I have been arrested by Mawei police, SOS

August 11, 2009 7:58 PM

Peter Guo was held by Chinese police for 16 days, but managed to get himself released. Peter's Twitter profile, blog.

But what lesson can be learned from my experience? I think the most important factor is strong command of the use of Internet, especially Twitter and modern tools for communications.

posted by awfurby (12 comments total)

Surely this will be the thing that...leads to all things that look even vaguely like phones being strictly confiscated at the point of arrest.
posted by jaduncan at 8:02 PM on August 11 [1 favorite]

I found the report of the postcard campaign (using the recent 'your mum wants you home for tea' Internet meme) moving and was pleased to see it's being continued for other incarcerated activists such as Xu Zhiyong and Hu Jia.
posted by Abiezer at 8:33 PM on August 11

Well, good for him, but I doubt this would be very effective over the majority of cases. In fact, rather then even needing to confiscate phones, the authorities could simply have the phone company shut off the account, and block access to that person's twitter account.

That would take a little homework though, and local cops might not go through that much trouble just to hassle someone who's criticizing them.
posted by delmoi at 9:10 PM on August 11

Surely this will be the thing that...leads to all things that look even vaguely like phones being strictly confiscated at the point of arrest.

Not if I embed the phone into my head! Ha, didn't think of that did you?
posted by The Devil Tesla at 9:14 PM on August 11 [1 favorite]

It's wonderful he was released, but is the most important lesson here really that police laziness combined with Twitter will get you released from jail? It seems like a total fluke to me even though I do agree that ~information freedom~ can contribute to personal liberty. I just wouldn't want anyone thinking they can go up against this kind of oppression with full force and expect to escape the consequences because they have a Twitter account. It'd be nice, sure, but I don't see it as an effective check against power.
posted by palidor at 11:28 PM on August 11

Not if I embed the phone into my head! Ha, didn't think of that did you?

*buys stock in guillotines*
posted by brundlefly at 11:46 PM on August 11

Great story about how internet community can have real, life changing impact in real life. I've experienced that to be true and observed it as well in others' lives. Who knew that Twitter, which seems like communication lite, would prove itself to have such profound political effects, such as in the Mumbai Terrorist nightmare etc.

This story of supportive and taking-action community is uplifting and heartening to read. Bravo internet friends who stand up for each other. Thanks for the post awfurby.
posted by nickyskye at 5:40 AM on August 12

I'm impressed no one has started bitching about how Twitter is so lame. I guess it's too early in the morning. I feel like I've read this story before. (Has anyone else avoided jail using twitter?)
posted by chunking express at 6:22 AM on August 12

Who knew that Twitter, which seems like communication lite, would prove itself to have such profound political effects, such as in the Mumbai Terrorist nightmare etc.

What political effects?

I'm asking a genuine question here. By some accounts, Twitter "broke" the news of the attack. But that's not political, that's media. There were some twitter messages that gave contact details for emergency numbers, or urged people to donate blood. I'm not dismissing the possibility that a twitter message may have pointed someone in the best direction to find out about a loved one. But most of "effects" of such coverage are decidedly apolitical, and center around the supposed benefits of being "better informed" and finding out about remote news events earlier. Or, as Neil Postman would say, entertainment.

During the Mumbai attacks, I was stuck in an airport departure lounge, with all the monitors blasting out by-the-minute coverage, anchors reading tweets straight off webpages, throwing to shaky cam footage, then crossing to an interview with an "expert" who extrapolates wildly. Is this saturation, near instant access to information actually useful? I submit it is of dubious value. By standing in front of firehose of information, getting it "early", I get the false impression that I am better informed, that I'm ahead of things.

I'm not arguing the value of willful ignorance. I'm not saying we should rely only on gatekeepers or "official sources". But I do wonder what the difference is between this and gawking at a motor accident.
posted by outlier at 6:24 AM on August 12

Sucks to see he can't open Gmail.
posted by nitsuj at 6:45 AM on August 12

Can you image that if I was not an Internet user familiar with kinds of applications, or if there was no a smart phone like Blackberry 8700 or Twitter didn't exist or its API down at that time?

Indeed. Twitter, get things in shape - for the sake of freedom!
posted by ignignokt at 7:15 AM on August 12

Man...Bill Clinton is freakin' everywhere.
posted by Smedleyman at 1:27 PM on August 12