Blog if you’re able

Part of me wants to mumble under my breath that Gawker caught my attention, in a good way, today. But screw it – this post about the five most dangerous countries for bloggers is totally worth mentioning.

China and Iran are pretty well known for oppressing freedom of speech and pouncing on anyone who dares speak out against the government.

But the worst country to be caught blogging in is Egypt, where officials have been “arresting, detaining, harassing, and beating bloggers that span the entire ideological spectrum, from the ultra-conservative Muslim Brotherhood to Coptic Christian minorities to socialists.”

Saudi Arabia and Syria are also on the top five.

I wonder what would happen if bloggers in the United States, and other free-speech oriented countries, collaborated with the writers living in these strictly controlled areas of the world. This has already happened to an extent, but some kind of anonymity would have to be established (use of public computers, anonymous sources). And that could get tricky.