Less than a year after the US voted not to impose additional regulation of bloggers (link, cometry from Iain Dale) Thanet District Council are proposing to do likewise.The councillor behind this draft is none other than blogger (Dr) Simon Moores himself.

Given that Cllr Moores appears to feel that the beast has gotten away from him when it comes to blogging - this is no way to correct things.

The problem, if one can be said to exist, in Thanet blogging is not going to ever be fixed by regulation. If Cllr Moores had the material to sue anyone as he has threatened in the past then surely he would have done so. We have laws regarding libel and slander for a very good reason and they are well seasoned and tested laws.

No the two problems that actually exist are

(a) the myth that removing comments you don't like is censorship when the truth is that the comments are a curtsey offered to readers.

and

(b) An ongoing lack of respect between councillors one to another in a climate of hostile mud slinging.


Keep reading to find out why this new regulation will harm Thanet and keep us in the dark ages.


At one time Simon Moores was the undisputed king of the Thanet blog scene. He was a singular voice of information and he drew a large following. It probably felt good to be so popular.

However, such momentum can be lost in a moment and puttign the breaks on one's blog is a sure way to loose what you had.

Thanet has seen the number of bloggers grow and at the same time seen Simon Moores elevated to a cabinet that is widely distrusted under a leader toward whom much ill feeling is directed. Any hope of impartial output from Simon Moores has been lost. His writings, must, by the very roles he fills contain bias because like us all he is a human being.

With the rise of the blogger Thanet District Council has faced the first real public criticism of it's behaviour from both outsiders and from opposition members. In Thanet it is clear - politics is personal.

In a district where frustrations runs deep and anger is strong (such as Thanet for the past 50 plus years) that's a lot of contained feeling waiting to blow up in the face of the fool with the matches.

Any one attempting to publicly debate any topic in Thanet is going to have to face the fact that there are a lot of angry people out there and you blog (or mine) is not the venue to allow them to find a voice. Blogspot.com, wordpress.com, thanet.ning.com, facebook.com, myspace.com and any other free content hosting site might be the place to have a voice but attending someone else's cocktail party swearing and punching guests will get you kicked out and the police called. Why should out blogs and forums be so different?

I can see why Simon Moores might want to try and contain things but sadly all he is showing us is that he is about five to ten years behind the cutting edge. In short Dr Simon Moors does not understand the field of new media at all.

Some time since "March of the Spiders" Dr Moores has lost touch with a fast changing industry where a lifetime is less than a day. The issue of aggression that we in Thanet are facing is simply a product of our collective naivety in the face of a technology (blogging) that was old by the time we got hold of it.

There are over 125 blogs focused just on Thanet and the surrounding area - less than 0.01% of the population of Thanet write blogs and yet already Thanet District Council must deote time and energy to them however that energy is mostly towards shutting them down and blocking them out.

What will they do when 1% of Thanet write blogs?

Take as a point of example the effort that the governemnt in Iran has gone through to try and suppress political blogging. (link)

Why?

Simple - a corrupt regime can not operate when the people are able to communicate freely.

Blogging, tweeting, video, social websites and the whole range of possibilities that is the New Media gives greater transparency, higher participation and ultimately nowhere to hide the embarrassing bits. Communication takes place between the people and the people and nothing - not even the great firewall of China has been able to stop it.

I welcome the Council's efforts to finally put some of the video from sessions online. I don't believe they lack the ability to broadcast live especially as my mum could use her £20 USB webcam to host a class anytime she wanted. However it is a start.

But why do we have this start?

Because the political insiders let us know via the blogs about the cameras and were a vital part of bloggers finding out about a technology that was not being used. If Thanet is ever goign to overcome the vast distrust of the council then the council, must start to become transparent - that means that sessions must be broadcast and the broadcast available under a creative commons or similar license for comment and debate.

More than that every councillor should be giving an account not only of what they stand for but their opinions on subjects. This will enable councillors to differentiate themselves from each other and from their parties and only then will people be sufficiently informed to vote out those that are, frankly, unfit to hold office and keep in those that are doing a good job.

Shutting down blogs is never, ever, the answer. Especially when blog readers are, largely, part of the minority that bother to vote.