What do a Russian blogger, American hacktivists, and CISPA have in common? They all demonstrate government crackdown on dissent and information.
Vladimir Putin's regime is criminally prosecuting lawyer, opposition leader, and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny. According to The Washington Post Navalny's trial, which is set to begin today,
is widely considered a test of how harshly President Vladimir Putin intends to crack down on dissent.What WaPo left out of its story are the similar tests of how harshly the U.S. government is cracking down on dissent. Criminal prosecutions of hacktivists and whistleblowers are having an enormous chilling effect on dissent and free speech here in the U.S.