You know about the discussion: Google and Communities believed to sell user data to advertisers or governments. Did you, too, ever wonder: What if those rumours about online communities are spread on purpose to intentionally discredit services which became too powerful enabling free speech?

If you compare the strange articles e.g. about LJ in the English and German Wikipedia (YEAH -> LifeJournal 'in the hands of Russians!!' [I'm scared! ;)]), well, umh, doesn't look too good, does it? Mightbe some lines copied by news readers who like shortened messages sooo much. Or mightbe not, as Wikipedia is susceptible to manipulations.

So, when did you as little activists get kicked by an online community moderator the last time? I can't tell for me because I've never been in this situation.

Does the internet really have this huge impact on public opinion some modern media hypes (or folks who like to make f. political careers based on cheap blogs) tell? People find peace online, but this doesn't mean they change things in the 'real', nonvirtual world out there, and I assume that persons of power know that.

If one of those would like to get rid of you, this could be easily done with just placing a larger amount of drugs somewhere in your appartment and get police 'find' it when searching your room: noone will ask further questions after this, and you'll find yourself in prison. So, why should anyone try to get you assume mighty people wouldn't play fair, except for the purpose of getting you burned and steal the fame of being a dissident from you?

Networking via internet is so complex and difficult that it simply doesn't work for political conspiracies, and everybody knows it. Ok, most of the fear is that communities could be used in order to pre-emptively find possible dissidents and get rid of them. Again, at least for Western countries, the problem with that would be that people might talk about such orders if they take place, and the risk of blowing up your business would be in no proportion to what one might get out of it. Additionally, most people don't have a clue how many traces they already left on the internet, plus how well organized disinformation tactics are. So there is no need for prosecution, except in areas where real idiots rule, but those are rare.

The biggest threat to activists, isn't that too many people's subconscious fears telling them not to involve in anything that might get them into trouble -> so not visiting your blog and after finding your human rights ads in the newspaper just inventing tales of you being a nice revolutionist, to have something adventurous to talk about, while these stories indeed burns down the informal network you need to operate?

And isn't stupid modern life pretty much about to 'cleverly' take advantages and shortcuts in life (cheap prices or to get stuff for free)? In a more egoistic-styled society, political topics tend to just get used for one's everyday amusement or disgust. Those people (you know what type I mean) take their rights for granted. So why should we...??

(Compare the wonderful scene with John Travolta in 'Swordfish'.)