I really want to be able to get away from writing about the G20, but every time I look there is another ridiculous story to share.
This time, the “Authorities” have arrested a guy for tweeting things he heard on the police scanner. When demonstrators in Iran used Twitter and other social networks to communicate, it was hailed as a triumph of democracy and freedom. Any crack down on it by the government of Iran was viewed as authoritarian oppression. Here in the US? Well, that’s a different story. Think about this – if everything that happened in Pittsburgh during and after the G20 had happened in Iran, China, or anywhere else, we’d be having a huge benefit concert by now, and our government would be talking about sanctions or invasion.
Not allowed to shout about it, not allowed to Twitter about it, not allowed to take pictures or video…
Land of the free (to do what you are told)…
From NY Times (link to full article)
“As demonstrations have evolved with the help of text messages and online social networks, so too has the response of law enforcement.
On Thursday, FBI agents descended on a house in Jackson Heights, Queens, and spent 16 hours searching it. The most likely reason for the raid: a man who lived there had helped coordinate communications among protesters at the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh.
The man, Elliot Madison, 41, a social worker who has described himself as an anarchist, had been arrested in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24 and charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of instruments of crime. The Pennsylvania State Police said he was found in a hotel room with computers and police scanners while using the social-networking site Twitter to spread information about police movements. He has denied wrongdoing…”
Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/nyregion/05txt.html
good job