Control of information and communication has always been central to power. Powers that be have always sought to have a firm grip on both, but new information and communication technologies offer challenges for rulers and opportunities for the ruled. With the proliferation of information technology, information has become more precious for some but more lethal for others.
However, technology is not the sole determining element in the distribution of power because, as Manuel Castells et al in their article, The Mobile Civil Society: Social Movements, Political Power, and Communication Networks, say that “the usage of technologies is shaped within the social context and political structures of a given society.”
The writers discuss three different cases in which wireless communication, by creating a new form of public space, brought about political changes: in the Philippines, Spain and South Korea. In all the three cases people used wireless communication to voice their discontent with the powers that be and to mobilize protests. In 2007, military chief-cum-president of Pakistan removed the Chief Justice of the country on corruption charges and took private television channels off the air to forestall any protests.
However, the civil society, including lawyers and university students, took to the streets across the country in support of the deposed Chief Justice. In the face of police crackdown civil society activists kept communicating with each other through short messaging (SMS), the Facebook, Twiter and mailing groups to decide about the timing and venue of demonstrations. Internet blogs worked as dynamic newspapers that were updated every hour with pictures taken with cell phone cameras.
This social networking galvanized the people and un-nerved the rulers: the Chief Justice was restored and the president had to step down. But as Castells et al say wireless technology has the ability to speed up communication in both positive and negative ways, cell phones in Pakistan are frequently used by the terrorists like the Taliban to communicate with the mass media. In majority of the cases they threaten journalists and their organizations, forcing them into self-censorship.
In the above-cited cases wireless communication was effective because of its inter-personal and horizontal nature in which both the sender and the receiver were known to each other. But the success of this technology is situational: as Prof. Hayden said the government machinery could infiltrate the wireless network to forestall an anti-government activity. 2003 China and 2004 U.S. are examples where states controlled communication before it could pose any threat.
Authoritarian states use the wireless communication for keeping track of political dissidents and quell anti-government protests. Next time a president fires a chief justice in Pakistan, he/she will take care of this technology before the civil society can use it for mobilizing the people.
It is interesting that despite the well documented unreliability of Wireless and Mobile communication technologies for organized protests, many interest and advocacy groups are still interested in greater access to cell phones and texting services in oppressive or dangerous countries. The possible benefits, it seems, outweigh the risks in the mind of these groups.
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