The world wide web is a magnet unlike anything known before. Its potential is limitless. It is certainly the greatest thing that has happened to mankind in the history of communication and learning. More than a million new websites are added every day. Most are done by amateurs acting voluntarily. The desire to communicate is a wonderful thing to witness. The variety of subjects is beyond imagination.

There is no fee, and no censorship. Anyone may put up anything. And does. Some is graphic, some is animated, but most is text. This huge library contains everything imaginable, and one soon learns to use the powerful search engines which locate specific items of interest.

What a sad thing it is to see grown men swatting at websites like a blind man striking at a hantu. Yet that is the appearance the information minister gives in Malaysia. In the absence of a free press and the existence of repressive laws against free speech and assembly, Malaysians have turned to the internet for news.

The internet newssites were ignored by the government for a time, as a nuisance to be tolerated. Any move toward them would be noticed immediately around the world. At first, not many people read them. But they told the truth about things the government wants kept secret. Stories about judicial improprieties and malicious prosecutions appeared. A government conspiracy to cover up monumental misdeeds slowly emerged.

The number of daily hits grew. The impact of the news sites began to affect public perceptions. Readership of printed newspapers declined. The power of the government to control the minds of the people is gone. Elections are no longer certain. The situation is serious. Thus the change. The webswatting has begun.

It is a ridiculous situation. A website can be created in a matter of minutes. A tyrannical government is swiftly swarmed. Every effort to eliminate one attracts attention, and soon, where there was one, there is a dozen. Success breeds success, and the internet is definitely a success. To mount a campaign against a website is the modern equivalent of Don Quixote jousting with windmills. In this case the windmills multiply like bacteria.

The contradiction between support for the MSC and a campaign against the news sites does not seem apparent to the government. Perhaps it is something which cannot be pointed out. The news sites are like gadflies, and carry a sting. Socrates described himself as a gadfly, and he was martyred by the government for being irreligious. We do not remember the government, but thanks to the playwright Plato, we all recall Socrates. We recall his search for truth. He delighted in deflating the egos of the pompous in power. They smarted from it. He was killed legally.

Men who act in government have not changed much. But the world has. The internet cannot be ignored as a venue for the expression of ideas and revelation of secrets. It is this that tyrants fear. From time immemorial tyrants have controlled information flow, and manipulated public perceptions. Public relations departments attempt to put a spin on peoples' point of view. Advertising agencies know no ethics in the attempt to promote products that are detrimental to the public good.

It was not forseen that the internet and the world wide web would become a means for giving everyone a voice. Everyone has access to information now, and no government can interfere. Those governments which try must compete with those regions where the full benefits are appreciated.

Many towns in the world have made internet access available to every house. It is a mark of pride with them that their citizens have access to all available information. A civic confidence arises from knowing they and their children are among the best informed people anywhere. The future is theirs, and they know it. They are the modern equivalent of the enlightened Greek city-state.