How do you say “Blogging” in Mandarin?

I’ve never been a fan of politics, foreign or American. I never have really had a grasp on what goes on outside the US, call me stubborn, or the product of poor use of the American media, but I’ve never really seen eye to eye with what we do outside the US, so I stay away.

(Mainly due to the fact that I figured the Internet was not prevalent that much in that region because of constant warfare and destruction keeping their societies technologically behind.)

I felt like the one area that the government would be behind in controlling in these countries (the Myanmar case blew my mind) is Internet writing. the first thing my brain thought about when I read of the man being detained for writing a blog in Saudi Arabia, was African-Americans being arresting for voicing their freedom during the Civil Rights movement. I know it doesn’t really compare but just the thought that people now can’t even voice their opinions through text on the Internet sickens me. Not being able to voice your opinion in the street, or not carry out your beliefs in public in one thing, but some of the security measures they are taking is absurd.

Reporters Without Borders said last week that Myanmar authorities have stepped up their surveillance of the Internet since the beginning of the year, pressuring Internet cafe owners to register all users’ personal details and to program screen captures every five minutes on each computer. (FROM Good Afternoon Myanmar).

Wasn’t privacy suppose to be one of the benefits of the Internet? Being able to write and publish what you want with LITTLE threat of persecution. (My mom has a funny animal cartoon strip on our refrigerator. It is two dogs sitting at a computer, and they are in a chat room for cats, and the one dog says “on the Internet, nobody knows you are a dog”)

I feel like this is how the Internet should be treated. These other countries are removing that barrier between the writer and the reader, giving them no privacy. Earlier I said that I believe a lot of these problems in foreign countries stem from uptight intolerant religious fanatics. In these countries holy books, or in their religions, is there any mention of restricting freedom of speech via the Internet?

I thought the quote from URL Not Available: China is a perfect representation of the power-trips alot of the foreign countries are having.

Although China is also battling a seemingly insurmountable pollution problem, the regime appears determined to ignore Western calls for greater openness. “Why can’t China accept that dissent and argument are part of being a normal country?” asks leading Hong-Kong based academic Rebecca MacKinnon. “Why behave in such an insecure manner that violates international human rights norms, damages China’s international image, and distracts media attention away from the Chinese people’s genuine achievements over the past 30 years?”

The questions asked in this quote are all the questions I have about why countries like China do this, and i think its disgusting and inhumane, this is probably why I try to stay as far away from politics as possible.