They said that pen is mightier than the sword. I say, internet is the mightiest. Another recent incident has proved how powerful multimedia, particularly internet, is. Belgium's Minister of Defense, Pieter De Crem just got a taste of blog revenge.In a statement, De Crem called blogging a "dangerous phenomenon" in the society.
I want to take this opportunity and use this non-event to signal a dangerous phenomenon in our society. We live in a time where everybody is free to publish whatever he or she wants on blogs at will without taking any responsibility. This exceeds mud-slinging. Together with you, other Parliament members and the government I find that it’s nearly impossible to defend yourself against this. Everyone of you is a potential victim. I would like to ask you to take a moment and think about this.This was after Nathalie Lubbe Bakker, a bartender in a Belgian bar in New York blogged about the Minister's drinking spree. The bartender talked about how drunk De Crem was and how embarassed she were about his behavior. The worst part was she wrote that they were there on a taxpayer's money, as admitted by one of the De Crem's advisor who was at the bar with him. Her blog was written in Dutch.
Few days later, Bakker was fired. Allegedly, someone from De Crem's office called Bakker's boss, which prompted her termination. The minister admitted that indeed a call was made but that there was never any insinuation about the Bakker getting fired from her job.
I have read and heard several stories about people taking revenge through blog. One particular story made it big about when an Australian blogger took revenge from his Filipino lover by blogging the lover's dirts and his friends' who belong to Manila's socialites. It has been the talk of the town for weeks with the blog getting more than 100,000 hits in one day!
From these two stories, is Mr. Minister right when he said that blogging is a "dangerous phenomenon"? The statement created a stir in the blogging community, getting both violent and funny reactions. As for me, it's just one of those interesting stories that reminds me of what the prophet Haggai said to "give careful thoughts to your ways". Blogging is amoral and it's here to stay. People use it to inform, express and make money. It's all about taking responsibility. Click Here to Read More..
