The great strides social media has made helping oppressed people unshackle themselves from the autocrats and other dictators thatimprison them is finding yet another home in Syria.  The actions of President Bashar al-Assad’s secret police including not so secret massacres of protestors have only been brought to the attention of the world through Syria’s media activists.

Consider the price they pay. The Sydney Morning Herald reports recently on the plight of two teenage brothers that were caught with loudspeakers in the Damascus suburb of Douma and tortured for nothing more than plotting to have the very freedoms we take for granted. They were tortured and eventually released but the crackdown on any news getting out from that country makes what they do all the more important.

Abdullah is a 28 year old who reports in the same article that although people are scared of the nail bombs and other hideous instruments the regime’s forces use, they send texts to each other to report where the government activity is the strongest. Gone is the clenched fist of yesterday’s freedom fighter. Tomorrow’s icons hold up the tiny black box that is the smartphone with a camera.

We have a responsibility to help them from the safety and comfort of our worlds, where ever they may be. If the Arab Spring has taught us anything , it’s that the latest mobile apps, Twitter and Facebook accounts are a great distraction and way to stay in touch from our perspective here in the West. But there’s more to what this technology can do and we need to do our part without letting these opportunities slip by while we turn away from realities like Chamberlain standing on the steps to the plane, paper in hand, proclaiming  peace in our time.

The wave of the freedom fight in Syria will stop at our shores if we let it. Even when the mainstream media picks up on some of the horrendous video and other reports coming out from Syria, their spotlight is momentary and off to the next story that attracts ratings as soon as one crops up.  Bloggers need to pick the cause up and carry it. Spread evenly across the web, the fight of the people in Syria that are yearning to determine their own destinies will be heard and the pressure constant.

What’s being done in the Arab world and other diplomatic circles may have more impact, but exerting whatever influence we can on the net as people who stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters in that part of the world can help.  We should do our part.  Write a blog or post a comment where it matters today.