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TechnologyDaily Mobile
Global Democracy Movements Go Mobile
by Winter Casey
Mobile telephones are influencing democratic movements in the world at a faster rate than governments can control the technology, according to experts.
Cellular phones are both more affordable and more easily accessible than the Internet in the developing world. And everyone from political activists to election-monitoring groups have looked to embrace the benefits of mobile technology. As a result, political activists and others say the phones are changing the organization and dynamics of political protests.
Katrin Verclas, executive director of Your Nonprofit Technology Community, a group that helps nonprofits use technology more effectively, calls the phenomenon an "arms race." Peter Leyden, director of the New Politics Institute, said "efforts to control this technology over time are increasingly prone to failure." It is very difficult to control technology that is inherently decentralized and rapidly changing and proliferating, he said.
A Political Technology Without Boundaries
Experts said mobile phones are more affordable and widespread in their use than the Internet but boast many similar characteristics.
"Mobile phones have made a huge impact on politics internationally," Leyden said. He added that in the developing world, cell phones are much more important than in the United States because those countries lack the types of rich, overlapping media systems found in the United States.
"Some of the most interesting uses of the mobile phones have come from abroad," he said. For people promoting democracy, the climate for cell-phone use is improving with privacy protections, encryption and more providers, which is resulting in a "more decentralized environment," Leyden said.
Joseph Farren, a spokesman for the wireless trade group CTIA, noted that "cell phones by their very nature do not respect geopolitical boundaries."
In May 2006, mobile phones were used in the first large-scale, immediate election-monitoring project to observe the independence referendum in Montenegro, which split from Serbia following approval of the referendum.
As part of the project, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and the Center for Democratic Transition took advantage of text-messaging to receive more than 2,000 reports from observers during voting day. The center used an automated database for reports and quickly determined that the referendum would be close. It urged the public to await an official count.
The center has used the same technology in three different ways since May to observe elections for various offices, said Chris Spence, director of technology programs at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.
The Text-Messaging Protest Wave
Text-messaging is emerging as an important and accurate tool for improving the accuracy of results in elections around the world, Spence said, adding that it can speed the rate at which observers can report the results. "Text-messaging is providing civil society and political parties very effective ways to engage citizens, whether it be getting out the vote," monitoring elections or activism, Spence said.
During the past three years, text-messaging has been credited with influencing elections in the Philippines, South Korea, Spain and Thailand, according to MobileActive. Socialists in Spain used text messages in March 2004 to mobilize protests and spread information. Philippine President Joseph Estrada, who was forced out of office in 2001, reportedly called the uprising against him a "coup de text."
In the United States this year, the San Francisco-based nonprofit group Mobile Voter partnered with Music for America Education Fund on an initiative to register 18- to 29-year-old voters at concerts using text-messaging.
The technology "allows voter participation to happen in any environment," Ben Rigby, co-executive director of Mobile Voter, said in April. And Rock the Vote used mobile phones to encourage participation in the 2004 U.S. election.
Cell phones also have enabled organizers to control the movements of demonstrators in a way that has not been possible through print communications. The phones are "radically changing the ways people can demonstrate and mobilize," Leyden said. "The technology enables "instantaneous communication ... among thousands or tens of thousands of people in real time."
Hans Riemer, political director of Rock The Vote, said mobile phones are changing the dynamics of protests, enabling people to communicate more effectively, and are increasingly being used for civil engagement. While the phones are not used as much in the United States as elsewhere, Riemer said that "as the culture embraces mobile devices more and more, then politics becomes more possible."
Tracking The Protestors
Experts noted, however, that many developing countries lack adequate legal safeguards to protect people who want to use mobile technology for political activity. Without adequate laws in place, governments in some countries could force phone companies to provide information about their subscribers, Leyden said. Such information then could be used to track political dissidents.
In developing countries, there are generally one or two wireless service providers. Verclas said that if a company is a monopoly, chances are there is some government control and access that would allow officials to examine the records of subscribers who are suspected of engaging in political activities opposed by the government.
In April, Nepal's King Gyanendra directed authorities to black out cell service after protestors used text messages to form street protests. Some governments, such as Malaysia and China, have taken steps to get citizens to register their pre-paid mobile phones.
Leyden noted that advances in technology may help address some of concerns by allowing for more privacy. But Verclas said: "We are mistaken and disillusioned to think mobile phone carriers are open systems like the Internet. When you use them for advocacy, there are constraints," and security precautions need to be taken.
There is now a "move to have pre-paid phone cards registered," Verclas said. In Guyana, India and Kenya, for example, she said there have been "attempts to get those cards registered so the person is identifiable. Those incidents clearly show that some governments "with repressive regimes" have looked to require registration for a reason, according to Verclas.
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