It is obvious that in some societies bloggers or internet based citizen journalists, are being considered dangerous - many are being arrested because they are posting information that some repressive governments just don't want published!

I believe there may be a swing towards the right in some countries who have had genuine liberal government for a number of years - New Zealand and the United kingdom are two examples. Australia has just shed their right-wing Liberal Government.

What will happen in the US this year - Obama or McCain? In NZ, re-elect the left of centre Labour Government or right wing National? The anwers to both will be known by the end of this year!

Read Jonathan M Gitlin's article below:

"No matter what you think of blogging, Internet-based citizen journalism is a real threat, not just to traditional media business models but to totalitarian governments. How do we know that bloggers are drawing blood? Because some governments are hitting back harder and harder; last year saw a tripling in the number of bloggers arrested around the world compared to 2006, according to a report from the University of Washington.

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"Last year, 2007, was a record year for blogger arrests, with three times as many as in 2006. Egypt, Iran and China are the most dangerous places to blog about political life, accounting for more than half of all arrests since blogging became big," said Assistant Professor Phil Howard, lead author of the World Information Access Report. Howard also suggests that the real number of arrests may be much higher, as not every arrest makes it into the media."

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