The Zaphodistas are part of a wider global movement for justice, equity and democracy.

I returned to the guide only about a week ago to discover that the BBC had stamped its authoritarian rule over everything. Entries, fora, journals, links, images, everything is now subject to a process called 'moderation'. And I think that is an abomination.

Many outside the Zaphodista movement feel it is a joke, "boys playing at being James Bond". But the struggle for freedom of association, freedom of speech and freedom of belief is no joke. h2g2 is intended to be a microcosm of a larger society, it has pubs, a university, a newspaper. But this community has now been overtaken by a dictatorship - the BBC - and the infringement of our rights has become a constant occurrence.

The movement against globalised capitalism has grown immensely in recent years. From Washington, Seattle, Prague, Melbourne, Quebec and countless other places, the forces of top-down policy-making have been challenged by a wide-ranging collection of activist groups. I contend that the Zaphodista Army of Cybernautic Liberation is part of this world movement.

One of the central complaints of the anti-globalisation movement is that corporate decisions have reduced the autonomy of nations and communities. The appointed heads of multinational corporations have no interest in the needs of the people; instead their concern is for the most efficient exploitation of resources, be it the environment or labour. People are fed up with the lack of democracy as they are shut out of the democratic process. Free-trade agreements are regularly made without community input, and dissenting voices are shut out.

Quebec is a case in point. The President of the United States, George Bush, negotiated the Free Trade Area of the Americas deal without seeking the endorsement of congress. Cuba was shut out of the conference because it did not abide by the "democratic clause" - even though it was willing to negotiate on the other points. Protestors were banned from entering the city centre, and a wall was erected around the conference, to protect the police while they fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd.

The key lesson to be learned here is that if you disagree with what the decision-making elite have predetermined to be the outcomes, then don't bother turning up at all. And increasingly, this seems to be the case around h2g2. The BBC is like a major corporation. Actually, it is a major corporation, and this is becoming increasingly obvious. If cosmetic changes to the guide (like replacing the Don't Panic! button with the culturally neutral Help!) weren't bad enough, the powers that be have decreed that after their takeover, none of the views previously expressed by the community are acceptable until they have been screened. They are hidden behind a wall of secrecy, awaiting the return of their owners and "pending moderation".

The BBC has driven the community out of its home, sealed up the entrance, and upon returning only those who pass the screening process will be accepted. The innocent-sounding "moderation" process is a front for blatant censorship. The right to express an opinion on the community now comes with a liberal dosage of asterixes, and even then may be reviewed or removed. The problem is that the BBC seems uninterested in the community's views: the defining facet of the original h2g2 was its ability to reflect the interests, the diversity, the character of its members. An unclear, contradictory, arbitrary and proactive moderation process can only alienate the members. Somebody, behind closed doors, is hiding the words of contributors to the guide. Not only the edited entries, but the informal, personal entries that made the guide interesting.

The Zaphodistas are fighting for the freedoms we once knew: the right to swear in our personal journals, the right to speak a language other than English, the right to have our views expressed without fear of arbitrary removal. The community is diverse enough, cross-sectoral enough, to set its own standards: standards that reflect those of the wider community. I, for one, am sick of being dictated to by a faceless power that did not ask me for feedback on the proposed takeover. Just like the globalisation problem, where the minor players are forced to conform to the will of major corporations, the real members of the h2g2 community have been silenced. They have been metaphorically barricaded outside the BBC headquarters, with moderators firing cannisters of tear gas at them.

It's time to stand up for our rights, to demand our communities back, and to return democracy to our once-great community.

The revolution will not be tele-tubbied!