Blogs, the laws of the USA, and why Fiji is really crying

The New Zealand press

In my June 19, 2007 post, I quietly mentioned the unreported story of an alarming change in the rhetoric of Fiji's anti-military blogs from defamatory to violent. As of today, the New Zealand press is starting to pick up on this. Michael Field, who was recently ejected from Fiji, penned a story appearing on Stuff this morning. Here is an excerpt:

A Fiji internet blog has called for attacks on tourists and has provided recipes for making Molotov cocktails and bombs. Fiji's military, which staged a coup in December, has been trying to close down blogs but one of the oldest, Why Fiji's Crying (WFC), has survived and in its latest set of postings calls for guerrilla war.Following the expulsion of New Zealand High Commissioner Michael Green last week, WFC has published an appeal to Fijians to destabilise the country by striking at weak points...
[Blog calls for attacks on tourists in Fiji, Stuff, June 22, 2007]

In a similar piece, the tvnz.co.nz site references the same post from WFC.

A Fijian blog is calling for attacks on tourists to the island nation. The author says driving tourists away would cut revenue flowing to the Bainimarama regime. The website suggests targets like tour buses and resorts. The blogger says Fiji is already economically unstable and wiping out the country's main industry will be the final nail in the regime's coffin.
[Fiji blog calls for tourist attacks, tvnz.co.fj, June 22, 2007]

Why is Fiji crying?

So that you are free to draw your own conclusions, here is an excerpt from the WFC post that has prompted most of this discussion.

Strike at your enemies weak points. The most obvious weak point of the regime, its jugular, is its inability to protect its outer networks and the failing economy.

Tourists are still coming to Fiji, think of how you can stop that. What assets can you focus on within the tourist industry that will send the message back to their home countries that Fiji is not a safe destination at the moment ? Tourist tour busses ? Tourist Bure’s ?

If you want to make Molotov cocktails, think about how you will access the fuel and the motor oil without attracting suspicions. Think about a safe location where you can prepare your materials and keep them hidden. Do not keep the materials at the house of any of your members. Keep them at a safe hideout. A hidesite away from any of your homes. You can also keep all your plans and documents at that site. It is a safe point where all your materials are safely stored away so that no one can link you back to the materials. When you need to go on the operation you can then go and pick up from the hidesite and move out.

Try to operate in two teams. One team as your strike team and the other as your "overwatch". That means you can split your force into two teams on operations. One team is to provide route security to ensure that your intended escape route is safe and the other team is to do the attack.
[Fijians - destablise the country, WFC, June 19, 2007]

The very next post qualifies this tactical advice with the statement, "have some faith and patience, and remember that physical resistance is the last option - not the first." For me, this call for patience does little to warm the chill left by images of fire-bombed buses.

Even more disturbing is the juxtaposition of this call to arms with the fanning of the decades-old flame of racial hatred in Fiji in another June 19, 2007 post at WFC.

(Chaudhary) by his 5/12 coup, was really hoping that Fiji will be his, under his control, a place he would like Fijians and the rest of the world to know as “little India”, the Fijian Island paradise lost to the hands of a man who is living out his whole life to “Indianize” Fiji.
[Mahen Chaudhary angered by Frank, WFC, June 19, 2007]

The result of these posts on WFC is a heady mix of uttering threats, inciting violence against innocent civilians, hate crime, and quite frankly, terrorism. Based on the WFC's stated goal of destabilizing the economy by driving tourists away, the authors of these posts may actually have no intention of having anyone carrying out these acts - the threat is sufficient. However, the fact remains that the act of publishing these posts violates several criminal laws in many countries around the world, including the United States.

The laws of the USA

Why are the laws of the USA significant to Fiji bloggers? Why not talk about the laws of New Zealand, Australia, or at least those of Fiji? The answer is simple. Because San Francisco based Wordpress and San Jose based Google (the owner of Blogger and blogspot.com) are American companies. "So?", you ask. Well, when you violate American criminal law on a server on American soil, you may get the attention of American law enforcement.

More to the point for those of you attempting to preserve your online anonymity, WFC has given US law enforcement a powerful motive to cooperate with the Fijian law enforcement. It is also important to note that US law enforcement agencies gain far-reaching evidence gathering powers when a criminal investigation is connected with terrorism. This is due to a piece of legislation known as the Patriot Act, which empowers US federal law enforcement to gain access to all records held by Wordpress, Google, and other American online services for any suspects or their alleged associates. This includes their gmail, yahoo, and msn email accounts and all information connected with those accounts.

Does this all sound a little far fetched?

Google does it in India.

Think twice before you let loose your thoughts on Orkut. The Google-run community site, which has become a global platform for sharing personal information, ideas and sentiments and already has nearly 6.6 million registered Indian users (of a total of 49 million worldwide), has entered into a pact with the Cyber Crime Cell of Mumbai police saying it will not only block those 'forums' and 'communities' that contain 'defamatory or inflammatory content' but also provide the IP addresses from which such content has been generated...

"Now we can do away with the process and not just directly ban content but also obtain details of IP addresses and service providers quickly"
[Orkut's tell-all pact with cops, Economic Times, May, 2007]

Yahoo does it in China.

Yu Ling, the wife of imprisoned Chinese dissident Wang Xiazoning, has sued Yahoo for divulging information about her husband's Internet activity, which allegedly led to his arrest and torture.
[Yahoo sued over jailing of Chinese dissedent, CIO, April 19, 2007]

Why wouldn't it happen with Wordpress and Google in Fiji?


p.s. American contract law: Recent content posted to WFC and a few other anti-military blogs in Fiji may violate of both Wordpress' and blogspot.com's terms of service (Wordpress tos, blogspot tos). Wordpress and Google reserve the right to terminate your blog for very little reason if they see fit to do so.

Photos by: carf, MISz "H"

Reported and unreported ICT news

There have been three significant significant ICT stories reported in the Fiji press in the last week.

The first is the announcement of a 30 machine computer lab opening at Sangam College in Labasa. This lab, which was donated by a former student, Ragge Mudaliar, is certainly now one of the finest in Vanua Levu.

The second story is the continuing slow march towards hearing the fate of public servant and accused anti-military blogger, Filipe Nagera. Mr. Nagera has been accused of using public computing resources on public time to participate in anti-government blogging. The Fiji Times has repeatedly written articles about the Public Service Commission getting closer to coming to a decision here, here, here, and here.

The third story concerns the NLTB nearing a decision on scrapping or keeping their currently unused mySAP installation. The fate of the mySAP enterprise resource planning system at NLTB will be decided at the next board meeting in two weeks. Interim Fijian Affairs minister, Ratu Epeli Galineu was quoted, "The system is too complicated and we don't have experts in Fiji to operate such system."

There is also one unreported story this week. Fiji's anti-military blogs step up the rhetoric in the wake of the removal of the state of emergency. While it is not clear what portion of the populace these anonymous bloggers represent, this week they are increasingly threatening the interim regime with violence - often cloaked in racial overtones. I do not want to repeat such sentiments here, but a quick survey reveals that numerous anonymous bloggers seem to have crossed the legal boundary from libel, slander, and defamation into the realm of inciting violence and uttering personal threats.

Let us hope that all those in Fiji with violence in the hearts choose instead to follow the example of a certain peasant from Nazareth, who I hear is quite popular in Fiji, and seek other methods of effecting change.

photo by: Steve took it

Announcing the Fiji Rugby Blog!

Following onto my previous post about Fiji rugby (or lack thereof) on the web, there is an exciting new Fiji blog on the block; heading into its second week of operation: The Fiji Rugby Blog. One notable feature of this blog is that roughly half of the posts to date are in Fijian.

I found the two thoughtful post-mortems of the Flying Fijians' recent lacklustre performances against the Junior All Blacks and the Wallabies to be great reads. Here is a sample:

Australia’s defence was so tight; the Fiji team has no way of breaking or unlocking them with aimless running; unless Fiji uses their creative juices to study those defences; use some diversion to confuse them and attack them when they are bristling with confidence; until we come up with these, Fiji still has a long way to go.
[Fiji put on better showing, June 10, 2007]

Let's hope that this is the beginning of Fiji's favourite game gaining a foothold online!

Photo by rosswebsdale

Enjoy the quick links

I often cannot find the time to blog as much as I would like about all of the interesting things going on in digital side of Fiji. As a kind of weak substitute, I have been collecting interesting ICT news, policy, and other links on an almost daily basis. You can see them in the sidebar to the right, you can go directly to dfiji.tumblr.com, or you can subscribe to the quick links feed.

Here are some of my favourite recent quick links:

• 'Land Force Commander Colonel Pita Driti confirmed the civil servant was a suspected bloggers but was questioned, cautioned and released last week.' Blog suspect released: Driti - Fiji Times Online
• 'NLTB pays $1.3 million annually for the mySAP system and while it "is a very good one", it was too complex and costing NLTB a lot.' NLTB delays decision on IT system Fijilive
• 'Col Driti warned students at the University of the South Pacific that if they are responsible for contributing to the blog spots their Fijian Affairs Board scholarships will be terminated.' Civil servant quizzed over anti-army blogs Fijilive
• Facial recognition slipped into Google image search Add &imgtype=face to the end of your search URL.
• 'at least 25 national governments block access to internet sites for political, social or security reasons.' Internet censorship on the rise - tech - 27 May 2007 - New Scientist Tech
• EMBRACE technology as an educational tool to enhance and gain necessary knowledge, says Fijian Teachers Association president Tevita Koroi. Computer necessary tool for students - Fiji Times Online
• PICISOC News tips PICISOC has launched a blog!

Photos by: shoothead

Digital Fiji quick links for May 22, 2007

Today we have links to five news items on blog censorship for your reading pleasure and one on the up-hill battle for copyright enforcement in Fiji.

• "It is believed to be using India-based computer hackers to identify the critics." - May 22, 2007
  
• "The director of the FHRC, Dr Shaista Shameem, had requested the University of the South Pacific to..." - May 21, 2007
  
• "''In support of the right to freedom of expression, a group of New Zealand bloggers are now offering..." - May 21, 2007
  
• "Patrick Craddock, a lecturer in broadcasting, sounded the warning after commission director Doctor..." - May 21, 2007
  
• "Association president Chris Caine said measures such as a flat tax reform and Copyright Act..." - May 20, 2007
• "We have our IT guy working on this," Colonel Driti said." - May 18, 2007
  

Photo by: mallix

Anonymous when you do not want to be

Today's Fiji Times has an interesting feature story on blogs. In this story there are some comments from a certain unnamed "former information security consultant". It will come as no surprise to anyone who has read my recent post advising against blog censorship, that the "consultant who refused to be identified for fear of victimisation" is me. My part of the story reads as follows,

A former information security consultant working in Fiji said recently the reputation of bloggers had been tarnished.

"I am one of many apolitical bloggers in Fiji, and use the web for professional communication, sharing thoughtful writing, or just plain fun.

"I have no political agenda and do not want to be painted with the same brush as Fiji's anonymous political bloggers," he said.

The consultant who refused to be identified for fear of victimisation said FINTEL had the expertise and equipment to block any web address with very little cost or effort.

"The movement of the resistfrankscoup blogspot site to the Wordpress blog site illustrates that blocking websites is not effective.

"If their blogs are blocked, anonymous political bloggers and their readers will simply shift their activities to other available internet resources, such as:

A new blog on blogspot.com (unless they just block the entire blogspot domain);

Any other free blog site such as Wordpress, Livejournal, or countless others;

Any social networking site such as Hi5, Facebook, MySpace, or others;

Any free website provider such as Google Pages, Geocities, or others;

Any instant messaging service from the venerable IRC to jabber, yim, gtalk, or others;

Any group discussion technology from the venerable USENET to Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, or others;

Any p2p technology to circulate files or to chat such as Skype or FWD;

Or users could do any of the above, including reading any blocked blogs, by using open proxy servers, an anonymising service, or The Onion Router.

The consultant said the perception of the interim Government tampering in FINTEL, Fiji's pivotal Internet Service Provider through which all internet traffic flowed, would dampen high-tech investment in Fiji. "Off-shore service centres rely on the perception of data communications security in order to assure their customers that the confidentiality of their data will not be compromised.

"The other cost is through potential issues with EU and other international stakeholders where the interim Government could be perceived to be interfering with the fundamental human right of free speech," he said.

[You can't keep a blog blocked Fiji Times, May 19, 2007]

The trouble is, I did not ask the Fiji Times for anonymity. I will admit that I hesitated to respond to the reporter's queries as speaking on government activities during a state of emergency is not something to do lightly in any country, but in the end I felt it was important to share my views - especially as my views are non-partisan. I also wanted to take the opportunity to state publicly that there are numerous bloggers in Fiji, most of whom have been blogging since long before the coup, who are not interested in pushing a political agenda and who often make no attempt to conceal their identities. To see only some of these, look at my September 12, 2006 post - possibly the first ever blog post about Fiji blogs! If someone is currently maintaining an up to date list of Fiji blogs, please let me know.

I will close with a quote from my updated Blogger profile,

Recently, bloggers have been getting a bad name in Fiji. I am one of many apolitical bloggers in Fiji, all of whom blog for professional communication, for sharing thoughtful writing, and for just plain fun. I have no political agenda and do not want to be painted with the same brush as Fiji’s anonymous political bloggers.

My name is Chris Hammond-Thrasher and I blog in Fiji!

Photo by: mr oji

Never cry wolf - renegade Fiji bloggers fool the press

A stunt faking the censoring of a notorious anti-military blog in Fiji has fooled the international and Fijian press. Sometime on May 16, 2007, the no-holds-barred blog opposing Fiji's interim government, resistfrankscoup, went blank. This prompted a flurry of activity in newsrooms and anti-government blogs as most observers assumed that the interim government, likely in collusion with FINTEL, Fiji's pivotal Internet service provider, had blocked the site.

A short while later, the site reappeared but several recent posts were missing and some functionality was broken prompting further speculation of ongoing government tampering. A simple comparison of the site viewed from a FINTEL connection with the site as viewed from an American provider reveals that absolutely no tampering is being performed.

However, at 4:10 am (Fiji Time) on May 17, 2007, a new incarnation of the blog in question sprang up on the Wordpress blog service claiming responsibility for the site's interruption saying they wanted to see how people would react:

We know many were disappointed when your RFC blogsite suddenly disappeared from your screen. We also know the junta was elated by the sudden black-out but guess what, we closed it down ourselves to gauge how the junta, our loyal bloggers, our opposition and others would react.
[This is us! Why Fiji Cries, May 17, 2007]

Despite this announcement, over a dozen news outlets in at least four countries have run a story describing this event as an act of military censorship. See below for some examples culled from Google News.

The question remains, when Fiji's Freedom Bloggers have something real to report will the international press believe them?

Examples:

Fiji muzzles critical blogs
The Age, Australia - 4 hours ago
Fiji's military government appears to have successfully blocked access to a number of critical blogs that have embarrassed the administration. ...

Fiji blocks access to weblogs in crackdown
Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand - 7 hours ago
AUCKLAND: Fiji's military government appears to have successfully blocked access to a number of critical weblogs that have embarrassed the administration. ...

Access to some Fiji weblogs blocked
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - 8 hours ago
Fiji's military government appears to have successfully blocked access to a number of critical weblogs that have embarrassed the administration. ...

Fiji blocks access to blogs
Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia - 8 hours ago
FIJI'S military government appears to have successfully blocked access to a number of critical weblogs that have embarrassed the administration. ...

Fiji military closes blogs critical of government and army
Broadcast Newsroom, CA - 59 minutes ago
By AP. Fiji's military has blocked access to several Web sites that contained damaging allegations against the army and members of the interim government, ...

Fiji military closes blogs critical of government and army By The ...
Creative Mac, CA - 1 hour ago
Fiji's military has blocked access to several Web sites that contained damaging allegations against the army and members of the interim government, ...

Fiji blocks access to blogs
Daily Telegraph, Australia - 8 hours ago
FIJI'S military government appears to have successfully blocked access to a number of critical weblogs that have embarrassed the administration. ...

Fiji blocks access to blogs
Advertiser Adelaide, Australia - 8 hours ago
FIJI'S military government appears to have successfully blocked access to a number of critical weblogs that have embarrassed the administration. ...

Fiji blocks access to blogs
Courier Mail, Australia - 8 hours ago
FIJI'S military government appears to have successfully blocked access to a number of critical weblogs that have embarrassed the administration. ...

Access to some Fiji weblogs blocked
The West Australian, Australia - 8 hours ago
Fiji's military government appears to have successfully blocked access to a number of critical weblogs that have embarrassed the administration. ...

Access to some Fiji weblogs blocked
Brisbane Times, Australia - 8 hours ago
Fiji's military government appears to have successfully blocked access to a number of critical weblogs that have embarrassed the administration. ...

Fiji blocks access to blogs
Sunday Times.au, Australia - 8 hours ago
FIJI'S military government appears to have successfully blocked access to a number of critical weblogs that have embarrassed the administration. ...

Fiji military closes blogs critical of government and army
International Herald Tribune, France - 1 hour ago
AP. SUVA, Fiji: Fiji's military has blocked access to several Web sites that contained damaging allegations against the army and members of the interim ...

Fiji blocks access to blogs
NEWS.com.au, Australia - 8 hours ago
FIJI'S military government appears to have successfully blocked access to a number of critical weblogs that have embarrassed the administration. ...

Blog drops off the web
The Fiji Times - 13 hours ago
FIJI'S military appears to have shut down one of its most vocal critics an internet site that contained damaging allegations against army officers ...

Photo by: Sleekstak66

Blocking anti-military blogs may harm military

There have been numerous reports in both the Fijian and international press over the past few of days about the interim government working with FINTEL to censor troublesome blogs. I think that this would be a mistake. In fact, blocking these blogs may actually harm the interim government.

Here are four reasons why Fiji's interim government should reconsider asking FINTEL to block access to anonymous anti-military blogs:

1. Clearly, some of the remarks in Fiji's anonymous political blogs regarding members of the interim government are libelous. Fiji's Defamation Act and supporting Common Law allows for an injured party to ask the court to instruct an Internet Service Provider to turn over records relating to a customer who has published defamatory remarks. No additional legislation or special measures are required. However, some anonymous bloggers cover their tracks and will not be caught by this method.

2. The perception of government tampering in FINTEL, Fiji's pivotal Internet Service Provider through which all Internet traffic flows, would dampen high-tech investment in Fiji. Off-shore service centres rely on the perception of data communications security in order to assure their customers that the confidentiality of their data will not be compromised.

3. Information warfare theory shows that censoring blogs may cost the interim government more than it gains. Power is the ability of a combatant to take an action and have it result in a desired effect. In information warfare, where the weapons are ideas and the battlefields are people's minds, cultures, and ways of life, the power of a combatant is limited by the combatant's perceived legitimacy. Every action that can be perceived as taking the interim government one step further from a return to democracy is going harm the government's perceived legitimacy in the eyes of major international stakeholders - the EU comes to mind here - and in the eyes of at least some proportion of the population of Fiji. This reduced perception of legitimacy then constrains the interim government's future efforts to exercise their power. In an information war, which is certainly what Fiji is currently experiencing, combatants must carefully weigh the consequences of any action before executing it as one's own actions can be more damaging than an enemy attack.

Figure 1.

Any action that weakens Fiji's interim government's perceived legitimacy weakens its power to act.
[diagram from K A Taipale, 2006.]

4. Most importantly, blocking blogspot.com or a hand full of offending blogspot sites will not be effective. Anonymous political bloggers and their readers will simply shift their activities to other available Internet resources, such as:

• A new blog on blogspot.com (unless they just block the whole blogspot domain)
• Any other free blog site such as Wordpress, Livejournal, or countless others
• Any social networking site such as Hi5, Facebook, MySpace, or others
• Any free website provider such as Google Pages, Geocities, or others
• Any instant messaging service from the venerable IRC to jabber, yim, gtalk, or others
• Any group discussion technology from the venerable USENET to Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, or others
• Any p2p technology to circulate files or to chat such as Skype or FWD
• Or users could do any of the above, including reading any blocked blogs, by using open proxy servers, an anonymizing service, or The Onion Router
  

In the final analysis, little or nothing would be gained by the interim government by blocking access to Fiji's anonymous political blogs - Fiji's anti-military bloggers and their readers will carry on regardless - but there certainly would be a price.

Photo by: FelipeArte

Can blogging drive political action?

The "Fiji Freedom Bloggers" enjoy a bowl of grog while listening to Bula FM ;-)

Those anonymous bloggers that snubbed us at the bloggers' meet are at it again. Their plan to have individuals who are opposed to the Interim Government stay home on May 1st has netted international press attention and has had the military both hunting Fijian Black and then not hunting him in the very same day.

It will be interesting to see how all interested parties will respond to this call for a May Day strike - for that is exactly what it is even though Captain Intelligentsiya tells us otherwise. Will large numbers of people stay home? What will employers think of employees who call in sick?

Photo by vapours

The first Bloggers' Meet in Fiji

Last night at the ROC on Victoria Parade and Loftus in Suva, I attended the first ever bloggers' meet in Fiji. Ok, only two other bloggers showed up, but that still justifies our historic claim! The two other attendees were the brains behind the Paradise Failed: Abort, retry, Fail? blog. We had a great talk about everything from politics to family history to taxi drivers to Hi5 - oh, and blogging, too.

Special note: There was no military or police visit (my neighbours were wrong), nor did any of Fiji's anonymous bloggers come - unless they were at a different table.

Resolutions: We will meet again. The USP Library ought to try and reach USP students through Hi5. For a related discussion see here.

Photo by Brett L

History in the making - Suva bloggers' meet in 24 hours

It is now roughly 24 hours until history will be made. At 7pm tomorrow (Thursday) night, at the Republic of Cappuccino on Victora Parade and Loftus Street in Suva, the first ever bloggers' meet will be held. If you are a blogger living in the Suva area, or even just thinking about maybe blogging, please come out and meet your fellow blog-heads in person. Drink some coffee, make some friends, and have some fun.

It would not be going too far to call 2007 The Year of the Blog in Fiji. Although, it may be more accurate to call it The Year of the Anonymous Blog. For the first time, blog has become a household word and politically vocal blogs authored by pseudonymed individuals are regularly mentioned in international media reports. Anonymous blogging has become perhaps the most popular method of expressing dissent against Fiji's Interim Government as public forms of dissent have been met with a firm hand by the military.

However, there are also a significant number of bloggers in Fiji who do not make any attempt to conceal their identity. Bloggers such as... While we do not get as many hits or comments as our anonymous counterparts, we do write about many things other than politics. For example, one of the most prolific bloggers in Fiji is Gilbert Veisamasama, Jr. He runs two blogs, Promoting Suva (http://promotingsuva.blogspot.com/) and Invest in Fiji (http://investinfiji.blogspot.com/) and he seems to post to both almost every day.

So, if you are a blogger living in the Suva area and you can comfortably answer the question, "What is your blog's address?" in public, I look forward to seeing you Thursday night!

p.s. Gilbert has given his regrets for tomorrow's meet.

Photo by eurleif

Fiji bloggers meet - ROC on Loftus, April 19, 7:00 pm

Updated 11/4/2007


Calling all Fiji bloggers to meet up at the Republic of Cappuccino on Victoria Parade and Loftus Street at 7:00 pm, Thursday, April 19, 2007. Drink coffee, be merry, and put a human face on your favourite Fiji blogs. Leave a comment to let me know that you are coming or email me at thrashor(at)gmail(dot)com.

Help to spread the word: post an invitation on your blog or link to this post!

Photo by eurleif

Fiji blogger's meet

Attetion all Fiji bloggers or wannabe bloggers! How about a face-to-face meet-up in Suva in the next few weeks? If there is enough interest, we could try to have another event somewhere in the West. What do you think? I know I am interested in meeting all of you.

photo by yandle