After Facebook, others could be next (IV)
KARACHI:
I am afraid I do not think that those who want the ban to stay are in a majority.
I mean how can we know for sure that all those protesting on the streets in favour of the ban constitute a majority. In all likelihood they are members or sympathisers of the religious parties and we all know how many votes these parties get in every election. The internet is a democratic forum, and if someone doesn’t like a website they can simply choose to not visit it.
I suspect that we are all losing the larger picture and there is something well beyond the ban in that this is now turning into an issue of withholding the people’s right to information, a benchmark of a democratic society.
Published in the Express Tribune, May 26th, 2010.
I am afraid I do not think that those who want the ban to stay are in a majority.
I mean how can we know for sure that all those protesting on the streets in favour of the ban constitute a majority. In all likelihood they are members or sympathisers of the religious parties and we all know how many votes these parties get in every election. The internet is a democratic forum, and if someone doesn’t like a website they can simply choose to not visit it.
I suspect that we are all losing the larger picture and there is something well beyond the ban in that this is now turning into an issue of withholding the people’s right to information, a benchmark of a democratic society.
Published in the Express Tribune, May 26th, 2010.