Anti-Censorship Manifesto

Truth is as hard as a diamond, Gandhi said. Dictators fear truth and reality because they shine like a powerful light in the dark. Any deviation from their propaganda threatens their political constructs. Any description of the facts can undermine the oppressive edifice they have built and expose their house of lies, in which the ballrooms rest on the cellars in which they try to confine the people.

Between 60 and 100 journalists and as many netizens are killed worldwide each year and, at the time of writing,155 journalists and 130 netizens are in prison. This is because truth, as Gandhi added, is also as fragile as a peach blossom. With the help of jails, laws, scissors and technologicial tools, truth and reality are easily crushed like petals under a military heel.

Only determined opposition to censorship will permit political, economic and social progress in countries throughout the world.