LIRA: Lebanon's Blogger Community Fights Back

"We have bad internet. Paypal doesn’t serve Lebanon. Few are willing to do e-commerce with us because the latter is not regulated. There is no reference in case of litigation. Isn’t it enough already?"

"In the coming days, various bloggers, activists, online advocates, journalists, designers and lawyers will be meeting to plan a coordinated response to proposed Lebanese Internet Regulation Act (LIRA)..."

This Lebanese blogger has highlighted a campaign video, resounding the war cry against this possible law.

"Whether this is a joke or not, we obviously, as bloggers, shouldn't stand still and make ourselves heard. We are FOR organizing the electronic media and protecting our rights, but we are AGAINST any form of vague law that can convict us in any form or way they like. The hashtag #StopLIRA will be used on twitter."

"The world will still look up the same words, the same questions, the same problems, they'll still wonder what Lebanon is, whether Lebanese were terrorists... What if our Ministry of Information, concentrated its efforts on fixing the image of Lebanon through the internet instead? What if it would open a new section, an online shield of bloggers and social media activists?"

"This is a threat to our freedom of speech and expression, we can also take it as a compliment, because we are strong and cultivated, and our politicians don't want people like us in the society, they prefer having a herd of sheep following them blindly. We shall not be shut down. Let's join forces to stop LIRA."