I was raised in a household in which technology was seen, for quite some time, as the "Great Satan," if you will. My parents tried to keep me away from the television and computer whenever possible, citing claims that technology is bad for human health. There are also theories on how technology is also detrimental to social interaction and other aspects of society. However, I have grown to believe that the benefits of technology far outweigh its drawbacks.
For one thing, oppressive regimes, especially those in the Middle East, are finding it more difficult to keep the populace ignorant. In my English class the other day, we discussed the intolerably strict regulations imposed upon women in Iran with regard to their veil and how they act as mechanisms to occupy women's minds with insignificant worries.
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| Your wheel is showing, sister! |
Because these women are forced to constantly adjust and "fix" their appearance, it is difficult for them to ask more important questions, such as "Why do we wear the veil, when men are the true offenders?" However, with technology, people are constantly exchanging information. They are sharing their thoughts and beliefs, and they are becoming knowledgeable their situation. Through social media, some might discover for the first time that this is not how the entire world lives. There is hope.
Although technology used to be a governmental tool to spread propaganda, technology itself has also been and is spreading. As technology improves and becomes more prevalent, the population becomes more aware and informed. No one can single-handedly control the Internet or the satellites and satellite dishes, and "that's bad for anyone trying to suppress information." (Read Zakaria's article on technology and youth in the Middle East here.)
As informed and thoughtful citizens, however, we should consider both sides of the issue, so please bear with me while I explore the possible negative effects of technology in the Middle East. In 2010, Saied Pourheydar was beaten and interrogated by Iranian intelligence officers "wielding transcripts of his mobile phone calls, e-mails and text messages." (Read more on it here.) This is one example of the harmful effects technology can have. Although technology allows for greater freedom, it can also restrict that very freedom by monitoring, well, itself. And if the people, who feel that they are safe on the Internet thanks to technology, are careless, they may end up like Pourheydar.
To make matters worse, although governments cannot completely shut down technology in their respective countries, they can retaliate. Zakaria mentions two examples: the Egyptian government's five day denial of Internet service and the Iranian government's denial of cell-phone service during protests. But as Zakaria also mentions, there is an extremely high opportunity cost for the regime to take such action. "Can banks run when the Internet is down? Can commerce expand when cell phones are demobilized?" The answer is definitely not.
From this thought experiment, I have concluded that in almost all cases, technology is beneficial to freedom. Technology gives people voices, and when people have voices, some degree of freedom often follows. After all, oppression depends on uninformed masses that cannot communicate with others or each other. And just because oppressors are using technology to block technology does not mean technology itself is disadvantageous for freedom. It simply means that oppressive governments are trying their best to nullify what was originally a means of obtaining freedom.
This is an interesting post, Brad. I think that you are correct that technology can play positive and negative roles in our world, but I lean towards the more negative end about the role that technology can play. Technology brings information. That is it's greatest (and arguably only) strength. The internet, computers, cellphones, etc. all brought with them a massive increase in the access to information that we have. Sure, that information helps the 'good guys' to realize flaws in the system and organize against it, but it can also be coopted by the 'bad guys.' For them, technology is a dream come true. Government intelligence departments have always lusted for more and more information. Information was power because it allowed them to catch the revolutionaries. But, throughout history, it has been difficult for secret polices like the KGB and intelligence agencies like the CIA to gather data. They would have to find a way to cross a physical boundary like a wall (that's kinda hard, obviously). Now, these groups can just 'wiretap' and listen in on communications. It makes things 100 times easier.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post, Brad. Technology is probably one of the very few reasons why the Arab Spring was, if it can be argued, largely successful. Activists took advantage of social media, and the rest can be described by the snowball effect.
ReplyDeleteI want to add on to what Ethan discussed in the above comment. Besides the possibility that more technology and information access may bring about more intrusion by government intelligence departments, governments may actually be able to distort the enormous amount of information that's on the internet more easily. There was a point at which governments were able to censor information on the internet successfully--that was before surges of people began to access social media and other webpages. Now, it's almost impossible to patrol the entire internet; even the Chinese government is having trouble censoring information about Tiananmen Square, which more and more people of the younger generations are finding out about. With all this information, governments may actually be more effective in "censoring" by distorting what's presented on social media websites. Sure governments are being overwhelmed by the wider availability of the internet to people, but they may use this to their advantage.