❊ No, This is not a Tyranny of the Online Activists

Here’s an interesting comment I got from blogger and friend Tony Saghbiny:

the last thing we want is artists doing self-censorship because they’re afraid of what would the activists say […] I’m very sad to see the blogosphere and the activists using their influence to damage the freedom of expression in the country.

He is not alone. Other bloggers who think the racism charges against Lebanese TV stations is unfair are treating this as a matter of free speech and are painting the online activists as some sort of thought police. I don’t think this is a fair characterization.

To start, the stations in question already exercise several forms of self censorship:

• A self censorship with political patrons: MTV doesn’t criticize the Murr family and its political allies, Future TV doesn’t criticize the Hariris, Almanar doesn’t criticize Hezbollah ..etc.
• A self censorship on religious deference grounds: When was the last time Ktir Salbeh made fun of the Maronite church and the patriarchy?
• A self censorship from topics that clearly inflame sectarian feelings. Everyone steers clear from vulgar sectarian stereotypes on TV.
• Self censorship dictated by social and cultural norms: For example, you don’t make fun of a Lebanese politician who just died
• Self censorship dictated by political taboos: For example, you don’t publish stories that portray the state of Israel in any positive light

The reason online activists are doing what they’re doing is not because they’re in some sort of witch hunt. It’s because they see the weakest elements of society, — the poor, the foreign domestic workers, the homosexuals and yes, the women — as fair game. These people are not been treated with the same tactful care that is given to other groups in society. Little gestures like not making fun of people who are committing suicide, or not making women-beating jokes when someone was just killed by a wannabe rapist are simply escaping the peripheral vision of our media editors.

The purpose of our online feedback is simply to call attention to such issues. We don’t want to punish anyone and by all means we don’t want to muffle the free opinion of anyone.