In a reminder of the power of technology in relation to the current events in Egypt, the Hauser Center blog notes how governments and individuals can both benefit from its enormous power.
An excerpt.
“As hundreds of thousands mill in the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities, it appears that another authoritarian Middle Eastern regime is about to fall to the rage of masses mobilized and coordinated by cellphones and the internet.
“In response, Egypt’s police state shut down the internet and cut off virtually all cellphone service both within the country and between it and the outside world. Satellite communications have also been disrupted by government jamming. (None of this, curiously, seems to have stemmed the flood of images of or broadcasts about the disorders featured on the 24 hour news channels and web sources like Al Jazzera and the BBC).
“Many “progressives” are professing horror and surprise at the internet shut down — yet had little to say when, last summer, the White House requested that Congress grant the president an internet “kill switch” that would allow our government to do exactly the same thing….
“The Roman emperor Nero wished the Roman people had one neck. With IT, alas, his wish has more or less come true — but on a global scale.
“While the media and friends of civil society celebrate the power of the new technology to topple tyrants, we would do well to keep in mind that its power, wielded by would-be tyrants, can also be used to suppress revolutionary social movements.”
About
- David H. Lukenbill
- I am a California native, married, we have one daughter and live close to the American River with two cats and all the wild critters we can feed. I am a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and have an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Public Administration degree, also from the University of San Francisco.