Bloggers' Rights and Responsibilities: Discussion on 25th September 2010

The discussion session on Bloggers' Rights and Responsibilities was delivered on 25th September 2010 as part of the Brunei Attorney General's Chambers outreach programme. The session was attended by some of Brunei's prominent bloggers. The discussion has been carried by the local press and also in blogs in both English and Malay.

An unexpected issue which came out during the discussion was the issue of cyberbullying. This was highlighted by a teacher from the audience during Q&A. I think this is definitely an issue to be picked up and discussed with students at schools. I gave the example of Megan Meier's case which drew surprised responses as to the tragic outcome of her case. As a parent myself , raising awareness about cyberbullying and teaching our children to fend for themselves is a foregone conclusion. I just hope to be able to achieve this. Perhaps with the start-up of the proposed Parent Advisory Group for Internet use (PAGi) which I hope to launch this year, could be one of the platforms to achieve this target.

As I noted during the discussion, the second largest group of bloggers in Brunei listed in simpur.net Blogging nation directory are photo journalists. There were requests for a discussion on the rights of photo journalists especially in respect of the rights to the photos they take, and also about the boundaries of responsible photo taking. An interesting aspect was the issue of publishing photos of children. There is some level of awareness of the sensitivities surrounding the publication of photos of young children without their parent's consent, but the general understanding on this topic is still fuzzy and needs exploration. Can't promise when this can be done, but its on my list of things to do.

Till then, stay safe on the Net.