Noticable Benefit and Impact of the Internet
Many signs point in a positive direction with regard to human rights Non Governmental Organizations (or NGOs) making use of the Internet. A March 97 article in The Netizen envisioned a day when the use of Internet technology could have near instantaneous effects. A day when a suspected political activist's cell phone call before the arrival of police could mean substantial pressure by way of, "faxes, Telex messages, and phone calls" on the police chief before the suspect arrives at the station. The key here is Amnesty International emailing their 70 Urgent Action Alert offices upon receiving the call. However, there is evidence to support that quick action on the Internet will yield quick results. A July, 1994 article in Newsweek recalled how Nick Fillmore's Toronto based IFEX network led to pressure on Serbians who had imprisoned a journalist from the former Yugoslavia. Due to dozens of faxes from around the world, the journalist was released within a few days of the story's appearance on IFEX. Guards supposedly told the reporter: "You must be someone important." (Kantrowitz, 59)
As well as being quick, the Internet has proven effective in launching long term activist movements. "Cyberspace spawned the movement to restore human rights to Burma," according to Mike Jendrezejczyk, Washington director of Human Rights Watch/Asia. An article in the November 96 issue of Far Eastern Economic Review opined that, "it was television that brought Beijing's Tianamen Square protests to the world's living rooms. Now, the Internet is the messenger. And while the Burma-sanctions lobby is probably the first of its kind to take full advantage of the Net, it surely won't be the last." (Holloway, 28) The Free Burma Coalition Web Site has won many individuals to its cause who would otherwise know little if anything about Burma. The site helped facilitate a 1994 campaign to pressure Congress for support of legislation calling for sanctions on Burma. The legislation was watered down by the efforts of lobbyists for U.S. businesses doing business in Burma. "But the fact that American firms were forced to launch a rear-guard action illustrates the power of the Internet and of the small number of activists dotted around the country who sent a flodd of e-mail to their representatives on Capitol Hill." (30) The legistlation failed, yet continued pressure has been worthwhile. The New York Times reported on April 22nd, 1997 that, "President Clinton has approved a ban on new American investment in Myanmar because of human-rights abuses by the Burmese military Government." (Erlanger, A1)
One area where the Internet may have yet to prove its worth is Hong Kong. There is an active human rights community in Hong Kong which is facing possible restriction on their activities when the Chinese government takes over on July 1, 1997. According to a July 1996 article in Science, "many human rights groups in Hong Kong are rusing to get on-line, to house and disseminate their documents and keep lines of communication open to the outside world." (Parsell, 517) To help facilitate this process, groups such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Science and Human Rights Program (AAAS) have held training workshops in Hong Kong, "on applications of the Internet and other electronic resources to human rights work." (517)
Also beneficial human rights activists on the Internet are encryption programs and email. The availability of PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and other encryption software programs enable two NGOs or individuals to verify the identities of the people they are communicating with. In an email to our group from Alice Tligui of Peace Brigade International the benefits of email are described, "Electronic mail has really imporved our ability to coordinate on an internal level, and helps us to maintain our democratic, consultative decision making processes, by involving the whole membership in major decisions."
Of course, all the benefits of Internet technology hinge on the availability of a computer and a phone line. Oftentimes, the individuals who stand to benefit most from Internet technology live in countries with a very limited number of phone lines going inside and out of territorial boarders. Either that, or the government, which has the ability to decide whether material is suitable stuff for the information superhighway, has set up the only available Internet network. It seems somewhat ironic that the Chinese government-- an institution with a less than sparkling human rights record (Tianamen Square)-- is planning to do just that, yet until recently their country was known in certain trading circles as, "the most favored nation" (unlike Burma). To learn more about Internet censorship, from China to Germany to the United States, check out Robert's page.
David Weinberg
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