Lions, tigers, and bloggers! Oh, my!

Bloggers scare governments.

In a world of celebrity tweets, a billion IPhone apps, and a million-plus Facebook friends, it’s easy to forget how much technology that gives ordinary people a voice can frighten those in power.

Take Turkmenistan. In 2007, it jumped headlong into the digital age with its first Internet cafes – and posted armed soldiers outside.

Turkmenistan landed on the list of the "10 Worst Countries to be a Blogger" issued by the Committee to Protect Journalists. The CPJ issued its report to mark World Press Freedom Day (today, May 3).

This list isn’t full of surprises. Burma (Myanmar), Cuba, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, China, Vietnam, and Tunisia. Most nations are governed by leaders afraid of democracy and the ideas their own people might be exposed to if they have too much contact with the world or each other.

For example: Blogger Maung Thura, a Burmese comedian, is now serving a 59-year term in prison. His offense? Posting video footage of the wreckage left behind by Cyclone Nargis exactly one year ago.

Even before Nargis, this was a nation where only 1 percent of the population had private Internet access. Maybe that has something to do with the punitive cost: $1,300 for a broadband connection. The average Burmese household income is $40 a month, reports Soe Myint, the editor of Mizzima News, a news website in India run by Burmese.

Iran, which calls itself a democracy, is staying abreast of the times by creating a special prosecutor’s office for Internet crimes. New legislation will make it a crime to create a blog that’s determined to be promoting “corruption, prostitution, and apostasy.”

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