The Internet is a powerful platform for freedom and social change. It has the ability to connect a large number of people in a short period of time, giving them the freedom to shape who they are online, share information of any kind (almost, but more on that later) quickly, and design and deploy enterprises - social, political or commercial in a relatively cost-effective manner. As Christakis and Fowler put it in their book Connected, online relationships “can be unfettered by geography…and (allow for) the kind of anonymous and large-scale interactions that are much harder to arrange in the real world” (Page 257). The implications of this freedom for social movements are obvious as seen in the role of, for example, Facebook in the Arab Spring. Social media allowed for hitherto disconnected communities to connect with one another, realize the force and meaning of their common agenda, and collaborate and coordinate at an unprecedented level to effect social change. The anonymity that many in the uprising enjoyed gave them the freedom to organize and share their views without fear of retribution by the state.
The implications of such freedom in other spheres of political and commercial life are unprecedented. The ability of social media to mobilize support for political campaigns is now well known not only in the United States as with Obama’s first campaign, but also in countries like India. There, the recent elections saw the now elected Prime Minster use social media in a big way. A landmark study in 2012 involving (controversially) Facebook manipulating the news feeds of members shows the potential for social media to go further and actually impact voter turnout. It begs us to imagine the possibilities that social media holds for enriching policymaking. It can empower both policy makers and constituents to engage each other better, contributing to policies that are better suited to the needs of constituents, optimized to use resources efficiently, and developed in shorter periods of time.
The same connectivity and energy of social media can also be effective in the development and deployment of new technologies and business models, for example, of alternate energy. From my own experience of working in solar energy in India with Bridge to India, social media is playing a key role in bringing forward innovative ideas around distributive solar generation models that are widely known to be better for the country than the model of large-scale solar generation currently supported by the government. Social media then is not only helping develop ideas, but is also supporting deployment by building a critical mass of experts and enthusiasts, connecting buyers and sellers, communicating effective messages about the benefits of the model, and turning the movement into a force of policy change.
The threats to this very freedom systemically prevalent within this very same Internet then are shocking. The battle over net neutrality, for example, is a grim reminder that powerful corporations continue to threaten the use of the internet in a manner that drives connectivity, information dissemination, and mass mobilization through innovations like YouTube and Skype, amongst others. Worse, the near-absolute power over the Internet enjoyed by the very harbingers of Internet freedom like Google and Facebook means that they have the means to regulate, modulate and manipulate the so-called freedom that internet users have embraced. And, the concern is that they are already doing so. They often regulate this freedom intentionally, either out of their own sense of what is right or wrong or coerced by governments who’s demands they often have to meet in order to continue their businesses and maintain their bottom lines. The greater fear is the largely unintentional but pre-programmed restriction and manipulation of Internet activity that such companies are practicing in the form of algorithms giving rise to the so called Filter Bubble.
With the kind of control that the Internet giants have and often use over the Internet, it begs us to ask the question if the freedom offered by the Internet is in fact a farce. In the real world, interactions are directly in the hands of people – they are immediately and near-entirely cognizant of the risks they engage in and are well aware of the consequences. In the Internet world, with its promise of freedom, the dangers of manipulation are little understood, very real, and have little legal or regulatory recourse, at least for the moment.
The implications of such freedom in other spheres of political and commercial life are unprecedented. The ability of social media to mobilize support for political campaigns is now well known not only in the United States as with Obama’s first campaign, but also in countries like India. There, the recent elections saw the now elected Prime Minster use social media in a big way. A landmark study in 2012 involving (controversially) Facebook manipulating the news feeds of members shows the potential for social media to go further and actually impact voter turnout. It begs us to imagine the possibilities that social media holds for enriching policymaking. It can empower both policy makers and constituents to engage each other better, contributing to policies that are better suited to the needs of constituents, optimized to use resources efficiently, and developed in shorter periods of time.
The same connectivity and energy of social media can also be effective in the development and deployment of new technologies and business models, for example, of alternate energy. From my own experience of working in solar energy in India with Bridge to India, social media is playing a key role in bringing forward innovative ideas around distributive solar generation models that are widely known to be better for the country than the model of large-scale solar generation currently supported by the government. Social media then is not only helping develop ideas, but is also supporting deployment by building a critical mass of experts and enthusiasts, connecting buyers and sellers, communicating effective messages about the benefits of the model, and turning the movement into a force of policy change.
The threats to this very freedom systemically prevalent within this very same Internet then are shocking. The battle over net neutrality, for example, is a grim reminder that powerful corporations continue to threaten the use of the internet in a manner that drives connectivity, information dissemination, and mass mobilization through innovations like YouTube and Skype, amongst others. Worse, the near-absolute power over the Internet enjoyed by the very harbingers of Internet freedom like Google and Facebook means that they have the means to regulate, modulate and manipulate the so-called freedom that internet users have embraced. And, the concern is that they are already doing so. They often regulate this freedom intentionally, either out of their own sense of what is right or wrong or coerced by governments who’s demands they often have to meet in order to continue their businesses and maintain their bottom lines. The greater fear is the largely unintentional but pre-programmed restriction and manipulation of Internet activity that such companies are practicing in the form of algorithms giving rise to the so called Filter Bubble.
With the kind of control that the Internet giants have and often use over the Internet, it begs us to ask the question if the freedom offered by the Internet is in fact a farce. In the real world, interactions are directly in the hands of people – they are immediately and near-entirely cognizant of the risks they engage in and are well aware of the consequences. In the Internet world, with its promise of freedom, the dangers of manipulation are little understood, very real, and have little legal or regulatory recourse, at least for the moment.
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