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Source: http://www.reason.com/news/show/118380.html
Syrians Search for Freedom Online
[Reason] Guy Taylor - The last six years have seen an explosion of Internet use in Syria, with close to 1 million of the country's 18 million people now online, compared to just 30,000 in 2000. Damascus writers are churning out hundreds of blogs in English and Arabic as well as dozens of broader independent news-and-commentary sites. But is the Internet really opening Syria's public sphere to freer speech, or is the government simply letting people speak up online as a means of identifying opposition figures and troublemakers? Reporters Without Borders ranks Syria as "one of the worst offenders against Internet freedom." Its 2006 report said the government "censors opposition and independent news websites, barring access to those that deal with Syrian policy, monitor[ing] online activity to silence dissident voices, and jailing Internet users and bloggers."