Where writers fear no censorship

Egypt

Editorial

Asharq al-Awsat (U.K.)

Blogging has come to Egypt, said the London-based, pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat in an editorial. Published authors and beginners alike are setting up blogs as “a means of expressing political opposition” or “exploring taboo topics.” You won’t find much in Egyptian newspapers on conspiracy theories or alternative Islamic movements, but such articles abound on the Web. Novelist Mohammed Al-Ashri says that only on his blog can he be truly free. Elsewhere, he says, “there is censorship of ideologies, and even if it is not repressive, it is a boundary that limits one’s imagination.” He and other literary bloggers find that they can experiment with the language in ways that print media doesn’t allow. Nael Al-Toukhi, for example, writes “in the Egyptian colloquial dialect,” which he finds more expressive than “classical Arabic.” Political bloggers are less numerous, but they’re starting to make their presence felt. Several have banded together to raise support for causes ranging from Sudanese refugees to women’s rights. Arab bloggers are truly becoming “the new voices of freedom.”

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