Groups Monitor Blogging, Internet Activity During Pakistani Emergency

The MacArthur-supported OpenNet Initiative has been reviewing Pakistani blogs, since President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency last week. ONI’s research, which is widely cited, finds that “the amount of live blogging taking place has increased recently, instead of the crisis quelling speech.” However, it notes that “the overall openness of the Internet today remains in question.” Global Voices, also a grantee, has set up a page where people can share freely news from Pakistan with the rest of the world. As the Pakistani crisis has escalated, the government has taken private television stations off the air, blocked local phones, at least for a short period of time, and curtailed access to the Internet.