Cyberspace is becoming the scene of an increasingly bitter battle of the blogs.
On Monday, Thanet councillor Simon Moores, author of the popular Thanet Life weblog, said he was suspending activity on his site.
He is now at the point of quitting altogether after attempts to “discredit his character” started to affect his family life.
The Tory councillor is frustrated by gossip and rumour about him, perpetuated, he claims, by “the left- wing element in Thanet”.
His children have been abused at school, he says, while there have been accusations about his character and business activities banded about online.
Dr Moores says the slurs, many from rival bloggers, are now affecting his abilities as a councillor, while being potentially damaging to his business interests.
He said: “I can handle criticism, but I won’t accept circumstances where my family are involved.
“I’ve a reputation that has taken 20 years to build up, but now if you search my name a whole host of unsavoury allegations crop up which suggest I’m guilty of this or guilty of that.”
The owner of AirAds, the aerial advertising firm, has run his blog since October 2003.
If the Thanet Life site is removed, five years worth of postings, a thousand aerial photographs of the area and archives of local history will be lost, says Dr Moores.
He said: “When I started the blog I saw a great potential to raise the profile of local democracy, but it’s starting to leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth.
“A small group of individuals has hijacked, twisted and subverted it. I really don’t know why there is such a strong campaign to try to discredit me. All I want to do is try to represent the ward to the best of my ability.”
Some bloggers claim Dr Moores’s move is a publicity stunt.
‘Eastcliff Richard’ told Yourthanet: “He’s resigned before, so I expect that after all the messages of sympathy, and publicity, he’ll find some way to come back from the dead.
“It’s happened to me in the past. You get fed up, bored, tired of all the insults and flounce off. After a bit of a rest, you think ‘Oh well, might as well have another go’.”
POSTED: 13/02/2008 06:00:00
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