September 29, 2010 Web Tastes Freedom Inside Syria, and It’s Bitter By ROBERT F. WORTH <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/robert_f_worth/...> DAMASCUS, Syria — Earlier this month, a graphic video <http://www.facebook.com/pages/sadwna-fy-mrft-hwyt-almlmtyn-alltyn-qamta-btdh...> of teachers beating their young students appeared on Facebook <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/facebook_inc/index.htm...>. Although Facebook is officially banned here, the video quickly went viral, with Syrian bloggers stoking public anger until the story was picked up by the pan-Arab media. Finally, the Education Ministry issued a statement saying the teachers had been reassigned to desk jobs. The episode was a rare example of the way Syrians using Facebook and blogs can win a tenuous measure of freedom within the country’s tightly controlled media scene, where any criticism of the government, however oblique, can lead to years in prison. “We have a little bit of freedom,” said Khaled al-Ekhetyar, a 29-year-old journalist for a Web site whose business card shows a face with hands covering up the eyes and mouth. “We can say things that can’t be said in print.” But that slim margin is threatened by an ever present fog of fear and intimidation, and some journalists fear that it could soon be snuffed out. A draft law regulating online media would clamp down on Syrian bloggers and other journalists, forcing them to register as syndicate members and submit their writing for review. Other Arab countries regularly jail journalists who express dissident views, but Syria <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/syr...> may be the most restrictive of all. [...] Continua qui: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/world/middleeast/30syria.html