From political parties to social movements:
Development of social media
Speech made by Justice and Law Reform Minister
Milinda Moragoda at the Inaugural Sessions held by the AIDS Foundation
of Sri Lanka, on December 7, 2009
The initiative to find a cure for AIDS, to the shame of almost every
government in the world, was led by ordinary people, civil society, the
private sector and the media. The fight against AIDS typifies the way
the world is changing and how people are increasingly taking matters
into their own hands, as governments are seen to be inept at reacting
quickly to crises. The movement to find a cure for AIDS demonstrates
that civil society movements around the world have, and are taking the
lead in solving some of the most pressing global challenges.
Twenty years ago the mobile telephone was still in its infancy.
Though it had moved from being a very large battery with a handset on
the top to something a bit smaller, it was still owned mostly by members
of the elite and big business. Twenty years later, the mobile phone has
become much more affordable and almost indispensable. It has enabled the
spread of telephone networks even in remote places where traditional
wired telephones did not exist earlier due to high infrastructure costs.
More opportunities
As you are aware, in Sri Lanka, the growth of mobile telephone
connections has been exponential. This has freed people. They are no
longer bound to their homes or offices; they can connect to friends,
family, and colleagues almost anywhere they are.
Internet, a revolution in information technology. Picture by
Ruwan de Silva |
This has also opened up new and more efficient business opportunities
for ordinary people. Wherever you go in Sri Lanka, you see farmers, bus
drivers, tour guides, and office workers using this technology to
conduct their business and maintain their personal networks.
The development of the internet, too, has greatly impacted all of our
lives and continues to dramatically transform the way we live as it
evolves. However, in 1988, a little more than twenty years ago, the
internet, was still a cumbersome system, used by mostly academics in the
scientific community and the defence establishment. Known as Web 1.0, at
the beginning, it was in many senses an electronic storage place for
information, with limited interactivity.
However, with the invention of more user-friendly interfaces and
other features, its uses and users multiplied. We soon had email, the
World Wide Web, web browsers like Yahoo and Google. Soon, Web 2.0 was
born. If Web 1.0 was like a big worldwide library, then Web 2.0 was like
adding a worldwide community centre to the library. Web 2.0 gave rise to
blogs, video-sharing, social networking and shopping sites, and on-line
newspapers. Today, it is estimated that the internet has 1.67 billion
regular users worldwide.
Initially, people used the web primarily as a tool to easily access
all sorts of information. Eventually though, many found that it was an
effective platform to reach out to others who shared similar interests
and ideas. Geography was no longer a limitation.
Minister Milinda Moragoda |
The advent of the World Wide Web, and web browsers such as Google and
Yahoo in the 1990s, has spawned an era of unlimited reach to people,
knowledge and information, and has resulted in the spread of information
becoming almost instantaneous.
The concept of virtual communities bringing together many different
interest groups has now emerged. Geographical proximity is no longer the
limiting criteria for organizing social movements. The advent of on-line
chat, online video conferencing and internet telephony such as Skype,
which enables users to call other users over the internet at no charge,
has made the world seem much smaller and expanded our horizons.
There are so many possibilities to connect not only with friends,
families and associates but also with the wider world via messaging or
emails - by mobile telephony or computer-to network, exchange opinions
and share information, or come together for a cause.
New developments
The development of social media such as blogs and Facebook are two
other developments of a phenomenon that cannot be stopped, that has
changed the way in which we work, live, play, think and organize.
It has changed the way we perceive the world and communities. Blogs
can now be easily set-up with user-friendly software and the
proliferation of blogs on every subject attests to this fact.
Youth today are empowered by the new technologies and their
horizons are wider. File photo |
In turn, businesses have discovered that blogs are often more
effective at getting the word out about a new product than traditional
forms of advertising.
This is because, blogs bring together people of similar interests and
values and “word of mouth” recommendations carry more credibility.
Physical borders have been rendered almost meaningless and cannot keep
out new ideas. Today we can socialize online, shop online, trade online
and share information online.
Given the fact that millions of Sri Lankans live abroad, around the
globe, we as a country too are benefitting from all of these new
technologies.
The technology, known as Twitter was only the next logical
application taking social networks and instant and widespread
connectivity to a whole new level.
This technology allows users to send short text messages (known as
“tweets”) to large groups of people and to follow the tweets of other
users either on the internet or on mobile phones. Though some still
dismiss Twitter as a passing fad, recently in Iran, it tellingly helped
protestors bypass government censors to organize street demonstrations,
while cell phones brought video footage of the events to the rest of the
world.
Another example showing the effectiveness of Twitter as a tool for
social mobilization is the case in the UK of Carter Ruck and Trafigura.
Trafigura is a multinational oil trading company which is alleged to
have dumped chemical waste in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, West Africa.
Many local people were reported to have become sick from this dumping
and the company subsequently paid the Ivorian government money to clean
up the waste whilst denying liability.
Social networks
The Guardian newspaper in the UK subsequently covered the story. On
October 12, 2009, Carter Ruck the legal firm acting for Trafigura
attempted to prevent the Guardian from covering a parliamentary question
by a Labour Member of Parliament by what is known as a super injunction.
Within hours over 45,000 text messages - or “tweets” as they are known -
flooded the Twitter network, condemning Carter Ruck and Trafigura. The
super injunction was removed.
Thus this internet-organized outcry was able to influence the outcome
of an event in the virtual rather than a physical realm. These two
examples show the power of social networks.
Web 2.0, as the current form of the internet is referred to, is
changing the face of the media too, making it more interactive. Today if
you read an online Sri Lanka newspaper, you will find that you are often
given the opportunity to leave a comment at the end of articles.
Sometimes these comments that often develop into discussions, are often
just as interesting as the article.
You can also access a plethora of online webcasts on a range of
subjects. The popular website You Tube makes it easy for people to
upload their own videos on the site for free and provides means for
feedback and comments to be exchanged between users. One can find
webcasts on any topic, and many of the latest current topics and issues
and even news shows and interviews can be watched.
An effective tool
It is an effective tool to reach out to others. I myself, have linked
webcasts of my activities and speeches from my website onto You Tube.
You might ask what all this has to do with the fight against HIV
AIDS. Because technology has changed the way we communicate and because
of that it has changed the way we work together, live and play. Media,
local NGOs, the business community and our youth are clicked into these
technologies in the most innovative ways.
The past twenty years has seen a change in the balance of power.
During the Cold War years of the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s, governments
controlled the access and channels of information. However, the new
technologies make this almost impossible to do anymore.
Today information (and sadly, disinformation) somehow finds its way
out. People have instant access to information unlike before. They now
have better tools to communicate, organize and protest. They can make
their voices heard more effectively. In short, politicians are no longer
the masters; the people are becoming the masters of the politicians -
the way it should be within democracies. Quite simply knowledge is
power.
There is one important proviso that needs to be highlighted. With the
instantaneity of the dissemination of information, the anonymity and
proliferation of sources, that the internet has made possible, there is
also a serious downside - the possible manipulation of information or
the creation of misinformation or false information for destructive
ends.
This places a larger responsibility on citizens to not
unquestioningly accept all that they read and to exercise their judgment
wisely.
The internet and technology have transformed every sphere of human
activity including politics, political campaigns and government. I am
sure that you all have seen this beginning to take place in Sri Lanka as
well. For the reasons outlined above, I believe that in the future,
social movements will play a central role in the conduct of politics and
governance.
I believe that effective social movements can serve the people better
than the old-fashioned, cumbersome and hierarchical structures of the
traditional political party.
Social movements in the internet age are more participatory in
nature, and thus better reflect the concerns and interests of the
people. They give more control to citizens and the ability to play a
direct role in governance.
Youth today are driven by passion for issues they believe in and
follow their own stars. They are empowered and emboldened by the new
technologies widely available and their horizons are wider. They are
impatient. They have little interest in holding office within party
structures and have little time to attend routine party meetings, unless
they feel strongly about a cause. Sadly, things have come to a state
where they do not see politics as having any relevance to their lives.
This is an international phenomenon. I am sure some of you may realize
this when you speak with your own children.
This is why I am convinced that social movements that reflect the
interests of the people will either gradually displace old-fashioned and
cumbersome hierarchical party organizations, or serve as a catalyst to
cause them to rethink the way they operate. I believe that the role of
the politician, too, will also change to meet this new reality. In many
cases social movements in the internet age can help bring about change
more effectively than government. Civil society will have to step
forward to play a larger role - which is what democracy is really all
about. Just imagine what will happen when people have power over their
own lives instead of having to rely solely on politicians to get
anything done.
Fight against AIDS
This is what happened with the fight against AIDS. Whilst politicians
argued about whether AIDS was a genuine problem beyond a narrow
community, people were dying and the epidemic spread. Sometimes
governments provided information which was poorly conceived. Sometimes
well-intentioned programs were not rooted in the cultures or the
societies they were serving. Many programs were doomed to fail and the
real battle was entered into only when local people, those most affected
started to take action themselves.
Today in Africa there are many local NGOs that carry out educational
programs about AIDS, many that support AIDS sufferers and many more who
look after the orphans created by the AIDS epidemic. These are run by
ordinary people, members of civil society who took action when they saw
that Government was slow to act. They took power into their own hands to
battle this crisis. The WHO, the UN system and several international
non-governmental organizations played a vital role as well. New NGOs
such as the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation, too understand this
change in the world where civil society can play a big role in effecting
change.
That degree of empowerment is what I hope will happen increasingly in
Sri Lanka. Ordinary people who have concerns or interests should not
wait for government to act, they should unite themselves, organize and
network to find solutions. They now have the communications tools to
come together in like-minded groups and to act in a united manner.
Acting collectively
They have the power to change things by acting collectively. Without
the shackles of old-fashioned politics, social movements can bring
people together, regardless of political affiliation. What will matter
is the need of the moment, the cause that is being espoused.
Obviously, Government cannot be completely dispensed with. Society
requires political leaders to provide a vision for their country, to
formulate policy, to ensure that justice and equity prevail and to bring
in legislation and regulation. The difference in the future will be that
the people will have a bigger say and will more directly set the agenda.
They will help ensure that politicians do what they are intended to do -
to govern wisely and to solve the problems of society.
In Sri Lanka, after over thirty years of conflict and the dawn of
peace, the hunger for this transformation is evident. In any country and
in times of uncertainty, it is easy for extremists to come to the fore.
Unfortunately in this new global age where the old institutions are in
transition and new powers are on the rise, polarization seems to be the
order of the day in many countries. For a time extremists may drive the
political agenda, but history shows that the pendulum always swings
back. Ultimately these destructive forces will always be defeated by the
common sense and decency of ordinary citizens, who want to live their
lives in peace and prosperity.
Open society
In May of this year, we saw the defeat of one form of extremism. One
that brought misery, poverty, division and grief to our country. It is
clear that people now want to move forward and not be held back by the
inertia and parochialism of the past. The time has come for us to turn
away from confrontation, division and finger-pointing, and move towards
becoming a more compassionate and open society where the needs of the
people are at forefront of the national agenda.
In conclusion, the very concept of the Party is itself becoming
irrelevant. Across the whole world parties are losing members. People
are no longer slavishly joining parties because they believe in a
particular political program. Instead they are making up their own minds
and taking action, much as the AIDS movement has done.
In future people will vote for the candidate who serves their best
interests. They will decide for themselves what they want and vote not
for the party, but the person best qualified to deliver results.
In the United States, whilst there are two major parties, the
Republicans and the Democrats, it is at election time, particular causes
or issues come to the fore and each side presents their views. At the
2009 Presidential election, Barack Obama espoused the strongest case and
won. In much of Western Europe, the environmental party known as the
Green Party which has gained some ground, is less a party than a group
of citizens who are united around the cause of environmentalism. In the
UK, at the last European elections, a record number of parties put
forward a slate of candidates. Although many called themselves parties,
many of these are centred around a specific issue or philosophy. The
most notable of this is probably the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP),
which seeks to take the UK out of the European Union.
Increasingly we shall see a change in politics. In ancient times the
State of Athens introduced a system of ‘direct democracy’ in which every
person was able to vote on the issues that concerned them. With the
increase in the size of countries and populations this became unviable.
But one day soon I envisage that the internet which has transformed our
lives so much already, will enable us to reach a more perfect democracy.
One in which citizens will be more directly empowered and will be able
to play a larger role and contribute more directly to governance.
In our own way, we should be driving towards this goal. We should
encourage the growth of online forums, where ordinary people are given
the chance to have their say on issues of concern. Eventually, we should
see online voting so that people will be able to vote free of
intimidation and corrupt practices. This is not a pipe dream. It is
already happening. As you know, in India the use of electronic machines
for voting is now the norm. This is also the case in Brazil. In Estonia
every citizen has access to the internet and some voting now takes place
online. Meanwhile, many Northern European countries - countries that
match us in population size - lead the way in moving towards
e-government.
Short-term interests
So the opportunity is there, but it requires each one of us to think
differently. We must stop thinking that we don’t have a choice, to start
finding out the facts for ourselves and to start voting for our futures
rather than our short-term interests. We must stop solely relying on
politicians to find solutions and understand that we all share
responsibility in bringing about change to make our society better. As
with the AIDS movement, all it requires is for ordinary people to get
up, take power into their own hands and make it happen.
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