The Syrian Lesbian Blogger: When Best Intentions Get Lost

The blogosphere went into overdrive this week as the mysterious identity of a young Arab lesbian blogger who was apparently kidnapped last week in Syria has been revealed conclusively to be a hoax. The blogs were written not by a gay girl in Damascus, but a middle-aged American man named as Tom MacMaster who is based in Scotland and studying for a Masters at Edinburgh University.

Whilst we can only sit and wonder what subject he is studying I think we can all be confident that a role in diplomacy may pass him by as he has managed to spark a worldwide campaign to get the woman released only later to reveal the whole thing was a vehicle he created to air his views.

On Sunday, an "apology to readers" appeared on the blog signed by Tom MacMaster who said he was "the sole author of all posts on this blog".

Mr MacMaster, who is on holiday in Turkey, told BBC Scotland in an interview: "I really felt a number of years ago, in discussions on Middle East issues in the US, often when I presented real facts and opinions, the immediate reaction to someone with my name was: 'Why are you anti-American? Why are you anti-Jewish?'

"So I invented a name to talk under that would keep the focus on the actual issue."

So Amina, the nom de plume of Tom MacMaster, became the focus of an international media media campaign after a post which was said to be written by Amina's cousin said she had been seized by armed men believed to be members of President Assad's Baath party; and it was all a hoax.

One apology later and the recriminations started to flow toward Mr MacMaster as the full implications of his fictitious blog were unfolding in front of the very audience he had hoped to preach his views too.

MacMaster's assertion "I do not believe that I have harmed anyone" was not met with much sympathy, activists were furious.

Sami Hamwi, the pseudonym for the Damascus editor of GayMiddleEast wrote: "To Mr MacMaster, I say shame on you!!! There are bloggers in Syria who are trying as hard as they can to report news and stories from the country. We have to deal with too many difficulties than you can imagine. What you have done has harmed many, put us all in danger, and made us worry about our LGBT activism. Add to that, that it might have caused doubts about the authenticity of our blogs, stories, and us.

"Your apology is not accepted, since I have myself started to investigate Amina's arrest. I could have put myself in a grave danger inquiring about a fictitious figure. Really … Shame on you!!!"

"What a waste of time when we are trying so hard to get news out of Syria," another Damascus activist told the Guardian.

Blogs are meant to entertain, inspire, inform and help people create all manner of content and broadcast it to the world; most of it is irrelevant and no more than personal musings but we accept this when we read them . However what Tom MacMaster created was different, his blog could have have had serious implications for people trying to help Amina and endangered those he was allegedly trying to speak up for.

It is also questionable as to whether his form of speaking out was actually going to benefit anyone; when people support or follow a cause that is close to them they expect the activists they support are real.

And by unwinding Amina back from the kidnap incident and declaring his hand all that Tom MacMaster managed to do was create a backlash from the very people he was trying to give a voice too.

Of course, creating a blog under a pseudonym to conceal an identity is nothing new; perhaps one of the most famous ones was the nom de plume 'Belle De Jour' who wrote her 'Diary of a London Call Girl' which was based on her real life experiences of being a call girl.

Belle De Jour was in fact a pseudonym used to hide the identity of Brooke Magnanti. In November 2009, reportedly fearing her real identity was about to come out, Magnanti revealed her real name and occupation as a child health scientist.

But that case is totally different to the one that Tom MacMaster has created; where as you could cite that the 'Diary of a London Call Girl' had no intention to harm or waste time, the character created by MacMaster was done so solely to help him vent his own opinions in a way that would create the maximum amount of publicity.

So is this unfortunate incident the price we pay for the democratisation of the media? Practising free speech and being able to air our opinions to the world at the touch of a button is one of the truly revolutionary things that has been a product of the internet, but at what cost?

Whereas previous generations of activists had only their placards and the support of some of the world's media to air their campaigns, today activists can now desktop publish their way into the hearts and minds and indeed homes of millions of people simply by pressing enter on their computers.

This is, on the whole, a good thing. The Arab Spring would not be anywhere near as widely reported if were not for the amount of bloggers out there using the social web tools at their disposal to give the world an untarnished view of events in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Bahrain to name a few.

We have all seen the reports filed by frustrated journalists who have been taken by government officials in Libya to specially selected areas of interest to help groom worldwide opinion of the Gaddafi regime they are so desperate for us to see. The minute any reporters try to deviate from the selected path they are stopped, their cameras taken and in some cases even beaten up.

No matter how powerful Gaddafi's henchmen are though, they will never be able to silence a population armed with the power of the internet, a computer and a camera phone.

But there will always been the odd one that slips through the net and whilst Tom MacMaster has had his 15 minutes of fame, we can only hope that he has not done untold damage to the reputations of the thousands of bloggers in these regions who are doing extremely valuable work at considerable risk to themselves and telling the world what is happening during these volatile times.

Has Britain Got Bored of Britain's Got Talent?

Once again the internet proves to be the unruly child of the media world that rears up and slaps corporations in the face and then retreats to survey the carnage.

This time Ronan Parke, the 12-year-old who is seen as a hot favourite to win this year's Britain's Got Talent in the series final on Saturday, is at the centre of a storm brewing about whether he has been a product of Syco and groomed for success over the last two years.

Much like the controversy that dogged the last series of X-Factor when Cheryl Cole dodged her vote in what conspiracy theorists said was a direct attempt to manipulate the vote and save the contestant Katie, social networks have sprung into life off the back of an anonymous posting on a blog claiming to be someone from within camp Sony making allegations about the background of Ronan Clarke.

In the case of the X-Factor result, Ofcom said: 'It's unlikely the complaints will be upheld based on the fact the show didn't go against the regulator's rulebook.'

But this is a different situation altogether, with allegations being levelled at SYCO in particular on how they have manipulated both the artist and the show to produce the results that they ultimately want.

Of course none of this is new, scratch beneath the surface of any of these shows and allegations and conspiracies are plentiful and easily found in every corner of the internet.

As with any show of this type, a whole economy springs up alongside it as everyone tries to gain their slice of the pie and cash in on the cash cow that is reality television; the newspapers get the exclusives, the artists get some exposure and maybe a career out of it, the record labels get some sales and if they're lucky a spin off from songs that the artists cover during the show and finally the betting shops also get to cash in.

It is a machine that is very corporate and very much of benefit to the corporations that back these shows in the first place; perhaps the irony of this is that the show's 'undiscovered talent hoping for a break' ethos is a million miles away from the shiny offices and suits that await any winner.

But even the most calculated of corporate marketing initiatives can go horribly wrong; witness Rage Against the Machine's Christmas number 1 in 2009 that kept X Factor winner Joe McElderry's 'The Climb' by 50,000 copies and was seen by many as a slap in the face for Simon Cowell and his cohorts. And just to show that SYCO are all heart, Joe McElderry was recently dropped by the label and last seen heading back to his parents house after seeing his career nose dive back into the obscurity from whence if once came.

Timing is everything though, and as this story takes a grip of the nation and debate rages across the media one question we must be asking ourselves now is are we finally bored of these talent shows and actually more interested in the side shows they produce given that all we see on the screen is perhaps not as we would expect it to be?

If the chance of someone being plucked from obscurity and thrust into the public's eye is all but a creation of illusion by the makers then is the whole point of talent shows now lost in the corporate maze of lawyers and management teams determined to have their way?

One thing that is certain is that irrespective of how true these allegations are, Ronan Parke's career has already started with an unwelcome amount of media attention and his potential value as a commodity to SYCO may already be turning into something of a liability.

New End of the World Date Announced

Those who have sold their houses, spent all their life savings on promoting the big day and have made a contribution to the alleged $100 million donation pot to Rapture need not worry any more; Harold got the date wrong, the world will officially end on October the 21st.

People like Robert Fitzpatrick who spent his life savings spreading the word and Jeff Hopkins who drove around New York with a doomsday sign on top of his car can feel that all their time and effort, and of course money, was worthwhile as Camping only got it wrong by about five months.

And what, in the scheme of things, is five months when you're predicting the end of the world?

If an aircraft carrier was five months late we wouldn't even consider that late, if a major rail or road project was similarly late we would accept that as totally normal, so when a man, who seems to have cornered the market in global Armageddon predictions gets it slightly wrong then we should afford him the courtesy of allowing him a third go; and maybe this time he'll be lucky.

And fair play to Harold, who seems to have no qualms about this slight timing error. After the initial frenzy had calmed down he could be seen on TV giving an interview claiming that 'when May 21 came and went, it was a very difficult time for me. A very difficult time'.

Is this possibly one of the biggest understatements in recent times?

He also claimed that the whole world was under a 'Spiritual Reckoning' from May 21st through to the new end of the world date on October 21st.

The interview Harold Camping gave also had more bad news for his many followers as he announced that he won't give back any of the $100 million raised in donations as this was used to promote the "End of Days" campaign and it still had purpose in spreading the gospel.

So there you have it, no refunds offered and a delay in service.

Ryan Giggs named by John Hemming, Lib Dem MP

As if symbolic of how fast news spreads and changes in today's media orientated world John Hemming, the Liberal Democrat MP, has named Ryan Giggs as the player at the centre of the injunction that has sparked debate across both the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

Ignoring the advice of the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, the MP cited the fact that 75,000 people on Twitter had already named the player and impractical to imprison them all.

Last week it was Fred Goodwin, exposed by Lord Stoneham for taking out an injunction to suppress an alleged relationship he had with a senior executive in the House of Lords and this week he has been joined by John Hemming MP.

Perhaps we can now say this is the beginning of the end of these ridiculous privacy injunctions as all they have done so far is to serve up more press time than is really deserved for the celebrities who strive to keep their private lives off the front pages.

As MP's and Lords continue to accuse the courts of over-reaching themselves with these types of injunctions, people who decide to go down this route to try and secure some form of privacy from the press must now be aware that as Twitter and other social media outlets are practically impossible to prosecute they could simply be throwing money down the drain.

140 Characters that mean so much..

What an absolute load of nonsense.

The lawyers have spent hundreds of hours, created documents that probably contain tens of thousands of words and probably spent hundreds of thousands of pounds of their clients money yet 140 characters later and it's all left in tatters.

And what have they actually achieved? They've probably created more press coverage and awareness of how farcical these privacy orders are than any MP or commentator could do at any stage during the argument; well done.

As for the alleged footballer, well his name is all over Twitter and now as a result all over the world so he has now probably become the whipping boy the press needed to show how stupidly ill thought out these injunctions are.

At the centre of it, the actual story has now moved to sidelines in the wider debate and become nothing more than yet another titillating scandal involving a high profile star; get over it, there are loads of these types of story every day and the result is always the same; a few headlines followed by some recriminations and then it all blows over.

Nobody actually really cares about these types of scandals, they are not life threatening and hold no purpose in life apart from perhaps creating some light hearted banter over the country's water coolers, but that is about it.

And then we have the laughable prospect that the legal team advising this player, who has now undoubtedly been relieved of loads of cash by their accounts department, are planing to sue Twitter; has anyone actually advised the player that to do this they would have to do it in a Californian court and that also he would apparently have to reveal his identity during the proceedings?

And now, in a further act of defiance of the English courts, the Sunday Herald not only name the player but also put an image of him on the front page and restrict access to the article to Scotland only citing that the injunction has no power in Scotland! Did this players legal team check this fact as well?

All in all what has turned out to be a nightmare case for the legal team and something that has given the anti-privacy law advocates their biggest moment must have left the player to sit and ponder why on earth he ever embarked on this journey in the first place.

However there are far more serious issues that have been inadvertently highlighted by this case, issues that effect real lives and stories of wrong doing that surely should have been placed into the public domain but stopped by the various high court injunctions now issued on an apparently regular basis.

There are no real winners in this case, or are there? The player has been left to reflect on whether this was a wise move after all, the law courts are being made to look totally out of touch with society and Imogen Thomas, the woman at the centre of the scandal, will probably never be able to sell her story. But what about the lawyers? One wonders whether they are either licking their wounds in defeat or are they at this very moment in time creating another angle to stifle the press on behalf of their hapless client? After all, they charge by the hour irrespective of what happens.

But this begs a very serious question of our legal system: if you're rich and you've got something to hide can you suppress the press through the courts? Or am I being totally naive because this has been going on for years?

M6 Paranormal Crash Footage: An elaborate hoax or clever marketing or the real thing?

As the internet becomes full of links and debates and forums talking about the mysterious footage that has suddenly appeared about the M6 Paranormal Crash the burning question on everyone’s lips is probably ‘is this real’?

It certainly looks real; anyone capable of pulling off a hoax that spontaneous probably needs congratulating.

But who is ‘Dino’? Why send it out now? Where’s the inevitable link to the movie and where can we find out more?

Interestingly ‘Dino’ claims in a very short reply to an e-mail I sent that he never really wanted to send it out in the first place, which begs the question why do it? Also our mystery man claims that one of his mates is into all things paranormal and that he made him put it out; that’s hardly a convincing reason though.

So here are the facts as we know them:

1. We have a video for a crash that no one can confirm or deny.

2. From a source that no one can interview.

3. That carries no obvious source of advertising or mechanism to make money.

So why do it?

Truth is we’ll probably never know. If it is true then it is a fascinating insight into an accident that has never been publicly acknowledged but one that I have on several occasions tried and failed to get to the bottom of.

If it isn’t true, and this is perhaps the most fascinating of all scenarios, why would someone spend all that time and money creating something that looks quite credible but has no apparent motive or end product?

You can view the video and judge for yourself at All News Web: http://www.allnewsweb.com/page1199999505.php

M6 Paranormal Crash Report: Suspect Confirms Secret Code

In yet another twist in the ongoing investigations into the incidents on the M6 and in Paris the detective leading the investigation in the UK has confirmed that the police are now desperately trying to crack what they believe is a secret code that the main suspect has been using to communicate with their co-conspirators.

It is the latest in a set of bizarre facts to emerge since the arrest of the suspect in Manchester just over two weeks ago. Detective Silverton has also confirmed that the suspect remains in custody of their own volition but refuses to comment on their identity.

As with the previous interview I was able to conduct with Detective Silverton, I was driven to what I believe is a disused underground bunker in the Cheshire countryside and allowed to ask a limited amount of questions; the interview was then vetted and approved for release.

Further revelations have also emerged about one of the bodies discovered in Paris.

Detective Silverton confirmed that both he and the lead investigators in Paris are pooling what they know and that one of the autopsies on the victims in Paris showed a 'considerable difference in the accepted chemical makeup of blood normally found in a person who has lived and breathed this atmosphere'

When pushed to confirm what this meant Detective Silverton said that he was not going to suggest any medical interpretation for this and that there were 'several possibilities' currently being reviewed.

I then returned to the code and the alleged 1of26 document that had been circling the investigation from the start.

Detective Silverton confirmed that this was document they are investigating, 'initially we thought this was part of a scam, a way to create the illusion of paranormal or supernatural activity and then go on to sell artifacts on the black market based on it, but we now believe this is not the case as there seems to be no apparent motive to its existence'

He also stated the evidence for this was the dramatic change in the content of the document and also confirmed that two of their most experienced code crackers were now investigating the document.

Asked if they were nearing any solution to the code Detective Silverton commented that, 'we are still looking at it and are confident that we will be able to interpret what is being said. However we are also scouring many of the forums that have reported this case in search of clues and would ask anyone who has come into contact with these people or has knowledge of the code to put any suggestions they have onto the relevant forums and mark them 1of26. By doing this we can track these posts and see if they are useful to the case. I must also state that we are not interested in any person who places these posts, we're only interested in anything that will help us crack the code; we are confident that we have our main suspect and are currently following up a specific lead they have given us'

I asked Detective Silverton if this was the new way for the police to ask for witnesses and was told that given the sensitive nature of this enquiry they felt that any other mechanism they could use could see them becoming overwhelmed by the resultant influx of information.

(c) Mark Collins 2010