Syrian Revolution Moves to Digital Battlefield

The Internet apparently is working in the favor of poor farmers in Vietnam as they attempt to resist government takeover.

The Internet and social media play important roles in democratic revolutions in Egypt, Syria, and elsewhere. But it's important to remember that this is not the "Facebook Revolution" (as some people termed the Egyptian revolution). These revolutions are won or lost by ordinary people putting their lives on the line and taking risks that most of us in the West can only imagine, to win freedom that we take for granted. 

The Internet and social media are tools. They may be decisive tools. They're important, and their role is worth studying and discussing. But they're only tools. 

Kenneth Geers - The Internet is too big for any one government to subdue. But a government can subdue it within its own borders. 

Look at China. Its Internet controls are easy for power-users to circumvent, and they do. But power-users represent a small minority of Internet users in China and everywhere else. The overwhelming majority don't bother. 

It's interesteing to think of the printing press as a democratizing technology here in the 21st Century, while the Internet is controlled by the powerful. It's the opposite of how we've thought for the last 20 years. But a printing press can be set up in hiding, while the Internet can be controlled at a few choke points. 

Hackers must be very careful whenever they engage in hacking. Especially with a very oppressive and unforgiving government. They risk a lot of things and will be punished severely if they get caught. That's why people are a bit reluctant to engage in such activities.

And we are speaking about a handful of people. Not even a handful actually.

China has their reasons, as does North Korea. I agree that we, as spectators, cannot pass judgement on what their government chooses (as it is not the people in these countries doing the choosing.) However, I have heard of 'hacks' that the people from China were able to do that allowed them to access otherwise 'forbidden' sites like Facebook. This is pretty interesting because it looks like no matter how hard the government tries to restrict the people, users will always find a way. 

China only does that because it's very serious about preserving the countries culture. Same story for North Korea. They think the internet destroys what's left of their proud culture... Maybe they have an argument there but nonone can really judge can they?

Well I don't think you need several governemts to do that. The government of a single country can bring the internet down completely. I'm talking to that particular country. It can restrict it's people from using the web. I don't know whether the whole internet can be taken down.

But in countries like China with a single party system and very oppressive rules, the government can go on without the support of the people because they have the military on their side. There is very little to nothing people can do except to live with it without complaining.

Governments can, technically speaking, bring all or large parts of the Internet down - see Burma 2007. But they also lose the benefits of connectivity, and the support of their people.