tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post4387193573016521489..comments2023-11-22T01:14:54.298-08:00Comments on amor mundi: Democracy, Consent, Civility Are Not SpontaneousDale Carricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-38288083224982095762011-02-15T09:25:21.520-08:002011-02-15T09:25:21.520-08:00I have to confess that I used to subscribe to the ...I have to confess that I used to subscribe to the belief that digital technology was going to undermine totalitarian regimes. I'm a card carrying member of the 1980s "Information Wants to be Free" crowd. <br /><br />A lot of us have turned in our cards over the past 10 years. Totalitarian regimes have demonstrated that they're very capable of maintaining and even extending their repression with the new technologies. Many of them were on the back foot at first but they have adapted. China is the perfect example but it isn't the only one.<br /><br />And in the western countries we see established political interests co-opting digital based movements for their own purposes. Blogs threw them off balance but they've adapted their techniques quite well. The wiki democracy dream has turned into a mirage. These tools can facilitate and help in the organisation process but they aren't a solution in and of itself and never will be.<br /><br />There's even plenty of evidence to support that these technologies are a net benefit to repressive regimes. And populations living under repressive regimes often spend more time on the internet than the relatively freer counterparts in the west. A lot of this time is spent on escapist activity (such as the virtual worlds which are booming).<br /><br />The regimes of Egypt and Tunisia seem to have been technicaly incompetent. They could have screened the whole nations Internet traffic through SmartFilter or even created their own firewall. That's not the kind of thing you can implement at the last minute though which is why they took the desperate action of pulling the plug on the Internet. <br /><br />This could come down to background. A lot of the senior leaders in China for example come from technical backgrounds and they employ large numbers of people with excellent IT skills. Hosni Mubarak on the other hand not so much.<br /><br />I wouldn't be suprised if senior officials in lots of government aren't sitting in meetings with IT people on how to manage and monitor troublemakers via their internet usage.jollyspaniardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10999141103840765243noreply@blogger.com