For "tweeting" you could face a $25,000 fine

We have recently heard about the ban on internet in Eygpt, when the unrest was on, a campaign of change was ran on the facebook by some bloggers and social activist. The social media acted as active and live source of the news for the rest of the world and in reaction the authorities closed down the internet.

Now, Imagine living in a country where you could face a maximum $25,000 fine, or up to five years in prison, for "tweeting" about election results in your region on Twitter without government permission.

In Canada back in 1938, when radio was king and the source of reach, Canada's election law was amended to include a ban on the "premature transmission" of electoral results across time zones. The idea was to prevent radio broadcasts of election results in Eastern Canada from influencing voter behavior in the West.

That means on May 2, it will be illegal for Postmedia News — or the CBC or Radio-Canada or the Globe and Mail or the National Post or any other national media outlet — to maintain a live website with up-to-date results. At least until after the polls close in B.C.

It will also be illegal for any citizen, journalist or not, to tweet or blog or post something on a Facebook wall about the election results, until all the polls are shut.

News Source: montrealgazette.com