Democratic Culture and the Culture of Fear

I have just published a new op/ed style essay, Democratic Culture and the Culture of Fear, on the recent protests in Québec. It's part of the second volume of a special rush issue of the Journal of Mobile Media. It's available here, along with many other interesting articles on the same theme.

Québec premier attempts to smash student protests with tough new restrictions

Tonight, in a special session of the National Assembly (Québec's provincial legislature), Premier Jean Charest (pictured at right) enacted tough new restrictions on student protests:

-- Anyone planning a protest must inform police as to the route at least eight hours in advance. Anyone participating in the protest is responsible for ensuring that they do not deviate from the plan filed with police.

-- Protests on university campuses are forbidden. Protesters cannot come within 50 m of the campus perimeter.

Penalties for violating these laws will be extremely severe. Fines will start at $1,000 and go up to $5,000 for individuals. Individual organizers will face fines of $7,000-$35,000 per day. Organizations themselves will face fines which range from $25,000-$125,000 per day.