Freedom of expression on the Internet

A Paris-based media watchdog has released a handbook to help cyberdissidents and bloggers avoid political censorship. The blog has become a new place for free expression the book offers advice to set up a blog and run it anonymously. "Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure", wrote Julien Pain head of RSF Internet Freedom Desk.
Singapor however has jailed two men for making racist remarks against minority malays on the internet. The judge said that "the right to propogate an opinion on the internet is not and cannot be and unfettered right". Singapore is a country which has the highest internet use in the work but also a country with tough media laws. The government has defended these controls as necessary to maintain ethics and harmony amongst its population, of which about three quaters are ethnic chinese and ethnic indians make up eight percent.
This brings up issues of free expression and wether it should be controlled or not. In both cases the internet is a place in which oridnary people speak up. It shows that there are both positive and negatives to being able to say what you want on the internet.