Effects of technology on government, authoritarian and democratic

[Denny Crane!]

The UK government particularly the conservative elements of it have been quick to embrace the power of the internet and the benefits it can have to the general populace.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/fe...r-hands-people

From this current plan that allows everyone to look at crime in their area to their perhaps overly ambitious plan to have all of the government spending tracked and available on websites to increase accountability.

Now the news is that in Egypt Google and Twitter have circumvented the governments control and dissolution of internet services.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12332850

While it is not a perfect bypass it does allow some form of access for ordinary people cut off from the internet by a government that seeks to control them.

The more time goes on the more technology endangers and liberates us and mass communication between ordinary people changes how we determine our futures. The speed with which revolutions or attempts at it have spread since Tunisia is something I think which was enabled by the internet, and the ability for people to see and understand the rest of the world through the internet stokes that desire and I hope creates greater understanding.

I'm not sure what the talking point here is, but it is something I wanted to foster. How do you think the increasing ability and independence of technology particularly the internet will change the way we are governed?

What are the current threats to the existence of things like the internet and how realistic is it that it can become independent, what are the barriers to this? Could the USA really shut down the internet?

Edit:

To broaden the scope of this topic I must also mention media piracy. We've had a discussion in the Ethos about the Ethics of it, and while that might be interesting the morality or ethical nature of media piracy is somewhat irrelevant in the face of its existence and widespread acceptance. Despite what the governments may wish in accordance with the desires of the companies involved it isn't stopping and is perhaps reshaping whole industries because of its effects.

[Odovacar]

Technology in my opinion is always dependent on other factors, namely the society, which uses it. Technological innovations and their current goals are inseparable from our capitalism. I mean, how much internet and media-technology evolved in the recent decades. In old sci-fis people travel to the moon as pasttime already in the early 90's. Now that was irrealistic, but it was not foreseen that net and media will evolve so quickly while other things may not.

Generally the evolution of media related technology grows democracy and even seems to shatter old preconceptions. Due to internet today people can more easely communicate with others. Ideas can spread with the speed of internet. The whole social network has been totally changed. Today we might get to know our gf on internet, and can have daily contact with people around the globe.
That changes totally how we perceive the world and in much cases contributes to democracy. Hard-core nationalism and strict governement control of information is less possible now, when you can easely communicate with other people anywhere (if you have some common ground) and you can access every type of information.

The second benevolent form technology has in our lives, is the democratization of culture values. Even without media piracy you can have access to culture value previously unavailable so easely. You can see paintings, you can read books, only at the cost of net and equipment to access it. Media piracy is a questionable business, but it effectively grants people a new redistribution of information-wealth. That is dramatic, if you consider how people from poor countries can access to libraries through internet and get sometimes the newest books. Even without piracy if gov' buys some affordable general access available generally in universities.

However, every light has it' shadows. The power of internet strenghtens the influence of media, regardless of it's quality. People can not easely make order in the available information-mass. Fraud, lies, conspiracy theories, forbidden pornography poises the flow of free information. Criminals got new opportuinities. Governements and groups can spread more effective propaganda. Although a gov' can't efectively control net without forbidding the access to it, but harmful social groups can influence masses through free speech on internet. The access of free information enriches few, but blindes too much people who have no time and knowledge to profit from it.

Summa summarum: still the evolution of technology is rather benevolent, and is a great, all-changing achievement of our time.

[Saturn]

The last century was about capital control. This one is about information control. I bid you can do the math.