All over Egypt thousands of people took to the streets to protest against Hosni Mubarak’s government. Blogs, twitter, Facebook and mobile phone footage all played some part in mobilising the crowds and getting messages to the wider world.
Check out this film which was made four years ago (by Al-Jazeera), when bloggers were relatively few and new in Egypt. They claimed the Egyptian government was nothing better than a dictatorship, using torture, intimidation and corruption to maintain its hold on power, and they were attracting a growing audience. Back then they were already making waves — and paying a high price. But they were sewing the seeds of today’s multi-media uprising…
This makes me think about the internet service providers in TZ. They, like wavijana, could take Egypt’s example as a way to communicate mass movements. Sidhani if there are firm internet laws specific to Tanzania, but there may be in the future…
Sasa hapo ndipo kwenye tatizo, kwasababu watakuwa wanatunga sheria za kuwakomoa watu (ambao watakuwa wamefanya makosa tayari kabla ya sheria kutungwa au kujulikana)… as if they would be saying, “I am the boss around here” and making example of the ‘wrong-doers’.
Is the government even considering implementing internet laws at the moment?
The good thing when it comes to blogging is that the Tanzanian Constitution supports ‘freedom of speech’; if I am not mistaken…
@Anon, do you think Internet laws will help, in the grand scheme of things?
I think in many ways, the internet assists freedom of speech. Restricting rules on the internet, therefore, may restrict that freedom of speech. At least, this is what I observe today in Syria for example, where internet bandwidth itself is controlled by the government.
Great post.