How MI6 brought down Richard Tomlinson's blog

I posted earlier in the week that Richard Tomlinson's old blog had gone  in a puff of smoke. I wondered if he had just stopped blogging, or if big brother had swooped in. It was the latter. 

Following the suspension of Richard Tomlinson's blog by Typepad, it is clear that the British authorities have again attempted to silence his campaign to reveal the unpleasant characteristics of MI6. This time the London Metropolitan Police have succeeded in closing down Richard's blog.

...says the blog I just read. So I follow the links and find Richard's new blog. He's back. He has put all his archives back up, and he has printed the message Typepad sent to him when they pulled his blog down on behalf of the Met:

Hi Richard,   

It has been brought to our attention that your weblog located at http://richardtomlinson.typepad.com is currently in violation of TypePad's Terms of Service, specifically of sections 7(a) and 7(e).

We have received this notification from the London Metropolitan Police and they have requested that the website be suspended and your access to the account discontinued per section 4(3) of the Terms of Service.

 

Unfortunately, when we receive a notification of this type, we have no choice but to comply. For this reason, we have suspended your account and suspended public access to the website.   
 

Richard tomlinson's plight is one I'm following with great interest, because Richard is using online user-generated (some say social) media to battle against a high profile bunch of MI6 and Met Police chappies. But there is another message to his and my readers: you now know how easy it is for a blog to be pulled offline if someone disagrees with what's written on it.

 

Comments

[Michael John Smith]

Hi there,

The post on my blog, which you refer to above, contains a link to Richard Tomlinson's second blog, which he started after Typepad removed his first blog. Richard voluntarily deleted this second blog some weeks ago, mistakenly thinking that it would help him in his dispute with MI6 and other British authorities.

It appears that Richard has again started a new blog at:

http://mi6vtomlinson.blogspot.com

but there is nowhere near the same activity that Richard produced last year, and I guess it is uncertain whether Richard has been broken by the threats he has faced, or perhaps he is now much more cautious about the freedom of the Internet to say everything that concerns him.

We all believed the Internet was an open platform where dissidents could freely speak out, but it appears that for some people there is still censorhip and the fear of arrest.

[anon]

I heard that this 'new' blog is in actuality a fake? I'm very confused.

[leslie hollowell]

Hi Ricahrd,

If yopu are reading this please send to me your new emaial address, i still have ur old one, but i get no access to you.

Keep up the good work, as i said on ur blog, who cares, keep the info comming.

I support yopu all the way.

Leslie