New Media Potential in Iraq

One of my classmates recently posted a blog stating that new media executives were in Iraq this past week to assess the technological environment and potential of the post-war country. My topic deals with new media's ability to influence government and any reactionary censorship by governments around the world, so I was very curious to see how these executives thought their social networking sites would be received and utilized.

Yesterday, I read a transcription from a press conference with the executives on the State Department website. They said that the new government recognizes the fact that the internet will be a necessary tool to spread democracy and censorship will not be a problem. On the contrary, government officials think it will help to build bridges and earn the trust of Iraqi citizenship. Interesting.

One legitimate concern raised by a reporter during the conference was the potential for sites like MeetUp, Facebook and Twitter to be used be extremists in a country that is ideologically divided. The new media group responded to the concern saying that "digital space is merely an extension of reality" and the reality of innovation is that "the private sector is going to continue putting these technological platforms in the public domain." There is also the potential for the internet to combat extremist action by providing an outlet for youth to learn and connect with the outside world.

The overwhelming opinion on Iraq seems to be that these new technologies are pretty well understood in the country and will be met with open arms by the people and government. The benefits are thought to outweigh the risks. I'm going to look into any other opinions on this topic, as well as other countries' attitudes or fears about social networking being used to quickly assemble and mobilize large groups of people.