Censorship Is Coming

It used to be that you only had a “voice” if you could afford a printing press. Then came the Internet, and all it took was an affordable computer and an ISP to get your opinions out there, and tell the truth that politicians would rather you not. Dictators all over the world did their best to shut us up, and in some countries, they have. Most notably communist China, Iran, and Russia. The key to their repressing bloggers is to force them to “register” with the government, which gives the government the “right of control” over them. If they say the right thing, they leave them alone. Say the wrong thing and their “license” gets pulled and they’re out of business. Putin’s “free” Russia is the latest to join the fray, passing a law requiring bloggers to “register” before they’re “allowed” to post. Licensing bloggers mirrors our own government’s efforts to “license” gun owners and is a BIG step toward a dictatorship. (New York Times)