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Source: http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11792330
"Cyber-Dissidents" Imprisoned in Syria
[Economist-UK] Mazen Darwish, the president of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, was recently sentenced to jail for reporting on riots in an industrial town near Damascus. Tareq Bayassi was jailed for three years for publishing "false news" on the Internet after posting an article on the shortcomings of the Syrian secret service. For several years Syria has been an enemy of the Internet. The security services keep opposition figures and even ordinary bloggers under surveillance. The main Internet service-provider bans 100-plus websites. Even popular social networking sites such as Facebook and YouTube were banned last year.