IP Democracy: Bloggers Expose the Turmoil in Myanmar

As the simmering resentment against the totalitarian government of strategically important Myanmar boils over into outright revolt, bloggers in that nation are invaluable conduits for news and information. And they're fulfilling this public service at great risk to themselves.

The ruling regime in Myanmar (formerly Burma) censors websites that carry Burmese news or information and generally bans access to the Internet. But a steady stream of uncensored photos and reports are flowing out of the country nevertheless, thanks to secret bloggers who risk imprisonment or worse for keeping the world informed.

One particularly helpful blogger, named "Moezack," has gone eerily quiet. Other blogs and sites are up and running, but as Mathew Ingram points out, only a few are written in English, so it's hard for non-Burmese speakers to get an immediate sense of what's going on there.

What's going on, it seems, is escalating violence, with soldiers and police firing bullets over the tops of large crowds of demonstrators, who are violating the government's ban on assembly. Thanks to the bloggers who sneak information out of the nation, the world is watching.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on September 26, 2007 5:59 PM to IP Democracy