The University of Washington’s World Information Access report (WIA) has shown that since 2003, at least 64 people have been arrested for blogging about political issues - for exposing corruption in goverment, the abuse of human rights or for just generally criticising governments. In 2008, it is likely that more bloggers than ever will face arrest as a result of the growing political importance of blogging.
More than half of all the arrests have been made in China, Egypt and Iran with prison sentences given to many. The average prison sentence for blogging was 15 months and the longest sentence found by the WIA was eight years!
Its not just the Middle East bloggers though – in the last four years, British, French, Canadian and American bloggers have also been arrested. Arrests tend to increase during times of political uncertainty – so with upcoming elections in China, Pakistan, Iran and the US, arrests are predicted to high an all time high.
For more details about the report visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7456357.stm
Tags arrest blog blogging China corruption Egypt government Iran prison World Information Access report