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Tunisian Blogger Undeterred by Censorship

   Cecily Hilleary | Washington 05 January 2011

   The  youth  whose  self-immolation  triggered  the  recent protests in
   Tunisia  has died from his burns. Twenty-six year-old Mohamed Bouazizi
   set  himself  on  fire  in  mid-December  after police confiscated his
   market  stall in the southern city of Sidi Bouzid.  Selling fruit and
   vegetables  had  been  the  sole  source  of income for the university
   graduate  and  his  family.   The  incident  set  off  widespread and
   unprecedented   protests  in  cities  across  Tunisiaâand  across  the
   internet.
   VOA  spoke  with  Lina  Ben Mhenni, a Tunisian linguistics teacher and
   activist  who  maintains  a Facebook page and Twitter feed, as well as
   the  blog  â[1]A Tunisian Girl.â  Though censored in her own country,
   her  web  pages and similar sites like them have been a primary source
   of  news  and  information  for  journalists and observers outside the
   country. Existing restrictions in Tunisia have not deterred her.
   âEverything  is  blocked  here,â she says. âI use a proxy to access my
   blog,  my Facebook profile, and â¦they censored my Twitter account. It
   is not accessible in Tunisia.â

   Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni says
   popular  frustration  is  beginning  to  outweigh  fear  of government
   reprisals

   Ben Mhenni says Tunisians are angry, and she believes the protests are
   a  sign  that  frustration over joblessness now outweighs any fears of
   government reprisal. âPeople are protesting the lack of freedoms,â she
   says. âFor example, in Tunisia, you cannot express yourself. There are
   thousands and thousands of graduates who canât find jobs. Life is very
   expensive.â
   According  to  media  watchdog  Reporters  without  Borders, since the
   protests began last month, the government of President Zine El Abidine
   Ben  Ali  has cracked down on social networking sites harder than ever
   before,  especially  Facebook,  which  has  around  2 million users in
   Tunisia alone.
   Ben  Mhenni  admits  she is nervous. She says that last week, a fellow
   cyber-dissident  was  arrested;  she  says  she  has been followed and
   âverbally  harassedâ  by  police  officers.  She believes she could be
   arrested at any time.
   âBut  you  know,â  she  says, âI believe in what I do. I think that we
   have  to  tell  what  is  happening  here. Iâm convinced [of] what Iâm
   doingâ¦. If we want things to change, we have to make sacrifices.â
   NEW: Follow our Middle East reports on [2]Twitter
   and discuss them on our [3]Facebook page.

References

   1. http://atunisiangirl.blogspot.com/
   2. http://twitter.com/VOAMidEast
   3. http://www.facebook.com/pages/VOAMiddleEastVoices/124360240958667?    v=wall

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