Having set up two news arenas for two different areas of writing, my journals have operated in independent harmony, both providing similar format of articles in sportsitegeist, and the journal you’re reading now, websitegeist (thanks for visiting).It’s hard to envisage a moment so early on in the infancy of both sites that their world of writing could collide, and I’m left with the dilemma of having to choose which site this article ought to go on.
The story, which is still bubbling under the surface at the moment and not yet uncovered even by BBC or major news websites, concerns that of the blog known as Chicken Yoghurt, who have broken the story on a number of fellow bloggers who have suddenly found themselves without an online mouthpiece. This doesn't concern your average Joe Blogg(er)s, even the blogs of Boris Johnson, MP for Henley and London mayoral candidate, have mysteriously dropped off the radar. And suddenly, Arsenal Football Club have become embroiled in the battle.
If this sounds like some postmodernist spy thriller (or even a spoof version), you may be surprised to hear it's very much true. Even more bizarrely though, it all concerns Alisher Usmanov, Russian oligarch billionaire who's just landed a princely stake in the North London team.
Now Usmanov has invested his wealth in a British asset, many bloggers have linked and re-reported articles suggesting that his previous dealings in the Russian empire are to be tarnished with the same murky brush as that of Roman Abramovich, accusing Usmanov of obtaining his wealth through the illegitimate and corrupt methods associated with the oligarchy under Gorbachev.
These accusations did not go down particularly well in the Usmanov camp, and least of all with his lawyers, who successfully campaigned to remove the blogs of anyone reproducing said story. The problem is now that the webhosts who quickly bowed to the pressures of legal action, and thus sanctioned the removal of blogs to cover up the story with 404-not found error messages, are facing something of a backlash. The word has quickly spread of the blogs which have been shut down without warning, and in a sterling protest for free speech, bloggers are quickly telling of Usmanov's attempts to silence the story, along with links to all other blogs running the story. The idea is that the lawyers will have to eventually file a case to shut down the entire Internet to save the story from getting out.
This will warm the hearts for anyone who's wanted to speak their mind using the Internet when everything in the real world seemingly doesn't care. While I prefer to report on the matter rather than join arms of the e-comrades, it's nice to know that websitegeist is now part of the number of sites Usmanov's lawyers will have to contend against to keep this story schtum.
It doesn't matter if it's true or it's an outrageous piece of libel, the point is that doing the rounds with a highly-paid legal team and intimidating the webhosts in to removing an entire blog amounts to bullying, scaremongering and the sort of propaganda coverups that, in the more extreme cases, lead to the end of Alexander Litvinenko. I'm certainly not trying to tar Usmanov with the same brush, but the dirty tricks campaign to get this off the Internet certainly doesn't rub well with Western culture.
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UPDATE: 27th September
Since running this article, Chicken Yoghurt has reported 291 websites which have carried the story, and Bloggerheads is now back online. The takeover attempt at Arsenal seems to fallen flat, with the club reporting ashtonishing £200 million profits, making them the second most profitable football club in the world, and hardly in need of a cash injection.
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