When one thinks about ‘Blog for Jordan Day’ one thinks of the beautiful and magnificent things we love about Jordan to share with all those both from Jordan, to share an experience that they might not have had, OR people from outside of Jordan to draw them an image of all that is breathtaking about Jordan so that they might visit some day. See i’m not a person who loves pointing out the bad just for the sake of it, but i believe it would never really be fixed unless everyone pointed out that this or that is a problem.

Anyway so i decided to make my ‘Blog for JO day’ post on cyber censorship since today is the ‘World Day Against Cyber Censorship’. This issue is everywhere, from several articles a day in the same newspaper to everyone who basically lives online and would suffocate if his right to speak out was to be taken away.

Articles everywhere are talking about how not any person behind a screen can be called a writer, they’re talking about how they need sites to censor everything so no individuals can be trashed or talked badly about, there are all kinds of opinions out there and a lot of them just seem to want to take jordan backwards a few hundred steps and not just two. I can’t seem to get my mind off the thought of how afraid they must be to want to censor every word, it’s not about people making up stuff about other people and all those news sites making stories up, that is a problem with the readers, working on teaching them the difference between a site and another is in my opinion much more needed than censoring and coming after anyone who breathes in the wrong direction online.

Fear, i would say is the main reason behind such a decision, not fear of what might be made up but fear of all the hidden truths that might come up when a person can freely say whatever they want online or offline for that matter. And if we were ever to win this war and be able to voice out our thoughts from behind a screen then i don’t think there would be anything to make us look behind our backs and think twice and three times in real life. Once a person backs down from typing something or even types it but goes back to delete it or change this word or that our country will remain one lead by a few chosen who know not what the citizens want and need. This fear must be erased by the idea that most of our opinions can be used to fix all that is wrong and that would open up so many opportunities for Jordan to move up the ladder.

It should be my right, whether from behind closed doors or out in the public to be able to throw my opinions right and left for those who ask or care, it should be my right to form opinions based on my own thoughts or anyone else’s information on everything and anything on earth, from services to leaders to policies, religion and spirituality all the way down to the way the road is paved outside of my door. Why do you not want people to engage in discussion that will enrich us and make us use our brains for once? Why is everything sacred and haram and ’7aki bin7akash 2odam il 3alam’ ? Why do all schools and universities worldwide have a debate team to learn to have a meaningful discussion on things from a young age but the only discussing we’re aloud to have regarding rules and regulations is posting a blog post that’ll only be read by people who agree in the first place? I was born without your help and no rules were there, i will die the same way too, i don’t think rules should suddenly pop up continuously in between, and that is not only regarding online censorship but life in general.

Maybe the people behind this idea should think about a simple example: Teenagers are taught to act in a certain way and always told not to do this or that. Reaction? Yes mom and dad i will obey you, OK now out of the window, into dad’s car (no license) and let’s drive to that party. Another example would be: Boy/girl have lived their entire life around people of their own gender and spent 12 years of school also with same gender, once they’re off to university with other gender there’s no telling how they act, they rebel against what they’ve known their entire lives. So to wrap it up, be careful of such a decision because the people can only be told what to do for so long and then in one moment the rebellious will show up and we will be no different than other countries who were sick of things and decided to stand up.*

*Yes this means what you think it means, a revolution of some kind.