There is surely an unintended irony in a journalist, living and working in this country, where a couple are questioned for 80 minutes by the police for suggesting that Christian literature be displayed next to homosexual rights literature at the offices of Wyre Borough Council, commenting on the progress being made in Iran with regard to free speech. Remember Lynette Burrows being given similar treatment after comments regarding adoption by homosexuals? Or Walter Wolfgang’s removal from the Labour Party Conference or Maya Evans arrest at the Cenotaph? Ben Macintyre would be better employed concentrating on how we are losing our right to free speech rather than the limited improvements being made in Iran. James Staunton, Dagenham

Blogging is indeed a vital tool in the fight against repression in places like Iran, where they are the new Samizdats (the name given to the anti-Communist underground dissident publications in the eastern bloc in the Soviet era). However, blogging also gives people a way to ask awkward questions in places where the repression is less severe and less overt. In places like Britain and the US, euphemisms like "political correctness" or "national security" are used to describe why free speech is curtailed even in so-called free countries. Blogging is a way to make sure that we are not just free to say what passes muster in the salons of the political classes in Washington and Islington. Perry de Havilland, London

I am a blogger. I think The Times is the only paper of note that reports on the blogging world accurately. This year the drop in newspaper circulation in the States and here in the UK has been significant. And I'll tell you why. The handful of people who read blogs now were dedicated newspaper readers until becoming disillusioned with the business aspect of the mainstream media. That is, the need to have an "atrocity of the day". With the war on terror at such a critical stage there is no longer a desire to support newspapers that provide PR for the bad guys. I've learnt more from blogs about what the dictators of the Middle East have been up to than any newspaper. Why is that? Arrogance on the part of newspaper editors. I don't believe anything I read in the paper until I've checked it for a few days with the blogs I trust. 2006 will be the year of the blog. Carol Howes-Wright, London

I sometimes read Iranian blogs as it’s the best way to get up-to-date uncensored news from my place of birth. And I have also read the brilliant book (We Are Iran) that you quote from in your article. I come from a working-class traditional family in central Iran. When I visit them I see my nephews who have had a religious upbringing and see how unhappy they are with a system that cannot offer them freedom or jobs. When you think that Iran’s youth is 70 per cent of the population, you know that eventually something has to give. I don’t know how effective these blogs are but they offer others a chance to get close-up and personal with our youth who seem to have learnt from the mistakes of my generation. They are the most liberal youth in the Middle East today. But who would have thought that the children of the Iranian revolution would have turned out so different to their radical predecessors? But they have and the blogs are yet another expression of that fact. Majid Varasteh, Manchester

"On the other hand, many can be inaccurate, hysterical, or just plain boring." Of course, but have you tried reading the Daily Express recently? Blogs are Hayek’s vision of markets processing information writ large. Each individual action in and of itself is trivial and the whole is prone to overshooting, but the general result is just as he would have predicted. All the available information is processed in the best manner possible. For an example of something going on right now check out Radley Balko on the Cory Maye case. Tim Worstall, Cascais, Portugal

The blogosphere is one of those things that history will look back upon as a seminal development of the terms in which debate and comment is conducted in the modern world. The benefits to those in authoritarian regimes is clear; the fact that the Iranian mullahs have considered trying to immunise Iran from the internet is tribute to the power of blogging as a vehicle of free ideas and independence of expression. But its relevance isn't only apparent in oppressive states. In the West, many of the key ideas shaping political and social thought are finding their expression in the blogosphere some time before they can be read in the media or in books. In Britain, it is far easier to get a taste of the motivations behind Compassionate Conservatism or of New Labour through blogs and online debates, than it is through any other medium. The arms-length nature of engagement with the internet makes it a sort of communication prophylactic; we can experience all the involvement of debate but without any of the side effects of unprotected dialogue. In time, I think the blogosphere will come to be seen as being as important to the development of political dialogue internationally as the Enlighentment. Richard Gibbs, Birmingham

Bloggers and blogs are not free - they have to conform to the dictated conditions of service imposed by such corporations as blogger.com (aka Google) et al. Take my advice. If you really want freedom on the internet, then you are going to have to rent your own space on a server - and experience true freedom of expression. Terry Daly, London

I'm sure bloggers can change the world. You can see this change in Iran. When the weblog came to Iran all things changed! Amin Sabeti, Zahedan, Iran

Blogging has actually become the one completely free forum for speech. Thoughts pertaining to politics, culture, religion, etc, are expressed in an open way, without fear of retribution from the left, center, or right. Power to the people of Iran to continue their right to speak their minds! Mark Parker, Nashville, Tennessee

My answer is no, and yes. No, weblogs cannot change the world. But yes, people can change the world through using weblogs. I believe people can change the world whenever they choose to. The "means" isn't of much importance. It's the "will". And this will, I can see, is now present in our world. Mohammadi Iman, Tehran, Iran

I read almost exclusively online political weblogs to get my news. I do this because I find that the mainstream media (MSM in weblog terminology) is biased on many subjects whereas bloggers tend to pursue stories which the mainstream media rejects at first and then catches up on months later. Bloggers do not have to answer to anyone but themselves so they can be as controversial and politically incorrect as they like without fear of retribution from the thought police. Bloggers already have changed the world! Ruth Morris, London

I enjoyed this article very much. The free expression that the internet provides Iranians in defiance of their government is wonderful. Now imagine that the United Nations were in charge. Imagine Europeans and their autocratic allies succeeding in taking control of this wonderful forum. Needless to say, all controversial debates on subjects such on homosexuality, Islam, freedom, democracy and other topics would quickly be censored by people who decide they know what is best for us. The ability of Iranians to blog in defiance of the government is possible only because the Europeans and the United Nations are not in charge. Sean Roper, Forest City, North Carolina

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