All journalism has political implications, and we're seeing that play out in the citizen media space.
Kevin Anderson describes how Google/YouTube has muzzled Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas, who has been posting videos of torture and official violence in Egypt.
Asia Times Online describes the role played by bloggers in Malaysia where it says "independent news websites and blogs have enjoyed a surge in popularity on the back of two huge demonstrations and retaliatory government crackdowns in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, which the mainstream media arguably failed to report accurately or adequately.
(Kevin and I taught last summer at an Ifra citizen media workshop in Kuala Lumpur that was attended by mainstream journalists from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and India.)
The diverse, open platform provided by the Internet has perforated the ability of autocrats and bureaucrats to control information. But messages need audiences. Centralized systems like YouTube can provide those audiences, but at a cost of creating a centralized point of control that may be manipulated by governmental pressure.
Both Google and Yahoo have shown repeatedly that when the chips are down, their commercial interests will trump social responsibilities.