Blogging - Not what the "right" people do

Or so thinks the UK Government ...

I was listening to the radio whilst being "daddy's taxi" and right at the end of the news came an article about a blogger, whose blog i visited on more than one occasion, whose blog has vanished.

The blog in question was Civil Serf and as of the 9th of march it has disappeared, and I mean gone.
She was a low ranking civil servant who , wisely it seems kept her identity secret. She gave full and frank views on government bureaucracy and incompetence. In fact if you are old enough to remember "Yes Minister" (Still a high point in BBC comedy) it is a pity you missed Civil Serf. The only problem being she was reporting on real life rather than a comedic construct.

She has gone, taken all her words and gone into hiding.

See here and here and here or just google civil serf

It is hard to guess what is going thru her mind right now. I hope she isn't craping herself too much. It is a scary place to be when the steamroller of government is out looking for you
the big boss of the UK's civil sevice Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, is poised to release guidlines that will govern how giov employees use social networks and blogs (see here)

Sir Gus will base his guidelines on a report, The Power of Information, published in January 2007, called for the Government to clarify by last autumn how officials should respond to “the online debate” while keeping within the civil service code. Only certain civil servants, such as those dealing with the media, are expected to make public statements ... so basically if you are a civil servant keep your mouth shut and for gods (and the queen's sake) don;'t have an opinion!

I accept that there has to be some things that can't be blogged about, but calling the current PM "Velcro Gordon" cos bad news stuck to him like velcro, for me thats OK.

I for one hope that if she has been uncovered that she is not made a public victim and held up as an example of the evils of blogging. Both for the damage it could do to her as a person and the damage it could do to business or professional blogging in the UK and Ireland. Local CEO and CIO's will see the news and think "Can't have that OH NO!" and basically throw the baby out with the bath water.

I for one, stand behind Ms Civil Serf, who ever you are. Well done!

Steve