What is freedom of speech and how does society temper it? On the one hand you have laws and regulations on the other you have ethics, values and beliefs. The current prevailing ethos of 'freedom of speech', indeed, the very idea of freedom of speech, is utter bullshit.
First about the rules and regulations bit. I hate to harp about something so wasted already but take Nibras Bawa for instance, he was thrown out of kottu because he broke the rules and revealed personal details about a blogger, thus breaking codes of basic ethics expected of bloggers in Kottu right? That is all good and well, but what about the outing of Nibras Bawa's himself afterwards by other bloggers? why weren't they kicked out of kottu for going against the rules? or looked down upon with scorn or disdain. Effectively, what they were doing was taking the 'law' into their own hands, thieving from the thieves or murdering the murderers. This may seem justified in the light of the former's actions, but hardly seems right given the 'code of ethics' we adhere to.
I'd hate to see this place turn into some biased hell hole. Where there is a status quo controlled by the 'elite' bloggers whom everyone in turn feels like following and emulating. This destroys original thought and restricts the airing of diverse opinions and will turn kottu into just another pseudo intellectual frog in the well social group the like of which i was under the impression i was escaping through blogging. And lately, events have been giving me a slight feeling of distaste on the edge of my tongue.
Monday, May 4, 2009
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32 Comments:
Oh god this drama again?
I think the Rule he broke was outing someone.
And anyone else who did that was pretty much kicked out too.
The rest of the haahoo was merely people stating their opinions on the issue, however melodramatic they might've been.
ah, FINALLY a GOOD post about the real issue at hand (:
what took so long? :P
Waiddaminute! The bloggers who outed NB were in kottu and weren't kicked out?
I didn't know that! :|
Outing anyone is low, whoever it's done by.
True @ blogosphere gradually turning into a pseudo intellectual frog in the well social group.
forget it.
Just write.
That's what's good for the soul. Not the drama.
How can you out someone who blogs under his own name?
Too little Too late. Nevertheless a good thought.
Well, just to make few corrections, NB never violated any codes of ethics or rules. If NB had violated, his blog would have got deactivated long ago by Blogger itself. That’s a fact.
After all many flagged my blog, protested and even reported abuse. But my Blog is still alive. I never closed it and ran away. I stood firm. This is only because NB never violated any of the blogging rules and ethics and all the bullshit Indi is confused with.
This is the truth. Just go through the Blogger and EFF and Word press terms. It’s very clear and I was always within that. Privacy rules are very clear. What I did was perfectly acceptable by law. Just that some fools didn’t know what the law was.
Actually I did it after making sure I didn’t have any legal implications. I am No fool. I always knew I could be subjected to a penalty by blogger, but went ahead with it after making sure I didn’t violate their terms. I had written many things actually, but edited them in line with blogger rules. What was finally put out was the mild and Okay version acceptable to blogger. But this too was too much to a cowardly society.
Just read the rules on blogger and elsewhere. But this was not acceptable to a small closely knit society or Indi’s sucker boys to be precise. Hence the drama and outing and all the hate speech.
To begin with Kottu is not a blogspehere. It’s a self marketing tool of a wannabe politician. He never had any proper rules for Kottu. Just go to Kottu page and you would agree they are very amateur. That’s a fact again. Just go through my blog posts carefully and you would agree I am making sense.
Thanks, but I am glad you are seeing some sense. The person who asked “should NB be burnt at stake?” is now saying a different thing. Well, such is the power of truth and the truth alone triumphs………. It’s only a matter of time before people realized it.
Anger, Ego, hatred and raw emotions don’t allow people to see the truth. But there is a time, a time to heal and when this happens every right thinking soul will see the truth. I am glad you are one of them :-)
As for what I did, I stand by them. No change. I really don’t care what the world thinks as long as I can justify it to my own conscience. Thanks buddy.
Cheers :-)
Oh Bother!
First of all, NB ol' boy,
The only reason your blog is still standing is because you keep taking down your offensive posts. I challenge you to put up that original post on RD and leave it on for 24 hrs, I'll take care of the rest :)
What on earth is the matter with you whackster? Giving new life to this almost dead and putrefying subject?
Maks - answered ur own question did you? :D
St Fallen - i have no idea. was just mulling things over u know
Dee - lol
David - well a name is just a part of an identity. You can out someone by revealing personal information, photographs etc. essentially violating his privacy, see?
NB - er.. chill dude. im just pointing out a few facts..and if you really 'stand by what you said' you wouldn't remove posts. and kottu has its own set of regulations you'll find. they don't have to be written in international law or anything fo you to be kicked out, which i thought was perfectly justifiable to be honest.. plus you haven't carried out your threats to expose anyone else so ur credibility is also kinda low right now.
tulie - uh huh im sure you'v scared him now :D
why i wrote about it is because i think there are a few aspects conveniently under the carpet. and they might rot and start stinking up the room soon.
Tulie,
You are wrong. Check that Idiot's blog carefully. That arsehole is still keeping the post about Indi himself with all his details and photos and stuff. See that before you talk. Not that I agree with this NB idiot, but he is a rare species who can not be controlled. Report him as you say. Many are still there. See that dude. This NB is an egoistic adamant bastard. Ignore the fellow. I am sure he likes the attention he is receiving.
Whackster,
You should delete this post without causing another round of outing. I don't know. This is what I feel. This NB guy CAN NOT be reformed. See the nerve :-)
NB is really very insignificant in the context of this post. i just brought him up to drive a point thats all. and i hardly think ur annonymous comments fool anyone, really.
i guess most of ppl are missing out on the bigger picture..yeah NB is quite insignificat in this context,
I think this below link alos sheds light on the subject...
http://landlikenoother.blogspot.com/2009/04/nibras-bawa-freedom-of-speech-and-kottu.html
Lemme join this.
Firstly this NB is a chronic case, a child of priviledges unlike most of us. Bugger is a play boy type who deserves NO attention. I have no reason why you should dig this again. I am very sure that egoistice creature will love this and possibly post a thank you note on its blog.
If you are trying to say a point, say it. Leave this Karachi Colombo Cross breed. I am sure there are better examples that you can find to drive your point.
It's always amusing when anon commentators are this obvious to figure out.
N - agreed. writing styles are so easy to figure out. :)
ayyo. why are we still here. let's all move on for heaven's sake !
realskull - yeah i checked it out.. interesting post..
N deecee - u guessed it!
Middle Child - why are we still 'here'? if you mean the NB episode then we are not there anymore. but of you're talking abot 'freedom' and 'ethics' then yes, there's good reason tostill be here.
Tulie Tulie,
Sorry I don't post your comments on my blog coz you are way too much at times. Since you have commented here, let me say this Tulie Tulie,
I did delete them for many reasons. I am under no obligation to explain my reasons to you. However, if you do see my blog, I guess its very clear that most of my posts still stand. I haven't deleted them. See Indi is being highlighted many times. His address, phone number, server details are on public display. So are many other details his sucker boys like you didn't know. You see them in my blog.
Kindness is not weakness. Well, as for the girl, I have said I will not say a word about her in one of my posts. That still stands. Its not that I can't I am scared of saying things. No way :-)
Whackster,
Your claims that I am unable to expose more people is a joke actually. If you see, I didn't stop with one. I went on exposing many others as well and will do if required. Just that I am a little calm thesedays :-)
Anonyomus Idiots,
Please mind your own business. Just show your face before calling me Colombo Karachi cross breed. Well, its better than being the bastard you are :-)
funny: years ago an idiot was being racist on kottu (his blog was in the blogroll i mean), i pointed it out, pll laughed and shrugged it off and took the piss. now they all jump up and down when smbdy breaches unwritten (apparently) code of conduct....where is the logic? or does it depend on WHO? because it doesnt seem to depend on HOW, does it?
i agree with makuluwo and even of u sweep stuff under the carpet eventually it bites your ass. if you tolerate misbehaviour sometimes, it slowly becomes a rule and dont complain afterwards when it hits you hypocrites.
galleblogger
I agree with the sense of heirachy on Kottu. It's unfair if there are people who outted anybody during the whole saga are still on the aggregator.
I am just laughing as I type this one. But if you wanna see Kottu's hypocrisy and Indi's explanations, just have a look at this post below. Society should GROW UP :-)
http://nibrasbawa.blogspot.com/2009/04/indi-samarajiva-put-to-test-peace.html
Thanks.
NB
Whack, a good post as always... I read ViC's post on this one, and I agree, that although NB's behavior was not acceptable (the outing RD part, not the rest) I think the bugger deserves to be kept in Kottu... I mean, it's not like RD is a supersecret journo digging up government dirt and writing columns for the sunday papers right? He lives his warm sheltered life (not that it justifies NB's actions!) in faraway London...
But yes, NB was not re-added to Kottu because Indi was being a hypocrite and not giving NB the freedom of speech he writes about every sunday on the leader! that's Sri Lanka for you... all talk and no action! Talk something and do something totally different! lol
Anon - well to be frank NB does not deserve to be kept on kottu IMO. He clearly violated the terms and should have been penalized. His subsequent actions didn’t show a sign of improving either so you can’t really base your decision on WHO he outed. Or say that he deserves to be allowed back in. fact remains he violated the privacy of another blogger yes?
As for Indi well i think we all owe him a lot of unpaid gratitude for running kottu, and paying for it out of his own pocket. I think he's quite fair in his approach seeing as he hasn't really kicked out any of his long standing 'rival' bloggers such as sitting nut for e.g. or any of the numerous trolls who have invaded the blogsphere. I would say he is more dedicated to freedom of speech than a lot of others and an incident such as this should not be blown out of proportion in order to enable personal attacks against anyone, which is also not something this post aimed to do.
And in some cases like blogs bordering on racism i think an administrator needs to make a call on whether to allow them on the blogphere or not. Although a general discussion to assess consensus could and should be initiated to better determine this.
The others who violated the code by outing NB himself were on a reactionary stance. And perhaps in a certain light that may be more tolerable than the disruptively provocative stance of NB. That’s why i think they should kindly take their posts down in respect of the codes of ethics that kottu is run in the shade of. And help dispel any arguments or sentiment of this being a biased a hypocritical community of people. And be the better ‘man’ while we’re at it.
Personally I dont thing 'outing' someone as a reactionary stance is any more better than the initial 'outing 'itself. I said in my own post re: this that it takes two to tango, dont be the second. Be the lion that walked away, not the pig that took the shit-bath.A lot of very very good bloggers jumped in the sewers which was very regrettable. As bad as what NB did was it doesnt excuse the others who went down that road. Kottu went to hell not because of NB, but because of everyones 'reactionary stance' to it. If anyone went after NBs privacy, they should get the same treatment as NB did.
Kottu is Indi's property & I believe he has every right to kick someone he believes is upsetting the balance of the place.I also believe he should be fair and do the same to ANYONE else that does the same. Yes there is a certain 'hierarchy/elite' on kottu. No use denying it. But I certainly dont think Indi is a evil hypocrite, that he censors views he doesnt agree with or that the 'elite' is treated differently by him.I havent seen any evidence of that. If you look at the sinhala blogs on Kottu, you see a varying spectrum of ideas and views all allowed on Kottu. So i do think free speech is promoted here. The English blogs on Kottu always have this problem because apart from a very few, everyone marches to the same beat (& im NOT talking about RD here :D )
p.s. : Sorry, this looked a LOT shorter on notepad
Hi,
Not to point fingers or anything... and i don't want to take sides... but just a point i want to well point out...
Indi can only handle things that happen in Kottu. NB was kicked out for revealing the name and identity of another blogger on Kottu. After NB got kicked out he's no longer Indi's problem. he's no longer a Kottu problem. So even if someone on Kottu did reveal NB's name... it's really not his problem... NB doesn't belong in this arena anymore. So why kick off the 2nd guy for paying back in kind, to someone not part of this community...??
Just my thoughts...
Good points. You can hardly have a ban on outing anyone, but NB was still on the blogroll when he was outed in turn. and his blog was removed later on. So technically he WAS part of the 'community' when he was outed. Anyways the codes of conduct in this case do seem rather subjective and hazy and maybe that's ok and sufficient for the current operations of kottu. Guess we'll all have to ride with it. And talking about it and contributing to its development i guess depends on ones prerogative.
Can anyone link to this alleged outing of NB? I've not seen any such post so far.
Whacky,
I hate to comment on this any further, But let me correct you. My post on RD was on 08-04-2009. I was deleted (Kicked out as per Indi) on the same day. This happened within three hours of my post actually. There were no request from God Indi to delete the post. Just a note saying I have been deleted. So technically I was NO member of Kottu. Not sure if you have been reading my blog. I have mentioned this many times with Indi's own emails. Get your facts correct before you blog. Verify them. Don't look an idiot. You don't know the real sequence of events.
DB,
Look at your own blog and the Scam you did. I can easily get you deactivated, but I don't have copyright to the photos and details you have posted. So why bother? What doesn't concern me doesn't bother me though the names are similar. BTW, Shall we Skype honey? How about a Gay talk? :-)
well if your right, then anon above has a point worth pondering..
Just begging for attention, no, Nibby? Can we talk, can we skype, can you please aney David at least answer my mails???? Ha ha fuck off, Dude. The only thing deactivated around here is your frontal lobe.
So, any links to this supposed outing of NB where private pix, phone numbers, addresses, etc were posted? I still can't find any.
Just fuck off David. Masturbate if you are jobless. That is healthy, cheap and good. BTW, I don't need to get any more attention. You guys gave me that already??? What emails you nasty asshole? Dreaming??? When did I send you any e-mails???? Dude, you should see a psychiatrist really. Don't worry. I respect your right to criticize me, I honestly do, but my only request is, get your facts correct before criticizing, verify them and then thrash me. Thats perfectly fine. But then, an asshole like you will never listen noh? A dog's tail can never be straightened they say. BTW honey, what happened to Chillies??? Very low profile except saying price has come down??? Why didn't they give you one of those many awards they were freely giving away? Aren't you worth even of those awards honey?? Anyway, my deepest sympathies. Get a life you bugger. Why are you being such an entertaining fool online?? :-)
david - well the whole point of this was not to give out links or target individuals. but to have a general discussion on ethics and freedom. and there were a whole lotta posts that were ethically on the borderline IMO, and jugding by some of the comments, i was not alone in my thoughts..
the chocolate chillies or something blog that ruthlessly attacks nibby AND his family (something NB never did to RD mind you!) is still on kottu... indi said he took it off, but somehow as of now, it's still there...
I agree Whack that we owe a lot to Indi, and indeed if there was a way that the bloggers could colabaratively pay for kottu's upkeep then I think that should be arranged. I don't mean to attack Indi, I just want to point out that as Indi himself says "I am no saint" and that he'd be inhuman if he didn't bring some of his personal bias into his running of kottu... he doesn't mean to do it, but it happens, we're all humans...
and Indi indeed is a much better man than you or I, for keeping SNut and Padashow on kottu for so long...
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