This article comments on the government use of the internet to comment and collabrate with the public.
According to the author, efficient use of tools to interact with the public will create a "community of interest" for online democracy, which might necessarily translate to real-life a pro-active political community, since the people who go online to discuss politics will already be interested, but are looking for new avenues to reach out to a larger group of people with the same interests.
Ethical question: When large groups of people collaborate online for a cause, it's activism and democracy at its very best. When the authorities come in, would online democracy be threatened as people might be fearful of what political officials might do or say? The annoymity of the Internet provides a safe political climate where people can discuss without suffering negative implications.
Secondly, how far should the government get involved with online participation? Besides creating an open environment where users can come online and comment, should we restrict government intervention to just pure moderation of comments? But even moderation would mean some form of power intervention. where should the line be drawn?
According to the author, efficient use of tools to interact with the public will create a "community of interest" for online democracy, which might necessarily translate to real-life a pro-active political community, since the people who go online to discuss politics will already be interested, but are looking for new avenues to reach out to a larger group of people with the same interests.
Ethical question: When large groups of people collaborate online for a cause, it's activism and democracy at its very best. When the authorities come in, would online democracy be threatened as people might be fearful of what political officials might do or say? The annoymity of the Internet provides a safe political climate where people can discuss without suffering negative implications.
Secondly, how far should the government get involved with online participation? Besides creating an open environment where users can come online and comment, should we restrict government intervention to just pure moderation of comments? But even moderation would mean some form of power intervention. where should the line be drawn?
To Top