A Debate for the Freedom of Speech...

The KennySia-SPG Issue...

In the wake of such controversy, two (kennysia.com and minishorts.net) bloggers from blogtown have now withdrew their posts regarding the infamous "For a few hours only: Kennysia-SPG Hooter Contest". Was this a show of self sencorship, withdrawing the post in view of keeping young minds clean, pure and unpolutted? Or was it simply to save their own behinds, just in case they get into trouble with the authorities??

I think this is the perfect epitome of the pros and cons of the 'Freedom of Speech'. Is there really freedom of speech? Was Kenny entirely free to post whatever he liked in the name of freedom of speech and expression? Yes, in the name of 'Freedom of speech and Expression' Kenny gets to do whatever he deems right. But whatever is right for him might not be right for others; as seen on the 100+ comments made resulting from his single post. Now he has withdrew his comments and put in some crap in place of the post instead. So what have the public done to this poor guy who just wants to share his life with his audience? They have made him into a criminal; an outlaw; a blogger who is looking to cover his own tracks. From now on, he will sub-consciously practice self-censorship. and that defeats the entire purpose of blogging.

Blogs are the communty's backlash to the mainstream press. It's been since time immemorial that we've been bombarded by what the government wants us to know. News, however unbiased are still set by the powers that be. Agenda setting is the politically correct term for mass mind control. How a citizen functions as a citizen is dependant on how he reads and reacts to the things he knows. Thus, news, however much you would like to deny it, controls us, as citizens of a country. We act out of our intelligence, however shallow that may be, and we are not, therefore, able to think beyond what we know. So what we are able to know determines how we act. That's how the governmetn controls us through the news. That's why as a retalliation, blogs have surfaced as the counter-revolution. We bloggers are now able to streamline info to the masses which were once controlled by the mainstream news. And that is, albeit partially, freedom of speech.

However, what we do in cyberspace will have a significant bearing on our lives in physical space. The authorities cannot kill our blog, but they can take our bodies away... So where is the line between true freedom and false consciousness???

And then there's the human element. Freedom of speech should always be practised in view of the community or the readers/potential readers. Minishorts withdrew her post on her thoughts regarding Kenny's post because it would potentially harm Kenny, and their relationship as friends. So where is the freedom of speech?

Freedom of Speech lies very much in the hands of the writer. The author of a text. The author is free to express him/herself through the text produced but there are certain limitations on how far they can go. Unless Mankind can live as an island and have no friends, then the author can write whatever he/she pleases. But then, there won't be an audience. In order for someone to write, and write well, there has to be an audience. Be it the author itself, or for an external audience.

and the way the author writes his/her text is very much dependant on his/her audience. if not, then he/she has no reason to write. Who would write just for the sake of writing? A writer will always have this sub-conscious urge to go back to his/her writing whenever possible, to marvel, to experience the text, and to critique it.

So, is there still freedom of speech in a blog?

hhhmmm....