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monitored or even directly controlled by the regime. The logic is very simple – if people
are easier to control if they are ignorant of other possibilities, they have nothing else to
aspire to. Africans across the economic spectrum are being introduced to the internet
even on dumb phones, giving them a gateway to a whole new world of information, new
ideas. That means that they have alternatives they can aspire to other than the status
quo.
2. Expression: Secondly, this is giving citizens a voice. People quickly figure out that they
can leverage internet-based technology and services to air their opinions on all sorts of
things. Governments can expect to find citizens openly asking questions about all
manner of things. At times public discontentment on the state of affairs has it’s roots
online but eventually spills over into the physical world. A recent example of this in
Kenya is when Kenyans on Twitter turned to protests against the government when MPs
proposed outrageous pay packages. Today, a tweet can lead to a revolution
3. Connection: The previous two points are made even more powerful by the capacity to
connect and share on the internet & with internet-enabled technologies. The social web
gives unprecedented scale to the reach of influence and expression.
Scale of expression – Individuals can find an audience for what they have to say, even if
their government is not listening to them and even sympathize with them
Scale of Influence – Individuals through their actions online can influence thousands and
millions from behind their computer screen
How government reacts?
It would appear that governments, even democratic ones are not designed to cope with this
kind of scale of public opinion. Governments today have to deal with the complexity of a
context where flow of information is pervasive, rapid and difficult to control. Even when
governments shut down internet access as we have seen happen in recent times such as
during the Egyptian uprising, there are groups that will go even further. Hacktivism has
become a serious threat to governments around the world. So what can governments do?
How are they reacting?
Maintaining status quo