Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT possible to transmit Anthrax via the Internet!! Never the less, the Internet is still the target is aggressive anti-terrorism censorship. The irony is that, with the unwitting help of supposedly patriotic Americans, the terrorists have actually succeeded in "taking out" some of the pillars of the civil rights long cherished by Americans, most noticeably Freedom of Speech on the Internet.

Julia Scheeres reports in Wired Magazine, "Amid the nationalistic furor sweeping the United States in wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, many government and private websites are yanking content that could be deemed unpatriotic or risky to national security."

"While the people pulling the informational plug say their actions are in the country's best interests, free speech advocates say the trend is chilling and anti-democratic," Scheeres continues.

Yahoo has continued its schizophrenic approach to self-censorship by yanking dozens of sites in the Jihad Web Ring, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal.

And Yahoo isn't alone. azzam.com has been swept off the Internet through the actions of multiple ISPs, some of whom claimed to be threatened by the Federal Government. Azzam.com reportedly provided "authentic news and information about Jihad and the foreign Mujahideen everywhere." See the above Wall Street Journal article for documentation.

Since the actions of ISPs has killed this website we cannot report it's content first hand. But Azzam.com supposedly provided stories of martyrs killed in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya. Critics claim Azzam repeated Islamic tenets that "martyrdom operations are permissible."

iraradio.com is a pro-IRA site which archives all Radio Free Eireann broadcasts. But now the site is missing because its web service provider, Hypervine, felt that the Bush administration's announcement of the new Office of Homeland Security's activities threatened the ISP with seizure of their assets if they continued to host "terrorist" radio programs. Iraradio.com owners hope to reopen probably on a Canadian server after they move into their new office later this year. Resources: Politech and Guardian Unlimited and USA Today

The strangest, and perhaps the saddest, example of self censorship is the demise of Bert Is Evil! Although it is not clear if this happened due to the well documented reports of Islamic fundamentalists holding posters containing an image of Sesame Street's Bert character right next to Osama Bin Laden, the owner of this site, Dino Ignacio, explained that he removed the site because "I feel this has gotten too close to reality and I choose to be responsible enough to stop it right here," Bert Is Evil

Some actions by private and government web sites seems logical and prudent, at least on the surface. For example, some web sites have voluntarily removed information about troop movements or information about hazardous chemicals or materials. Nuclear data is also suddenly absent from long established websites. But much of this self-censorship is coming at the request of government officials.

One Washington watchdog group, OMB Watch is keeping a list of government agencies that have pulled previously public information from their websites since the terrorist attack.

OMB Watch reports, "Attorney General John Ashcroft issued a memorandum on October 12 urging federal agencies to exercise greater caution in disclosing information requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is keeping a running tally of sites that have been shut down or restricted since Sept. 11.

EFF opens it's thorough review with the following caution, "The right to free speech faces the strongest challenges during times of crisis. This page attempts to convey the chilling effect that responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have had on information availability on the Internet as well as some sense of the effect on people trying to provide this information.

Currently, the EFF is tracking the following:

• Websites Shut Down by US Government
  
• Websites Shut Down by Other Governments
  
• Websites Shut Down by Internet Service Provider
  
• Websites Shut Down or Partially Removed by Website Owner
  
• US Government Websites That Removed Information
  
• US Government Requests to Remove Information
  
• Media Professionals Terminated or Suspended
  
• Other Employees Terminated or Suspended
  
• Related Incidents
  
• Related Links

If you know of a anti-terrorism chilling effect that should be listed by the EFF, you can e-mail freespeech@eff.org