Unblocking Syria's social media

Some wonder if Syria's decision to allow access to facebook and blog sites is just a new way to track activists.

Free access to social networking sites is different from free expression, says Jillian York

Until recently, Tunisia held the worst record for Internet filtering in the Arab world, blocking everything from political opposition to video-sharing sites.

But along with Tunisia's revolt came increased Internet freedom: The interim government now blocks far fewer sites, mainly those considered "obscene", and Internet users attempting to access such sites now encounter a block page rather than a blank one, demonstrating an increased degree of transparency.

Syria, formerly the runner-up to Tunisia, appears to be taking a similar turn. On Wednesday, Syrian authorities granted access to Facebook, Blogspot, and YouTube, and for the first time since 2007, users of those sites could get to the social networking sites freely, without use of a proxy.

Read more