Wireless technology could become one of the “greatest tools the world has ever seen in promoting democracy,” according to a recent report. Others have drawn attention to the use of cell phones to monitor elections.
But the internet has not had the subversive effect on authoritarian regimes and closed societies that many predicted. Autocratic regimes are even conducting their own cyber-war of ideas.
George Washington University’s Silvio Waisbord questions techno-enthusiasts’ belief that new information software and gizmos can address problems of democratic communication. He reflects on a recent discussion of “soft censorship”, based on a report produced by the National Endowment for Democracy, to argue that the “old media-political nexus” still delivers political gains:
Ensuring docile media still brings tremendous short-term benefits, such as support during elections, ignoring political adversaries, keeping hush on economic crimes, distorting contrarian views, and so on. … Techno-crusaders often make the mistake of thinking that new forms of communication inevitably replace established practices. …. Noisy debate on the Internet and rapid information exchange on mobile networks can live side by side with systems and practices coined long before modern democracy.
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