Free Speech and Russia

It is obvious that countries that want to control their people will control the Internet. Democracy thrives on the free flow of information. The following report is of extreme interest.

It was also reported that the pro-Western, formerly Soviet country of Georgia shut down private TV stations this week in a claimed attempt to combat Russia’s efforts to undermine the fledging democracy. Even if Georgia’s president is right about Moscow’s intentions, Georgia will never be a “beacon of democracy” (as U.S. President George Bush has said) if it employs Stalinistic tactics to control its people.

A free and independent media is the cornerstone of a free society. To Westerners, this truism is often taken for granted. But savvy rulers are all too conscious of it. It was Joseph Stalin who said, “Ideas are more dangerous than guns.” What better way to control ideas than to control the media? As with Burma, democratic nations around the world must decry, in words and deeds, emergency rule and the suppression of independent media – such actions have no place in a free society.