Tuesday, February 07, 2012
It ain't what you say, it's what you know
Modern activist types, from hippies all the way to the Arab Spring folks, tend to miss one important point. They believe social media give the people more power against the gov't because social media can spread a message fast.
That's not the real source of power. Smart governments keep their power by allowing lots of expression in channels that the government can monitor. Email and Twitter are closely monitored by the gov't. Always have been. Bear in mind that NSA was one of the first nodes of the Net.
Every time you spread the message, you're giving the gov't one more data point to map the extent of the heresy; every time you forward an email, you're giving the gov't a new name to watch or arrest. And of course most of those smart-phone devices will obligingly tell the gov't exactly where you are at the moment you wrote or talked.
The real transfer of power happens the other way around. Gov't power is weakened when the gov't monopoly on acquired knowledge is broken. Thus Wikileaks, Climategate, and similar revelations are more dangerous to the gov't.
Admittedly there are a few dumb dictators like Dear Leader Kim who try to stifle everything instead of learning everything, but they aren't very successful. Holding power that way is tremendously expensive and also stifles the normal activities that keep any country running. ¶ 3:33 AM
That's not the real source of power. Smart governments keep their power by allowing lots of expression in channels that the government can monitor. Email and Twitter are closely monitored by the gov't. Always have been. Bear in mind that NSA was one of the first nodes of the Net.
Every time you spread the message, you're giving the gov't one more data point to map the extent of the heresy; every time you forward an email, you're giving the gov't a new name to watch or arrest. And of course most of those smart-phone devices will obligingly tell the gov't exactly where you are at the moment you wrote or talked.
The real transfer of power happens the other way around. Gov't power is weakened when the gov't monopoly on acquired knowledge is broken. Thus Wikileaks, Climategate, and similar revelations are more dangerous to the gov't.
Admittedly there are a few dumb dictators like Dear Leader Kim who try to stifle everything instead of learning everything, but they aren't very successful. Holding power that way is tremendously expensive and also stifles the normal activities that keep any country running. ¶ 3:33 AM
