Is blogging a way of spreading terrorism?

We all know of online blogging tycoons xanga and myspace, but after the 7/11 attacks india has blocked all blogging sites due to the fact that they are recruiting grounds for terrorism (an assumption by the indian government), do you think it was a logical and right move by india? and will it really have a lot of effect? And should online blogging be banned once and for all from the internet?

ur thoughts...

I am not aware of this piece of news. Can u plz post this new article. It seems some one today just posted web addresses of this site. I'd like to know more about it.

As for terrorism spreading thru blogging. Well its used as an aid and a tool by terrorist . This is the internet age and brings the world closer even has its disadvantages. I did read that our Indian govt intercepted e-mail message which used special lingo by the terrorist that helped them plan the Mumbai blast. The goverment is justified in banning such websites then.

Govt didn't ban the sites AFAIK, they asked the ISPs to block few selected webpages only. I think they are barking at the wrong tree, how long does it take to create a new page? Terrorists also use mobile phone, will Govt ban it too. 😕

Originally posted by: Aparna_BD

I am not aware of this piece of news. Can u plz post this new article. It seems some one today just posted web addresses of this site. I'd like to know more about it.

As for terrorism spreading thru blogging. Well its used as an aid and a tool by terrorist . This is the internet age and brings the world closer even has its disadvantages. I did read that our Indian govt intercepted e-mail message which used special lingo by the terrorist that helped them plan the Mumbai blast. The goverment is justified in banning such websites then.

India Blocks Several Web Sites,
Many of Which Are Blog Homes

(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)

India's Internet regulators have started blocking several Web sites in a move that borrows a page from China, where government censors heavily restrict the flow of online information.

India's Department of Telecommunications sent an order late last week to Internet-service providers to block several Web sites, according to a department spokesman. The spokesman, Rajesh Malhotra, declined to disclose the contents of the letter or discuss the order, saying it was a "confidential exchange of information between the department and the operators."

Several telecom operators confirmed there were more than 15 sites they were directed to block. Close to a third of the sites were home to blogs, the personalized Web logs that have become popular in India, just as they have in other parts of the world. Among the Web sites blocked are parts of Blogger and GeoCities. Included on a list seen by The Wall Street Journal are sites that showcase views of an Islamic holy man, conservative Hindus, and Dalits, the low caste in India pejoratively referred to as untouchables.

The Internet-service providers declined to explain how the sites were blocked or whether all Internet users in India would be affected.

The government blacklist follows last Tuesday's commuter-train bombings in Mumbai, which killed an estimated 207 people. It isn't clear if the move was related to the blasts, which Indian government officials said they suspect came from Islamic militants based inside neighboring Pakistan.

India, the world's largest democracy, has generally eschewed efforts to block citizens from obtaining information or from expressing their views. But following the Mumbai bombings, the government has come under renewed pressure to toughen its policing of potential security threats and improve intelligence gathering.

Bloggers said the government order represented an inconvenience more than a firm blockade, as they could find other ways to access the banned sites. Yet some said they are confused as to why their sites have been singled out.

Rajneesh Rallan, a Mumbai-based lubricants manufacturer, says he can't access his personal site on blogger.com, and his friends and family with blogs on the same site are also being blocked from his site. His site extols the benefits of synthetic lubricants and introduces his favorite European movies and directors.

"There is nothing dangerous on my site," says Mr. Rallan, adding that his mother's personal site on blogger.com can't be accessed, either.

A spokeswoman for Google Inc., which owns Blogger, said, "We are currently looking into the situation to determine whether, and why, this has taken place." A spokeswoman for Yahoo Inc., which owns GeoCities, also said the company was looking into the matter.

India's restrictions echo those made by other governments that have viewed the freedom of online information as a possible threat to their security. In China, for instance, authorities have been trying to tame the Internet almost since its arrival. The techniques used to police and censor content have become increasingly sophisticated, as have efforts by Chinese Internet users to circumvent government controls. One common method is to direct Chinese mainland Internet users to overseas proxy servers, so they can avoid government firewalls to access prohibited content from home.

The cat-and-mouse contest has pulled in some U.S. Internet companies, which have been criticized for cooperating with the Chinese government. Google launched a Chinese-language search engine that omits links Beijing doesn't like. Yahoo created an uproar by providing information on a Chinese account holder who was later jailed. And Microsoft Corp. shut down a Chinese-language blog that had criticized the Chinese government's media controls.

source: Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115324795254910050-5Y g4yW6oSI_jLRT4OenEmtFeJ28_20070718.html

terrorists have many means of recruiting..i do doubt blogging is a very popular 1 of them... its all silly
but i supoz they assume better be safe then sorry...but while they are at it they should ban political gatherings, mobile phones email...and so many more...as they all play major part in terrosim do they not?