Book For Bloggers

Bloggers' handbook released to help dissidents

Agence France-Presse

PARIS--A bloggers' handbook aimed at helping dissidents in repressive countries avoid detection when they publish on the Internet was released Thursday in Paris with the support of the French government.

The press rights group Reporters without Borders (RSF) said the 86-page book -- which is also available at its website -- offers "handy tips and technical advice on how to to remain anonymous and to get round censorship, by choosing the most suitable method for each situation."

"Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure. Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest," RSF said.

The handbook offers advice on the best ways to get blogs picked up by search-engines and how to "establish credibility through observing basic ethical and journalistic principles."

It also includes personal acounts from bloggers in countries such as Iran, China and Nepal, and a list of states judged to be the "champions of Internet censorship."

The book was produced with help from the French foreign ministry.

Reporters without Borders