Early in September, Hotmail stopped forwarding my subscription e-mails from Truthout.org. I CHOOSE to receive e-mails from Truthout and, despite the fact that I’m an adult living in a country that allegedly enjoys freedom of speech, HOTMAIL unilaterally decided to call my subscription "spam" and stop forwarding it.
I asked Hotmail to justify its actions and it quickly put the blame on Truthout. But it admitted to Truthout that it was "blocking and throttling" its e-mails.
And there are allegations that AOL is doing the same thing.
This is serious. Communication consists of a speaker, a listener, and a medium of transmission. Those who would control our access to information can’t stop me from listening, and they haven’t yet dared shut down the media outlets from investigating and writing, so they’re attacking the vulnerable link between. This is censorship. And it’s wrong.
Everyone, regardless of where they sit on the political spectrum, should be up in arms about this. The party in power in this country changes regularly. Our right to be informed by anyone we choose to listen to should not.
I CHALLENGE YOU TO DO WHAT I DID: Vote with your dollar. Ditch Hotmail. If you're having this problem on AOL, ditch AOL. Tell them why. Support Truthout in putting a stop to this. More is at stake here than just Truthout — they’re small, non-corporate sponsored, and vulnerable, which makes them a good starting point. They’re also the place where this needs to end.
Author's note: this is a truncated and altered version of something I have also posted elsewhere. I think it's important enough to warrant repeating.