This article is all about how social media who
seems to be so alone is undermining authoritarian leaders. The democratic movements
admire the courage of the people in the streets; I am fascinated by their use
of social media. I am also fascinated by how new forms of media are used in
ways never envisaged by their creators. The revolution in media has created a
revolution in journalism ethics.
One area where the ethical revolution is evident is
a new emphasis on certain functions of journalism that have long played a
secondary role in the history of journalism and its ethics.But, we need to take
a larger view when assessing the democratic potential of new media. Regimes are
catching over the media revolution slowly and gradually. Security officials are
learning to use new media to track down activists and protest leaders. The
Facebook site of a leading protester can be a gold mine of information on his
political networks. The use of news media until recently has stressed the
cognitive activity of individuals receiving news provided by an external source
such as a newspaper, and then forming their opinions.
Now a days, police and security officials from India
have mastered the learning curve for new media and can match the media savvy of
many democracy groups. It seems that protesters in these countries need to take
their media usage to a new level — finding ways to not leave electronic trails
for security forces.
These are sobering facts that should temper our
sometimes belief in the positive power of new media.
Of course, even if security forces under repressive
regimes use new media to inhibit protests, there is no guarantee that this will
protect a regime from protest and perhaps revolution. There are other forces
than media at work, including poverty, despair about the future, long-festering
resentments at the loss of basic liberties, government corruption, and so
on. True, media alone does not cause revolution. But media combined
with the right economic, social and political forces can be a potent threat to
any leader, anywhere. We still need to learn lot from other countries. Now the people
need to decide is social media a revolution or repression?
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