Mideast bloggers put freedom and lives on the line

Mideast bloggers are putting their freedom and lives on the line per AP writer Anna Johnson.

Mideast governments for decades have dominated the media, trying to keep a monopoly on information and deter criticism of authorities. But bloggers are chipping away, writing about everything from human rights to the region’s rulers to the most taboo topic – Islam.

Weblogs… started taking off in the Mideast a few years ago as access to the Internet and technology for creating sites grew. There are now hundreds of Arabic- and Farsi-language blogs posted from the Middle East.

Many of the blogs are just personal musings. But many others strive to tackle political and social issues, and their authors are increasingly getting into trouble, with governments blocking their sites and throwing them in jail.

Read the article to appreciate the freedoms we have in the states and how bloggers in the Mideast are putting no only their freedom, but their lives on the line by blogging about sensitive government issues.

Should inspire any lawyer worth his or her salt to take up the cause of publishing information that’ll advance the discourse of law and provide free legal insight to Americans.