'More and more' bloggers facing arrest

16/06/2008

Bloggers are at risk of having criminal proceedings launched against them, as the number being arrested reaches a record high, the BBC has reported.

Those who go online to criticise governments or to highlight human rights violations could follow in the footsteps of the 64 others who have been arrested since 2003 for publishing such opinions.

An annual report from the University of Washington reported that three times as many bloggers who wrote about political issues were arrested in 2007 compared with the previous year's figures.

Of the arrests since 2003, over half were carried out in China, Egypt or Iran.

The World Information Access report revealed that bloggers can expect to face 15 months in prison, although the longest sentence was found to be for eight years.

Yet blogging does not always lead to the worst case scenario happening. Catherine Sanderson was an English blogger working in France, when in 2006 her employer became aware of her anonymous blog and dismissed her for gross misconduct (although this was later revised).

However, she successfully took the company to court and her experience is now being released as a novel.


http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=conWebDoc.19747