Freedom Newspaper Blocked

Freedom Newspaper apparently finally got blocked by the Gambia Government, much to their consternation - that link is to a breathless article published in Freedom, in which various sources supposedly decry the blocking of their site, calling it their "University" and main source of news (I am trying very, very hard to stay neutral and unbiased here, but anyone who makes a hate-rag like Freedom, the sorriest excuse for a newspaper the Gambia has ever seen, their main source of information needs professional help). The article ends:

The Freedom Newspaper is a household name in The Gambia, but Jammeh cannot stand the paper. He fears the paper to death. The paper has been banned in The Gambia.

which, alas, is how it's going to be spun the next few days ad nauseam: that the Government, now scared to death by the privileged "information" being revealed by Freedom, has shut it down.  

In the past we have spoken about Freedom, and the distaste any "news" story (and Freedom does "news", not news - the quotes are there for a reason) on their site brings to our mouths. But shutting them down does not really solve the problem, because:

1) It gives them legitimacy. This is not the first time this has happened - a few months ago they were blocked, only to have the block lifted, for some reason. They, of course, milked this for all it was worth, going on about free speech and democracy and how the rule of the masses could not be kept down. (Freedom is very good at manipulating words like "democracy", and its eponymous "freedom", to its twisted aims - on the front page and every other page of their site there is a picture of Deyda Hydara, with the words "Who Killed Deyda?" underneath it).

2) The block is not total, and only makes it a little harder to access the site, even for the most technically unsavvy users - it is a direct block on the site itself, which can be easily circumvented by using google or any number of anonymous proxies found online, or even allafrica's Gambia portal. And so it becomes more symbolic than anything, showing that the Government cares enough about what Freedom is saying to try and stop citizens from reading it. Which, in the eyes of Samba Ordinary Citizen, is the final piece of evidence to make them give up any doubts they had about the paper and its legitimacy.

On the other hand, whilst I think the Internet would be a much better place without the likes of Freedom polluting it, I think it is worrying to consider the possible implications of having the Government have the power to simply drop the axe on any website which publishes information not to its liking. Freedom has any number of arguments supporting its blocking, but how far of a step is it for a Government to take from blocking Freedom, to blocking other websites which publish articles monitoring it, or exposing it in an unfavorable light, or even promoting ideas which it would rather its citizens not have access to?