Brief presentation of the March 18 Movement by its co-founder at the TH!NK3 launch event in Brussels, 23 March 2010.

You can fine more of her artwork on her blog here.

Follow her on Twitter: @ZinaSaunders

Click on thumbnails for full size.

After three years of being a regular blogger, I was flabbergasted when I received a comment on one of my posts that threatened to sue me for an exorbitant amount of money, dangled the prospect of jail over my head and slyly hinted at taking my passport away so as to prevent me from travelling to the UK for my education.

After a whole host of events too tedious to describe, I was forced by a multitude of circumstances to pull down the post permanently from my blog. I even had to go so far as to change my moniker on that blog (wherein I was already writing under a pseudonym) because the threats – although thankfully by this time completely hollow – kept coming. As my original pseudonym was alarmingly close to my real name, it had to go.

The question begs to be asked… what had I done that was so reprehensible?

In a wrap of an event, I dared say I did not like a person’s choice of apparel.

Clichéd perhaps, but I whole-heartedly abide by the quote found in the book The Friends of Voltaire (1906), written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall under the pseudonym S.G. Tallentyre: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Freedom of speech, to me, signifies being able to say what you think without the fear of repercussions. It means allowing people to opine unreservedly without them indulging in morbid thoughts of what can befall them if they do so. Society seems to be moving back to Tudor times when it was wholly possible to have your head lopped off for not agreeing with the king. That scares me.

While I am a supporter of preventing the spread of abject lies, why should bloggers be penalized for being truthful and accurate? I firmly believe that to be a trusted blogger, you cannot lie in your posts. Because of the two-way and immediate conversation available to bloggers and their readers, there lies the possibility of a near-immediate response to any mistakes made in the blog post.

Was I a coward for removing the post from my blog? Perhaps. Should I have fought for the right to say what I thought, as it harmed no one and was most definitely not defamatory? Many might think so. Do I think twice before posting something on a blog now? Yes, however harmless I think it might be.

The most important question, in my opinion, remains: will I ever put that blog post online again? Yes. But only when I hold the power in my hands. Because sadly, right now it’s all about who has the power to exercise free speech as opposed to who has the right to.

Devina Divecha alternates between living in muggy Sheffield and hot Dubai, despite originally hailing from rainy Bombay. If she’s not talking, she’s advocating the right to talk. It just works better this way. Read more at http://devinadivecha.wordpress.com/ and predictably enough, her Twitter handle is @DevinaDivecha

A term that weighs different on the scales of every individual. Be it invisible fetters that hold back tears, or physical restraints that gag your right to scream. Be it the dread of a tyrant’s wrath, or the fear of thoughts out loud breaking that bubble of denial.

We all have our own hurdles to overcome, our own liberties to fight for. For freedom is most valued and most dear to the ones for whom it is forbidden. For only the shackled truly get to taste in full effect the sweetness of liberty.

Now I’m no polical blogger; preferring instead to take the more cushioned route of broadcasting a few select whimsical musings. Not because I fear for my life, but solely because I’m not passionate enough about a subject to give political science the justice it deserves.

But for those who do; for those who choose to assert their hypotheses/ideologies onto print or online realms, more often than not they do so at the risk of their own lives. Knowing very well that they are provoking the ire of the government they’re resisting or the influential figure they oppose.

As human beings we have a societal duty towards the one another. When two people are in danger, they’re in it together. When a whole community is in peril, they all fear with each other. When an entire nation has a crisis, every single individual is at risk.

So when made aware of a potential threat, will you not warn your neighbour? When informed of impending danger, will you not signal the others?

In most Western nations, anti-regime blogs aren’t given a second glance; the governments preferring instead to ignore the opposition and in some (very rare) cases make an actual effort to  resolve the existing conundrum. But in countries with high sensitivities, a passionate anti-administration blogpost is quite literally (and rather cliche’edly) a matter of life and death.

With media censorship causing a serious problem in the relaying of information, most reporters resort to blogging or other online forums to get their message across. To inform the public of what they have learnt, but cannot be said ‘out loud.’

It is incumbent however, that in spite of the licenses bestowed on us by online forums, it is our moral obligation as bloggers, tweeters and purveyors of information, to tread responsibly. In factual reportage to make sure our sources are verified, and in the expression of opinions to ensure that our viewpoints are not baseless’ly declared.

We all have a responsibility towards the leaders that govern us, and to the parliament we represent.

Having said that however, but what if they disappoint? If a friend (let alone a foe) does something to displease, will you not let it be known? If your meal was unsatisfactory, will you not reflect that in your review?

And when it boils down to the voicing of opinions or feelings being emoted, no one (technically) has the right to tell you you’re wrong. Quashing an individual’s right to speech is on par with nullifying thought. Synonymous even, with the censorship of expression as a whole.

The principal questions still linger. How far does the horizon of the term ‘freedom’ take us, and who allocates these boundaries? Who are we responsible for (putting Divinity aside), and who is it that has the right to stop us?

Is expressing dissatisfaction a crime punishable by law? Deserving of the death sentence even? If so, how is it then that the punishment delivered for the articulation of a personal viewpoint is on level with the charge doled out for the assassination of a human life?

The March18 movement was created in memory of Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, an Iranian blogger and journalist who died in Evin Prison in Tehran on the 18th of March 2009. The movement intends on commemorating this day to highlight the risks taken by bloggers around the world, when all they want to do is tell their story.

Omid was the first blogger to die in prison. Let him also be the last.

For afore-mentioned whimsical musings visit Chronicles of a TestTube

How you can help:

• Gather your friends, family and colleagues in one location and create an art piece dedicated to the cause. Please take a look at this event taking place in Dubai for example. You may get in touch with the organizer via e-mail, to help get some ideas and suggestions for your own event.

• Follow the steps in this blog post on ways you can get involved online.

• Take a video or a photo expressing your solidarity with persecuted bloggers everywhere.

Don't judge. Free speech is for all.

Tips:

• If you’re a Twitter user, create a Twtvite for your event (see example) and start tweeting about it, tagging tweeps in your area.

• If you’re a Facebook user, create an event (see example), and start inviting your friends. In order to do this, just click on “Events” on the left sidebar and then the “create new event” button from the top of the page.

• Create a mailing list of potential participants and invite their involvement.

Need help setting up an OR318 event?

Get in touch with us! We’ll be more than happy to assist you and promote your event on our accounts.

Protests are so passe.

(Plus with the country’s stringent laws on protests, we don’t want to be stepping on anyone’s toes here.)

Everybody deserves the right to freedom of speech so long as it doesn’t turn into slander or libelous accusations.

In order to honor the death of Omid Reza, the Iranian blogger who was killed in Evin Prison under the pretense that he spread propaganda against the country, I was thinking of organising a tweetup (location to be confirmed) and arranging for a community-made art piece for the Movement on Thursday, 18 March.

The art piece would comprise of a large canvas where supporters of the movement can gather and express what freedom of speech means to them. They can use any conceivable medium – pictures, drawings, poetry, or even a plain ol’ simple “I want free speech. kthxbai” scrawled across the canvas to convey their messages.

All of us at OR318 are hoping to send the finished canvas to the same prison where Omid was killed.

Twtvite and RSVP here
Facebook event and RSVP here

If it takes off, this could very well be done globally in the coming years.

I’m still looking for a decent location, a few photographers, and a cameraman. Money and Rupert from Twitter have been kind enough to help get a location — although finding one is still proving difficult — so if anyone has suggestions, I’d love to hear them.

All photos and videos will go up on the March 18 website.

Contact me if you have any ideas:
uzma@mideastyouth.com
@Lhjunkie on Twitter

If you make an OR318 contribution, don’t forget to tag it on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and Facebook with these keywords: March 18, OR318, Free Speech. Give us a shout here and show us your work!

• Step 1:  Right click on the above image and save it to your computer hard drive. Save it where you can easily find it again. For example: your desktop.

• Step 2: Click on ’settings’ at the top of your Twitter page.

• Step 3: Click on the ‘design’ tab.

• Step 4: Select ‘Change background image’

• Step 5: Browse and find the image which you saved in step 1.

• Step 6: Remove the check mark from the ’tile background’ check box.

• Step 7: Design Colors for this background:
  Background – #d7d7d7
  Text - #555555
  Links - #527396
  Sidebar - #eaeaea
  Sidebar border - #555555

• Step 8: Click ’save changes’ and you should now see your new Twitter background.

We would like to express our deep gratitude to all the people who have expressed their support and voted for OR318. We’ve started this project after the death of Omid-Reza Mir Sayafi in Evin Prison on March 18, 2009. Omid-Reza was the first blogger to die in prison.
A representative of OR318 said this when accepting the award in New York:

“This award is a tribute to the memory of Omid Reza and all of the other bloggers and journalists detained, beaten or killed around the world for simply doing their jobs…. We hope this recognition inspires more people to speak out for freedom of speech in closed societies.”

ThinkSocial is an initiative dedicated to advancing the use of social media in the public interest.

Another rally happened in Bern, Switzerland to support Kareem.Here are the photos.

If you tweet this news, please remember to use the #FreeKareem hashtag.