This morning the Yiddish Newspaper the tzeitung published a ban (kol koreh) on reading the ultra orthodox news website, VosIsNeias (Yiddish for “what’s up”). The ban was signed by prominent figures in the frum world including the Novominkser Rebbe, R. Shmuel Kaminetsky, R. Aaron Shechter, and many others in various charedi groups in the US. Conspicuous by his absence was R. Dovid Feinstein who is a member of the Moetzes.
While the ban had all the usual boilerplate about the horrible internet, it was directed at VosIzNeias (VIN). Like the other major ultra orthodox news websites, YeshivaWorldNews and Matzav, VIN moderates its comments. But censorship is not enough. Apparently, someone disliked the fact that the censorship still allowed through too many critical comments about how the community was not adequately addressing major problems.
Now the question is whether VosIzNeias will give in or will go right on performing its valuable function of allowing relatively more open discussion of problems in the community including corruption and child abuse. If VIN goes right on allowing only partial censorship the ban will have turned out to be a good thing. It will have exposed that the thugs who supress legitimate criticism are losing power.
Who was really behind this ban? These bans almost always start as the initiative of one or two askanim (community political activists) who present a brief which is a mixture of truth and falsehood. Notwithstanding their claims they are usually using the bans to hurt or eliminate a political or commercial competitor. In the case of the Israeli internet ban last year it was timed to help cover up the Tropper scandal. The clue was the fact that the Eidah Charedis did not sign on to the ban.
