The Illusions Of The Cyberspace And Communication Technology

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: The Illusions of the Cyberspace In a world where communication technology is constantly evolving, there are elements of this growth that have to be taken with a grain of salt. More importantly, there are developments that should cause some worries among the communication technology users relative to the threats that they pose going into the future. It is not all merry when it comes to new developments as there are unforeseen elements that pose great dangers and as such are important to establish beforehand. With the recent developments within the communication technology realm, for most of the people, they only look at the possibilities of growth and connectivity. Advances in the ways that information can be shared without the limitation of borders and other geographical limits such as distance. Today, it is possible to send out an email or even a chat message to a contact halfway across the world and they will receive it in a matter of microseconds as it is relayed across several servers. Not so long ago telegrams were the fastest modes of communication. Today, sending out a tweet will reach millions of people and they can respond as first. However, with this conveniences also comes the threats both at the local level and internationally. As governments try to establish control internally and externally, the corporate world is also keen on the conveniences and the threats alike. From some two texts that embody the concepts of freedom at a cost, Naomi Klein and Ian Bremmer; these articles evaluates theelements of communication technologies and the concept of freedom as well as the possible developments in the future, subject to the present and the past. The focus of the paper is on the possible responses by Naomi Klein to the excerpt; “As a result, political borders, which the rise of information technology once seemed set to dissolve, are taking on a new importance: if greater openness creates new opportunities, it also creates new worries”. The responses are evaluated in tandem with an Ian Bremmer’s article, “Democracy in Cyberspace: What Technology Can and Cannot Do for Us”, going against Naomi’s article, “Fences of Enclosure, Windows of Possibility”. The pessimistic approach on how communication technology and cyberspace bring new freedom frontiers to information access is an illusion. There is an element of freedom that has been associated with the beauty of modern communication channel relative to the fact that it offers the users a chance to get their voices out to the public and more importantly the right people. It is crucial for example, to consider elements such as the demonstrations that are possible to organize relative to the use social media and instant messaging. These are actually tools that have been used in the past to bring down governments and regimes that are oppressive. More importantly, they have been used as tools to bring about social and political revolutions that would have taken much more time to establish let alone carry out. Using the power of communication, the users in various democracies are able to gather the support that they need to bring the changes to their countries (Bremmer). As such, communication technologies such as emails and messaging could be termed as powerful frontiers when it comes to sharing and getting the voices of millions heard on the political arenas. Ian points to a number of instances where the modern marvel of communication technology has played a significant role in the political establishment and social changes in certain democracies. ‘In the Philippines in 2001, protesters sent text messages to organize the demonstrations that forced President Joseph Estrada from office. In the lead-up of 2004 presidential elections in Ukraine, supporters of Victor Yushchenko, then the leader of the opposition, used text messaging to organize the massive protests that became the Orange Revolution. In Lebanon in 2005, activists coordinated via e-mail and text messaging to bring one million demonstrators into the streets to demand that the Syrian government end nearly three decades of military presence in Lebanon by withdrawing its 14,000 troops’(Bremmer). This is a good example of the power that modern communication channels offer their users. The cyber space is a place where the users have the freedom and power to exercise their rights and more importantly, get others to rally behind them not just locally but internationally as well. In the case Lebanon, the users were able to get the attention of the international community in the process.There is an element of freedom, but the more importantly, power, that users have discovered under the cyber space. They are able to mobilize others to a cause and get international support along the way; whether it is for a social or political cause (Bremmer). With this much evidence, it is hard for one to feel that there are limits to the things that they can achieve with such a powerful tool at their disposal. However, it is important to appreciate the limits that are associated with a platform when it comes to achieving real growth and actionable interventions in different environments.As Naomi indicates in her article. ‘After all, the past decades of economic integration has been fueled by promises of barrier coming down, of increased mobility and greater freedom. And yet twelve years after the celebrated collapse of the Berlin Wall, we are surrounded by fences yet again, cut off-from one another, from the earth and from our own ability to imagine that change is possible’(Klein). This is a very clear indication of the elements of freedom that most people feel is available with the use of the cyber spaces. What Naomi is trying to bring out is the element of illusion that the cyberspace offers most of the users (Klein). With the freedoms that most peop...