Democracy in Virtual Media

by Satraajit Palchoudhury

The twentyfirst century is the century of technology. The emergence of the new media has changed the dimension of media discourse in its totality. This version of the media is more interactive. In fact it will be apt to shower praise on the inventors of the new media. We have already seen the impact of the new media in totalitarian states like Egypt, Tunisia and to a certain extent in Russia where for the very first time Vladimir Putin in his chequred career witnessed his adversaries hit the streets accusing him of indulging in fraudulent tactics in securing his berth for the hot seat. All this has happened due to the new media where tens of thousands of like-minded people decided to stand up and vent their ire against the autocratic rulers.

At the same time when we are talking about the new media it is undoubtedly important to touch upon the offshoots of the new media like facebook, twitter, linkedin—which in short are popularly called social networking sites. The ‘Arab Spring’ ushered in a new dawn in totalitarian countries like Egypt and Tunisia. We need to thank Mark Zuckerberg for inventing ‘Facebook’. It has given a platform to the teeming millions whose voices for years remained buried as the word ‘dissent’ is absent in the lexicon of a dictator. Just imagine had there been no facebook could we have been able to hear the name of the young Tunisian lad, Mohammad Bouazizi, who set himself ablaze in protest against Tunisia’s longest serving dictator— Zine Abedin Ben Ali? It was Mohammad Bouazizi who triggered the famous ‘Arab Spring’. Mohammad Bouazizi inspired his Arab brethren to rise up in unison against their autocratic rulers who had taken them for a ride. Mohammad Bouazizi showed the hapless lot in the Arab world that if there is a will there is certainly a way when they will become the architects of their own destiny. His sacrifice didn’t go in vain and soon Egypt emulated Tunisia’s footsteps and finally the 30-year-old autocratic reign of Hosni Mubarak reached its climax.

Now, let us try to understand as to whether the new media can really strengthen democracy in totalitarian regimes where the concept itself is considered alien. The second point that we will try to understand is whether the new media is the other name of cultural invasion or not.

Are New Media and Democracy Intertwined?

Some months back Union Minister Kapil Sibal, while participating in the “Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism†debate, raised a significant point. The debate’s topic was ‘Who is Afraid of Social Media?’ Kapil Sibal said that this offshoot of mass communication is a completely new phenomenon and so neither can we afford to be against it nor can we fully support it. But as has been mentioned above regarding the impact of the new media in totalitarian regimes, Kapil Sibal aptty noted that we need to ask ourselves as to whether the social media can change democracy or not. His views were echoed by Arun Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. But he added a tag to what Sibal said. He candidly accepted the fact that the new media is now a reality and we will have to learn the art of living with it.

If we look at it from another perspective then we can somewhat remove the cobwebs of confusion. The new media has given a platform to those who till some years back used to consider the ‘Letters to the Editor’ section to be the fittest space to express their anger and frustration on some vital issues of societal importance. But ever since the new media hit the scene these unheard and unnoticed voices can now make their presence felt in the virtual world. Is it not then strengthening democracy?

News blogs such as www.indymedia.org, www.onthecommons.com, www.indiauncut.com have created alternative forms of journalism that are indeed providing different perspectives of world news. Is this not strengthening democracy? To drive home this point let us take the example of bloggers in Iraq, Iran, China and Myanmar who have been providing ‘inside accounts’ of the totalitarian regimes in their respective countries. Is it not then serving as a platform for the unheard and unnoticed voices?

The internet has cropped up as a blessing in disguise for social movements. The Anna Hazare-led tirade against the establishment got enormous support from the common people of India and the virtual media played a proactive role in this regard. That certainly can’t be denied altogether. The whole world would not have been able to know the sordid tale of Bosnia and Herzogovina had it been bereft of the internet. Ariel Heryanto too revisited the argument that in Asia the new media has played a pivotal role in enhancing freedom of expression and in even bringing down dictatorships. But at the same time he also pointed out that the new media has shaken the existing social order. The new media has been promoting fragmentation, superficiality, hybridity, dispersion, plurality and simulation. In a nutshel, it will not be wrong to say that electronics has emerged as a unifying force and this reality in today’s world cannot be rejected by any means.

Whenever the new technology tries to cement its place in the society it is being looked at with suspicion. During the golden age of radio the medium assured that it will bring culture into every living room and later when television hit the centre-stage it was considered to be the means that will transform education. But the skeptics predicted that both these will be used for political propaganda. Most importantly, the skeptics thought that both television and radio will deform young minds and debase the cultural heritage. The researchers found a mixed response to all the above mentioned apprehensions.

Similarly, when the internet hit the scene fears of the same kind were raised by the skeptics. But the proponents of the internet tried to weaken the apprehensions of the skeptics by saying that this technology will be helpful in eradicating the inequalities and other types of societal ills that have become the order of the day. They laid emphasis on the fact that through the internet the educational scenario will improve and citizens will become more concerned and active and, above all, commerce under the aegis of the new economy will thrive. In this context it will be apt to take into account the views of noted scholar Rheingold as he said in his much acclaimed book, The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier, that the values of the traditional community can be regained through communication via the internet.

But at the same time critics, in a bid to counter the observations made by Rheingold, termed these fallacies as historically uninformed. According to them, these fallacies have failed to acknowledge the long-standing concern of sociologists regarding the impact of various facets of modernisation, industrialisation, urbanisation and transportation.

All these claims and counter-claims have been properly addressed by the renowned media scholar Dennis McQuail. In his opinion, the new media involves decentralisation of channels for the distribution of messages, an increase in the capacity available for transfer of messages and for this the users need to express their gratitude to the satellites, cable and computer networks. McQuail further said that the users get much more option to communicate; and it (internet) serves them as a platform through which they can interact with others. The ‘Arab Spring’ has vindicated this line of thinking of Denis McQuail.

Views of Rheingold regarding Virtual Community

Reheingold is probably the first to succeed in generating interest in and enthusiasm for the virtual community. Through his book, The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier, he has tried to show what life looks like or rather becomes in cyberspace. But he has been criticised for taking an excessively euphoric and uncritical stance regarding the virtual community. True, the criticisms cannot be brushed aside as those do have a degree of validity. It also needs to be mentioned here that the criticisms are misplaced. Though the proponent of the virtual community himself believes and says that the virtual community will enrich collective life, in the same breadth he also points out that fragmentation, hierarchisation, rigidifying social boundaries and single-niche colonies of people who share intolerances could become prevalent in the future.

Is science a blessing or a curse? The debate on this topic is going on since time immemorial. When Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed with the atom bomb it was said that science is not a blessing, rather it is a curse for humanity. But when scientists come up with life-saving drugs we change our stance and start saying that indeed science is a blessing. The point which this paper is trying to raise is very simple. The virtual community can be criticised but can anybody deny its impact? Can anybody deny its reach? Certainly not. At least the new media has given an opportunity to the countless hapless people living under autocratic regimes a platform to apprise the world of their sordid tale. Surely it can’t be denied that it is being used by dreaded militant organisations like the Al-Qaeda to disseminate their rogue ideology. But let’s not forget that it is an interactive medium and such dissemination can be countered.

It will be apt to place the views of cultural determinists who say that technology can also be considered a social agent. Marshall McLuhan and Walter Ong examined how the characteristics of communication technologies shape the experiences of the users and even mould society. Let’s cite the example of the famous Anna Hazare-led crusade against corruption. Apart from the traditional media the new media too played a pivotal role in spreading the objective of the campaign. Though many will counter this by saying that in India only 5.6 per cent of the total population are having access to the internet compared to the US’ 71 per cent, it needs to be mentioned here that at least those 5.6 per cent will be able to express their views on certain issues. So it can be said that the new media is indeed playing a significant role in reinforcing democracy.

The recent controversy engulfing a Jadavpur University professor, Ambikesh Mahapatra, who after allegedly sketching a picture of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was put behind bars raised a hue and cry across the State. It means and shows that today the new media is synonymous with democracy. The death of a young Bangladeshi blogger, Rajib Haider, served as an inspiration for the common people of Bangladesh. He dared to blog against the zealots who made an attempt to thwart the liberation war in 1971. After Rajib’s death the youth came out on the streets and started demanding harshest punishment for those involved in the 1971 mayhem. This was possible due to the fact that the new media as the virtual community was formed by the youth who kept an eye on the trial. This underlines the fact that today the new media goes hand in hand with democracy.

References

1. Mass Communication in India by Keval J. Kumar, Jaico Publishing House.

2. Hand book of New Media edited by Leah A. Lievrouw and Sonia Livingstone, Sage Publications.

3. New Media and Freedom of Expression in Asia by Ariel Heryanto, (Freedom of Expression Workshop, Yogya-karta, November 4, 2007).

Satraajit Palchoudhury is the News Editor of Eastern Chronicle. He did his Masters in Mass Communication from Assam University, Silchar.