Wednesday, December 7, 2011
What do a high school senior from Johnson County and a pro-democracy activist from Azerbaijan have in common?
In the words of 18-year-old Emma Sullivan, both think their respected political leaders “suck.” Neither is afraid to say it — or in their cases, tweet it — as Sullivan did two weeks ago.
But the events that followed her disparaging remarks about Gov. Sam Brownback point to where the similarities she shares with the Azerbaijani activist, 28-year-old Arzu Geybullayeva, abruptly end.
Inspired by Sullivan’s refusal to apologize for her tweet aimed at the conservative governor, the liberal blogosphere began spreading her story two weeks ago.
She quickly gained national media attention as civil rights advocates — and thousands of new Twitter followers — rallied behind her.
By last Monday, Brownback was the one apologizing. He said his staff “over-reacted” to the tweet when it reported it to Sullivan’s high school principal.
The school district wrote off the incident on the same day. In a statement it said the controversy had “resulted in many teachable moments concerning the use of social media.”
Sullivan was off the hook. Her tweet amounted to little more than 15 minutes of fame, 15,000 new Twitter followers and a crash course in the First Amendment.
If only Geybullayeva had it so easy. Unfortunately, the consequences she faces for what she publishes online about Azerbaijan’s political leaders are much more real.
“There’s no way a government official would ever apologize for his staff,” Geybullayeva told a group of KU students and professors last week. She was on campus to discuss her experience as one of her country’s most vocal — and closely monitored — pro-democracy activists.
In Azerbaijan, an ex-Soviet country on the Caspian Sea, the government is much more likely to frame political dissidents for hooliganism or drug possession than admit to infringing upon their civil liberties.
That’s because the country’s authoritarian leadership considers free speech a political liability rather than a universal right. Prison terms take the place of apology letters when it comes to punishing opposition activists.
Despite the risks, Geybullayeva continues to defy the Azerbaijani government through tweets and posts on her blog, “Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines,” from her home in Istanbul, Turkey. There she can write without fear of retribution, so long as she stays out of Azerbaijan.
Though Geybullayeva admits that living in exile is not always easy, she can’t imagine doing anything else.
It’s a situation we as Americans never have to face. Freedom of expression is so ingrained in our society that it’s easily taken for granted. Few people were alarmed by the content of Sullivan’s tweet; it was Brownback’s knee-jerk reaction that was so widely condemned.
It’s obvious that Sullivan didn’t consider the consequences of her message before posting it. She simply said what was on her mind, as Americans are almost always allowed to do.
It’s a freedom Geybullayeva can only dream of.
— Edited by Sarah McCabe
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Comments
Holtz: Freedom of speech, freedom to tweet
Well written. We in the United States often forget how wonderful life is here, and how the freedoms we enjoy exist because people fight for them (although the girl was never charged with any violation). That said, Brownback's staff obviously over-reacted, and in our peaceful republic this shows how the right to free speech is vigorously protected (not by the government but by other free members of society who rushed to Miss Sullivan's defense). In the end it was the governor who showed humility. This doesn't happen many other places.
Holtz: Freedom of speech, freedom to tweet
Hi Michael,
Thank you for the article! It was a great read! I have good news, one of the youth activists was released from prison yesterday. His name is Jabbar Savalan and he was initially charged with drug possession. These are great news before going into celebrating New Year! I hope others are pardoned as well soon.
Once again, thanks for this article!
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