In preparation for the FTAA Summit protests, independent journalists from all over the world converged on Quebec City and set up a space where they could produce their stories from the streets and tell the world about what was really going on there.

This has happened countless times before, but independent media coverage of major events like these really gathered steam following the World Trade Association meetings in Seattle, Washington in late 1999; there, activists realized that an organized conduit of information from the streets could make an impact on how the world viewed their actions. Corporate news outlets even began surfing these IMCs, relying on them to provide coverage they either wouldn't or couldn't do themselves.

But in Quebec City, independent media was attacked like never before; the obvious intent was to silence the flow of dissenting viewpoints. And in some very shocking ways, the powers-that-be succeeded.

There are several examples I could give of just how this was accomplished, but I'll focus on the three most prominent and alarming ones here:

On Saturday, April 21, a division of riot police actually surrounded the Independent Media Center in Quebec City, made their way into the building, and fired round after round of tear gas and rubber bullets down into the stairwell leading to the IMC offices. The journalists trapped inside did everything they could to barricade themselves, and stuffed blankets and t-shirts under the doors in an attempt to keep the toxic chemical vapors out of the newsroom.

Inside the IMC a web radio feed was running, and several activists took turns at the mic relating stories from the streets and taking phone calls from activists engaged in running battles with police. At one point Saturday afternoon, this had to be abandoned, as the tear gas became too strong for the commentary to continue.

The street battles between cops and protesters carried on into the early morning hours, but the attempted censorship did not end. During one early-morning report from the streets, an activist calling in a report to the IMC radio studio was abducted by a police 'snatch squad' that was roaming the area randomly arresting anyone who looked out of place; the struggle and his cries of 'let me go' were broadcast live over the feed, which ended when the phone was dropped and only silence remained. The whereabouts of this 'street journalist' still remain unknown.

But the most disturbing event was an FBI 'raid' conducted Saturday night of the Seattle Independent Media Center; someone had managed to liberate various documents detailing police strategy and security phone numbers in Quebec City, and posted them online. Interpreting this as a threat against President George Bush II, the FBI swarmed the Seattle IMC looking for information on the source of the leak.

Regardless of the fact that security operations in Quebec City were never disrupted by the release of this information, the FBI also slapped the Seattle IMC and all of its volunteer staff with a broad gag order, preventing them from reporting the on the raid and explaining what was taken. That gag order still remains in effect today.

(Footnote: It is now no longer in effect)

All of these events are bad enough in and of themselves, but together it had a chilling effect on independent media coverage of the Quebec City protests like never before experienced. Sights, sounds and reports from the street slowed to a trickle, leaving the rest of the world with no alternative information source about the conflict taking place.

By this time, the corporate news media had moved onto other 'top stories' of the day, all but abandoning any coverage of the events in Canada. The muzzle was successfully applied.

It has come to this: Not only do the forces in charge of our lives no longer want to let us assemble to air our grievances with their policies, but they're actively working to silence any means we have of spreading our message. It is bad enough when rubber bullets, tear gas and concussion grenades have to be employed against mostly-peaceful people exercising a right cherished in democratic countries - but when those weapons are turned against our voices themselves, and open dissent is not tolerated by any means, then the concept of living in a 'free country' is all but dead.

This is important to remember, the next time you don't like something that your 'elected officials' are doing and want to speak out against it. Think twice about the consequences - they may actually be hazardous to your health.