2007/04/25 New York
On censorship
The unimportant spy
When I started writing articles for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad (or the Belgian magazine Humo for that matter) I never thought that these articles would travel far. A naive thought maybe -- but also a thought that prevented me from lots of self-censorship.
Now with a site I like this, I’m aware that anyone in Vietnam, Poland, Lebanon or Iran has in theory the possibility to check my whereabouts. (If people assume that my whereabouts given on this site are correct.)
Whenever this comes to my mind I realize that people are either too lazy to check or are not willing to believe most of the things I keep telling them.
In other words: thank God I’m a very unimportant spy. Even so unimportant that I’m not sure whom am I spying for.
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5 comments 
No worry, even important spies are seldom believed. People mostly believe/react to what suits them best. You can easily tell true stories, people will always doubt.
These thoughts sounds like the early stage of schizophrenia. The other way looking at the situation without approaching any mental illness, would be the fact that people merely view this all as entertainment, where the issue of the story being real or not is simply irrelevant.
Do you feel obligated to censor yourself on this blog? Would you write differently if this wasn't widely spread? If you are spying, and you don't know for whom it's for, it's better to be very discrete about which information you give.
Dens
I don’t feel obliged to censor myself. But I’m aware of the fact that this is a dubious statement. Would I reveal any self-censorship?Are there things to be said in favor of self-censorship?
About spying; I have been to places where I was very much aware of the fact that I could be considered by spy, by mistake of course, but still.
i feel a spy too
Spying is what's left when you have got a message for an apathic world.[ Add comment ]
