Information – Internet – Power: how the Information transforms into Power through the Internet (original) (raw)

The Societal Role of the Internet in Developing Nations

During the 1990s, the Internet has caused the emergence of an information and knowledge revolution in both developed and developing countries. The number of users is growing in unprecedented rates causing millions to rely on the technology on a daily basis for their information exchange needs. Moreover, the World Wide Web has introduced with its innovative technologies the concept of globalization in a comprehensive and cross-cultural manner serving the global citizen anywhere and anytime. However, the distribution of resources as well as the Internet access varies from developing to developed countries. In Egypt, the Internet was introduced in 1993. As a developing country and due to the limited resources, there is a limit to information access and to communication technologies, despite the massive investment in that sector during the last two decades. Such shortage is due to the costly infrastructure and the lack of technical skills and expertise required to utilize information te...

The Communications and Internet Revolution in International Relations

Open Journal of Political Science, 2016

In this study, the main subject is the role of the Communications and Internet Revolution in International Relations. The principal motivation of the author to conduct this essay is the need to develop a conceptual and theoretical examination on communications and internet revolution in International Relations. That need is produced by certain technological and structural developments in human life and their effects on the classical understanding of the international relations. The revolutionary developments in communications and internet technology as significant drivers of globalization process, transformation of the communications and information technology into a core of a new world information economy have come into question as globalization proceeds and with the communications and internet revolution we need to understand why global networking has been grown as it did. The main inquiry in this study is whether the rise of global communications has consequences that fundamentally alter the practice of international relations. In order to provide a comprehensive response, the Communications and Internet revolution, the social network and increasing velocity of information must be analyzed clearly.

The Cyber Space and Information, Communication and Technology: A Tool for Westernization or Orientalism or Both

Journal of Computer Science, 2011

Problem statement: The role of ICT and cyberspace and their existence have become prevalent popular phenomena to the extent that they are perceived to have the potential for transforming the world and launch it into a Digital era. The advent and advancement of ICT and cyberspace has also facilitated the globalization process and is used as an integrative tool, making the presence of the 'global village' evident. However, we as the end user of ICT has never thought about the advent of ICT and its history, its existence and the construction process of ICT. Approach: The Cyberspace and ICT was seen as dominated by the West as evidenced by factual documentations researched by the researcher. This situation has created gaps and imbalance of knowledge and skills between the West and the East. Results: Therefore, this paper examined the origins of both the terms cyberspace and ICT. By using qualitative approach, this study focused on the basic concept of cyberspace and the development of ICT, the military ascendancy and the western invention of cyberspace and ICT. The ICT application and experiences in the Malaysian administration establishments and academic institutions are contextual examples of the strategic applications of ICT. This study found three major factors that is used as a guide for the analysis of cyberspace and ICT. Paradoxically, sixty percent of the Malaysian experiences were based on their own strategies of development which did not indicate western dominance in these spheres. Implications from this study on the whole showed that the cyberspace and ICT were the products of westernization process towards the east. Conclusion/Recommendations: The findings of this research has great significance for future studies and towards the mapping of the pragmatic strategic needs of any one country, the possible modification of knowledge content and innovations of applications (software and hardware) that will implicate a lesser dominance of westernization.

DIGITAL INTERVENTION IN NATIONAL POLITICAL SYSTEMS IN THE CONDITIONS OF CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION SOCIETY

Przegląd Strategiczny, 2019

The article analyzes the phenomenon of digital interference with national political systems in the conditions of the modern information society and the evolution of the Internet as a space of political communications. It is shown that digital intervention is relevant but at the same time a complex multidimensional phenomenon of contemporary politics. In many respects, the potential of the digital interference phenomenon is closely related to the substantive and functional features of the functioning and transformation of the contemporary Internet, which has been actively used when changing political regimes in many countries. The initiatives of countries to form the sovereign national segments of the Internet space are, on the one hand, an attempt to protect their political systems from external influence and invasion, to ensure their own political stability, and on the other hand, they pose risks to the democratic potential of the Internet. The article substantiates the thesis that the phenomenon of interference with elections in actual practice often becomes not so much an objective process as an instrument of information warfare, mass political propaganda and discredit of political opponents, a manipulative tool that can be actively used not only by authoritarian regimes with a low level of democratic development. It is noted that differences in understanding and defining the essence of the Internet by various countries give rise to a significant potential for political conflicts on a global scale. This leads the author to conclude that it is necessary to form institutions that are able to prevent and regulate information conflicts in the Internet space, as well as reduce global political risks (including risks associated with potential interference in the electoral process of sovereign states), forming a collective responsibility in the functioning of the global Internet. Keywords: Internet communications, digital interference, informational confrontation, political system, electoral process

Inquiry of 152 Countries 2003 : A Cross-National -- The Democratic Effects of the Internet, 1994

2013

Since its inception and subsequent diffusion, the Internet has been lauded as a potent democratizing agent. Using macro-level panel data from 1994 to 2003, this study examined 152 countries and found that increased Internet diffusion was a meaningful predictor of more democratic regimes. This was shown to be most true in developed countries, where non-linear fixed effects regression models showed the highest coefficient estimates and largest observed associations. Consistent with media system dependency theory, greater effects were also demonstrated for countries that already were at least partially democratic where the Internet was more prevalent and thus more likely to fulfill a greater number of information functions. In addition, Internet diffusion and democracy demonstrated a positive, statistically significant relationship (but with a marginal observed association size) in developing countries where the average level of sociopolitical instability was much higher. The Internet therefore should not be employed as a modern 'mobility multiplier' because of the strong associations and positive relationships it has shown with democracy but it should also not be ignored due to the democratic potential these results suggest. Keywords / communication and national development / democratic divide / information communication technologies / media system dependency theory / new media and democracy In his seminal text on national development and mass communication, Lerner (1958: 52) dubbed the mass media a 'mobility multiplier'. In this framework, Lerner suggested that mass media diffusion precipitates social modernization and democratic processes. Most scholars now agree, however, that the development process is not so simple or linear and mass media effects are more complex, subtle, and often not apparent on a national level for periods of years or even decades. Indeed, development research has undergone a substantial paradigm shift, and ongoing economic, political and health campaigns are now often employed through multiple media formats and in conjunction with multifaceted social and cultural methods (Muturi, 2005; Rogers, 2003; Sood et al., 2004). While much progress has been made in understanding the relationship between information communication technologies (ICTs) and development, hypodermicneedle propositions remain. In one of the most memorable statements of this kind, former US vice president Al Gore (1995: 4) said that from ICTs 'we will derive robust

The Internet in Theory Reevaluated: Theorizing the Role of the Internet in the Political Space

2019

The aim of this paper is to critically reevaluate the capacity of the theories on the internet in politics to grasp the increasing impact of the internet to political space in all countries with rising internet penetration rate. At first, the paper clarifies the current level of the internet coverage around the world and Russia as one of the examples. The influence of the increasing impact of the internet for social spaces and the political space among them in countries with unlimited internet availability is discussed and the conclusion is drawn that the internet influence the political space in the most significant way. Secondly, the paper analyzes the main theoretical approaches to the internet role in politics and draws the conclusion on the shortcomings in the level of the theories and their nationally biased specifics. Finally, it is concluded that the existing theories are incapable to cover the complexity of the effects of the internet on political space. The importance of a...

Cross-national comparative perspectives from the world internet project - draft chapter

A networked research for a world networked by the Internet The World Internet Project (WIP) was born out of a group of researchers that believed we had lost a great opportunity by not starting research in the early years of television diffusion and that no similar mistake should be made with the study of the Internet. Building research on the uses of a global network, influence also the very own design of such a research. So, the World Internet Project (WIP) was designed having in mind the need to cover different geographies and not just the most familiar, or more central, to the world of academic research. Out of such understanding the WIP was founded, a project designed to understand the economic, political and social impact of digital technologies and with the aim to develop new hypotheses regarding the role of the Internet in changing our lives and societies today and tomorrow. Fostering collaboration among dozens of countries around the globe, the WIP has produced analyses that address the comparative dimensions tapping cross-national and crosscultural similarities and differences in the uses of the Internet.

Inquiry of 152 Countries The Democratic Effects of the Internet, 19942003: A Cross-National

2009

Since its inception and subsequent diffusion, the Internet has been lauded as a potent democratizing agent. Using macro-level panel data from 1994 to 2003, this study examined 152 countries and found that increased Internet diffusion was a meaningful predictor of more democratic regimes. This was shown to be most true in developed countries, where non-linear fixed effects regression models showed the highest coefficient estimates and largest observed associations. Consistent with media system dependency theory, greater effects were also demonstrated for countries that already were at least partially democratic where the Internet was more prevalent and thus more likely to fulfill a greater number of information functions. In addition, Internet diffusion and democracy demonstrated a positive, statistically significant relationship (but with a marginal observed association size) in developing countries where the average level of sociopolitical instability was much higher. The Internet therefore should not be employed as a modern 'mobility multiplier' because of the strong associations and positive relationships it has shown with democracy but it should also not be ignored due to the democratic potential these results suggest. Keywords / communication and national development / democratic divide / information communication technologies / media system dependency theory / new media and democracy In his seminal text on national development and mass communication, Lerner (1958: 52) dubbed the mass media a 'mobility multiplier'. In this framework, Lerner suggested that mass media diffusion precipitates social modernization and democratic processes. Most scholars now agree, however, that the development process is not so simple or linear and mass media effects are more complex, subtle, and often not apparent on a national level for periods of years or even decades. Indeed, development research has undergone a substantial paradigm shift, and ongoing economic, political and health campaigns are now often employed through multiple media formats and in conjunction with multifaceted social and cultural methods (Muturi, 2005; Rogers, 2003; Sood et al., 2004). While much progress has been made in understanding the relationship between information communication technologies (ICTs) and development, hypodermicneedle propositions remain. In one of the most memorable statements of this kind, former US vice president Al Gore (1995: 4) said that from ICTs 'we will derive robust