May 2010

[censored Blog: Nadia From Tunis] Ammar: Weapon of mass debilitation

last 2 weeks in Tunisia, the scissors of censorship attempts to destroy the WEB 2.0, after the video sharing sites, sites of French information (Rue 89, 20minutes, Marianne, ..) over 60 blogs posted a 404 in Tunisia even flickr is more accessible.

Customers rally ( http://ammar404.tumblr.com/ ) the blogosphere and twitter reborn is our source of information. I I decided to publish the notes of friends blogs censored. Everyone has the right to speak.

Ammar: Weapon of mass debilitation ( link)

is the sizzle on the net for a few days. Tunisian Internet (and even some foreigners) have more than these words in his mouth: "ATI, Ammar, Censorship" and other slogans colored.

But what's going on? Ammar, the proud owner of a 404 tarpaulin, a symbol of the frustration of the famous Tunisian Internet to true-false code 404 error when they try to access a site censored, has exceeded all reasonable limits.

This character semi-real, half-fictional made famous by bloggers to describe their Tunisian chief censor (via ATI: Tunisian Internet Agency) has taken a heavy toll among news sites, blogs and video sharing sites. From the famous to the obscure YouTube bloggers tongue hanging slightly, ATI shoots anything that moves, with peaks of aggression sometimes completely incomprehensible, totally delirious.

past few days so, specifically since last week, a new peak of activity, and the wallet Ammar was filled quickly. A long list of unfortunates who jostle 404 continues to grow.

It started with the site Rue89, Le Nouvel Observateur and 20 minutes which others soon followed. First reactions on Twitter and Facebook are crying foul and are desperately seeking the offending item or items that have earned them the scissors. No explanation logic is found (not that censorship is logical, but one can always find a trigger). Then you bet on a theory of anticipation "in anticipation of elections, Ammar was the household." But is it seriously considering the relative importance of these elections, especially when you think there are only a few months, presidential elections, more widely observed, took place?

The next day, the massacre continues. Thus some video sharing sites succumb to seral blocker. Blip.tv metacafe.com and find themselves rounded up in the small van and they are not alone. Stronger yet, Flickr photo sharing site to turn dark.

The video bloggers have collapsed, and other Tweeples facebookiens does retain more of its 4 spit truth to Ammar. The scandal is overflowing, and information flows everywhere. We are angry, we are ashamed and they say.

But the story does not end there, because these pages flinguées follow blogs. More than a dozen of them fall one by one behind the famous sign 404 in just days. Something completely new because Ammar used to gun down blogs, but not all at once.

And there, the drama! "How dare Ammar it? Already we rot life, it forces us to take a circuitous route just to access information may be needed for our socio-professional or just for our food and our intellectual culture, it can stifle a handful of our oldest bloggers, true spokespersons of Tunisian web, read by hundreds and hundreds of people every day, breath of fresh air in this space becoming smaller and guarded! "

We no longer, and a firm but peaceful campaign was born. A wave of protest is taking place, moving signs, showing (or not) the faces of their authors, who clearly express their anger and frustration, but mostly their ras-le-bol. There are limits to everything, and Ammar has exceeded the limits. It dares all, even block Ammar home in front of his door with any of these signs, he shouted to let go and move on.

In the brouhaha incomprehensible, a huge question mark. But what got into him? Information: ATI strike yesterday. From there one hundred rumors ... Coincidence? Deliberate act of sabotage of a band of frustrated employees? But what logic is there here? What interest? Sabotage would not it have been wiser if we had, instead, Ammar neutralized for a few days? lifting all restrictions, free pages, blogs and videos?

matter finally. What good is trying to understand. What good is identifying Ammar. Ammar is one concept. Whether man, woman, young, old, single, multiple, top, bottom, the result is the same.

But whatever the correct theory, the truth the whole truth about Ammar, what big or small Ammar Ammar budding managed to prove these days?

I'll tell you: the wave of censorship that has darkened the net these days Tunisian scored a coup: it has demonstrated the absurdity and abusive ITA whose existence has become critical in principle even before arriving to analyze the action. She managed to prove that the real power holders on the net are the surfers themselves, whether on Facebook, Twitter, Blog or any single users and readers. These users that each busy in his corner to do his little way, bypassing more or less discreetly scissors Ammar said STOP! Stop the disgraceful and arbitrary censorship, Stop the existence of this tool of frustration and brutality, to stop this debilitating Weapon of Massive. Customers have come together, braved their fears usual, have shown, have said their minds. These users, small unruly children there is still some time, have grown, matured, made a decision. They will never be silent longer, they let it fall, they will continue to write, they disseminate information, they help others to circumvent censorship.

Ammar is obsolete!

Note: This blog is "theoretically" inaccessible in Tunisia since yesterday. Act is ridiculous because my blog is almost dying and I'm more tickled sensitivity Ammar for ages. However, any feed reader allows to retrieve the content like any other blog. A big thank you to Ammar (or its employees) restored to me the desire to write and get my blog oblivion.

At As I write this note, other web pages are censored.

To follow the protests (and participate), take a look here or here or on Twitter with the hashtags # # 404 # ammar free404

http://metallicnaddou.blogspot.com/