Politics and the Internet Gone Global - how the world’s countries use the web for politics

President Obama was in Asia this week speaking about a number of issues. The administration had meetings with China’s political leaders about environmental practices, but the Mr. Obama also held a town hall meeting where he spoke about the country’s internet activity.

The country’s government imposes what is known as the “Great Firewall of China” that was put in place to censor certain websites. Obama did not outright mention his disapproval of the government’s oversight, but he did say he “is a big believer in openness.”

The President claims he enjoys hearing the opinion and critiques of other. Mr. Obama said: “it makes me a better leader, because it forces me to hear opinions I do not want to hear.”

Many countries have made headlines with political action that went viral. This summer the Iranian Presidential election lead to civilian protests. When the government stepped in and stopped the media from filming the dissent, Iran’s citizens took to the web.

Twitter was flooded with updates from the region and became a legitimate source of news. Since other forms of media communication were restricted, tweeting was featured on CNN and BBC.

This event clinched Twitter’s position in politics, at least for the near future. As the popularity of social networks grows, citizen political activity may begin to pop-up more often on the Internet.

Sources:
“Twitter to Iran: Thanks for Nothing” by Lucas Conley
“Barack Obama criticizes censorship in meeting with Chinese students” by Malcolm Moore