Bloggers Beware : You are at risk !

Bloggers Beware : You are at risk !

Blogging is passion for millions and everyday thousands are joining this revolution to help themselves and the World. However their efforts are not always welcomed and day by day the bloggers are being targeted for sharing their views and true opinions. Bloggers are constantly at risk and their freedom is under severe threat. Worldwide, numbers of cases are increasing where bloggers are threatened, attacked and sued for posting the truth. Authorities are always trying to impose censorship on this powerful medium of social communication.

Speaking Truth is becoming crime and bloggers are made to pay for it.

Recent crackdown is on the Russian bloggers in the form of new law which enables authorities to prosecute bloggers even for the comments made on their posts. Any blogger whose blog is visited by more than 3000 unique readers daily will have to register with government and any information or statement that government thinks unfit may attract punishment in the form of fine and ban on the blog.

Danger is that Russia’s regulation may inspire many other countries to follow the footsteps to curb the freedom of expression.

What are the threats

Bloggers are under constant threat and they are made to pay heavy price for their truth in many parts of the world. Last month a French blogger, Caroline Doudet, was fined 3000 Euros for criticizing a restaurant’s bad service. In May,2014 a Saudi blogger was sentenced to 10 years jail and 1000 lashes along with fine of One million Riyal ( more than $ 266000) for “Insulting Islam”. In America a health blogger is threatened with imprisonment to write about the diet which cured his diabetes. Once upon the US lawmakers were planning to make it federal crime to offer health advice on internet. All this is supposed to suppress any information about natural health remedies so as to promote the company made products. A climate blogger was threatened to face legal action for publicizing its data which showed that official figures about global warming were highly cooked up. There are lots of such incidents which are constantly threatening the blogger community.

What not to do ?

Bloggers need to practice some precautions to avoid any such threats and lawsuits.

• Do not write anything that may hurt sentiments of others or may provoke them. Even later deleting the post may not protect you fully.
• Do not write something wrong or criticize any person or organization directly.
• Do not use copyrighted pictures on your blog in any form or size without prior written permission of the owner. Instead use free pictures or pictures available for public domain.
• Do not copy matter from other websites as it may cause lot of trouble.
• Avoid blogging about your office and company. You may end up loosing your job.
• Bloggers do not have any privacy so avoid sharing your personal & confidential data online.