a cell phone is being arrested. This is following a series of cell phone camera clips showing violence toward marchers in Burma; the clips were uploaded to YouTube. The government is attempting to stop all transmission of ‘unauthorized’ data regarding the current uprising led by Buddhist monks and the people of Burma. Seems it might be easier to try to drain the ocean with a thimble.
Some ex-patriot Burmese writers who live in London have said that this time will be different for Burma, and we pray it is so. They say that the 1988 uprising did not even appear on the radar of most other countries, that many dissidents peacefully protesting for democracy were murdered; that no lightning flashed through the sky from Burma, drawing the eyes of the world to see what was really occurring.
Using what I’d call “sudden villages,” that like Brigadoon, which appear and then disappear after a few hours or a day, Burmese men and women dare to disseminate information about ‘how to’ start a blog, use a cyber cafe, pass info through electronic networks….After the information is passed, poof! the forum closes down and is no more. A brilliant Burmese version of the old Zorro trick of meeting and disbanding within minutes, just to pass a single critical tactic along; then everyone is on their own to implement it.
‘Reporters without Borders,’ a deep-into-the-bones group, reports that a guide for protesting was feverishly and widely copied and passed around amongst young Burmese. It is clear the opportunity to ’speak truth to lies’ in Burma has not only been long overdue, but that conveying information whatever way one can, is truly something valued akin to gold.
Though it’s true that cyber communications can also telegraph false rumors or ‘let’s you and him fight’ aspersions in a split second round the world, Burma’s cyber dissidents show that it is still close to miraculous that a technology or reportage can be put in the hands of those who are ‘first order’… that is, a part of the news themselves or in close proximity, rather than what we have so long been used to, ’second order’ reporting of those who speak to or obseve those who are an integral part of the news…one step removed.
There are no doubt, advantages to reportage that is ‘of the people,’ as well as observational and ‘think’ pieces. But, as much, as the Burmese are proving, it is remarkable that people from a specific group can report on their own group, as opposed to those distant from the culture, and never having lived in the culture, doing all the reportage. That was the old ‘occupiers’ sole way of dispersing ‘news.’ And historical tracts.
But now in Burma…
Bloggers are teaching others to use foreign-hosted proxy sites - such as your.freedom.net and glite.sayni.net - to view blocked sites and tip-toe virtually unseen through cyberspace, swapping tricks and links on their pages.
Ko Htike met his network of citizen journalists in an internet forum which was rapidly disbanded after initial contact had been made.
Such forums are also used as a space to alert bloggers whenever new content - stills or video - arrives.
Read more here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7012984.stm
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 26th, 2007 at 3:18 am and is filed under Internet, Burma, Journalism, Freedom of the Press, Law Enforcement, Internet News Media, Social Commentary, News, Blogging. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Add New Comment
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Add New Comment