Blog on Cyber Utopianism

Today's blog will focus on Chapter 2 of The Net Delusion. The article discusses Cyber Utopianism. The first examples of how the internet is starting to have a major impact on foreign affairs were brought up by Hillary Clinton. She spoke about how the blogs and web pages of the internet today are like the samizdat during the Berlin Wall days of Germany. Samizdat were publications written by the people of Germany and handed down to other readers to spread the word and gather people together. The analogy was used because the blogs, which are the "samizdat," are used to pierce the digital walls or "information curtain" that are online,and the bloggers are seen as the activists breaking down the walls. By acknowledging online activism, Clinton made it apparent that online activism being used as a tool for people to stand up to their governments is a rising issue. Realizing this, the US government has began to prioritize internet activism by creating an internet freedom initiative, making the internet a growth industry for the government. Since the world is almost all digital today, the effect of knocking down one of these cyber walls could have the same effect as knocking down the physical walls that are causing the oppression. Because the bloggers are today's activists and the internet is the new way of sharing information and broadcasting, the internet is the new way for people to try to make changes.