Insider stories – Myanmar (Burma) and citizen journalism

Amidst the euphoria of citizen journalism content demonstrating to the world the brutality of the military junta in Myanmar and why, just as in 1988, this repressive regime through sheer terror and outright murder hold its grip on power, Dan Gillmor expresses a word of caution:

The questions of reliability and trust will be paramount in what’s coming out of Burma, Net or no Net. We are distinctly inclined to trust what we see from on-the-ground observers in cases such as this, where the regime is so odious that it’s tempting to believe it would commit any atrocity to preserve its power. We need to exercise some caution, and we need to sort out the reliable observers from the ones who will certainly use turmoil to push specific agendas. (Note: I am not pointing at anything in this case, just observing that it’s something to watch for.)

And even though the military seems to have cut off internet access, the stories, images and videos seem to be getting out. Other notable stories in this regard are:

A day to day account of the situation in Myanmar from the BBC including photos submitted by readers.
Burma’s cyber-dissidents, also from BBC
Ko Htike’s blog
Protests in Myanmar and Mobile Phones
Burma Digest
Democratic Voice of Burma

I’ve also written on how the Internet and web can be strategically used to challenge repressive regimes and encourage readers to pick up a copy of Open Networks, Closed Regimes: The Impact of the Internet on Authoritarian Rule, contends that the Internet is not necessarily a threat to authoritarian regimes.

This is a sobering thought and is perhaps one reason why, even though the grotesque suppression of democratic dissent in Myanmar is plastered on websites, the military junta will continue to rule, even though their power will inexorably wane over time, requiring in the meanwhile even more violence to keep dissent in check. An indelible and damning digital record of the military rule is now on the web and will hopefully galvanise sustained international action to overthrow the military and restore civilian rule.

Using the web and Internet for democracy – Burma and others

“Images of saffron-robed monks leading throngs of people along the streets of Rangoon have been seeping out of a country famed for its totalitarian regime and repressive control of information.The pictures are sometimes grainy and the video footage shaky – captured at great personal risk on mobile phones – but each represents a powerful statement of political dissent.”It is amazing how the Burmese are able through underground networks to get things from outside and inside,” says Vincent Brussels, head of the Asian section of press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders.“Before, they were moving things hand-to-hand and now they are using the internet – proxy websites, Google and YouTube and all these things.”

Just as RCTV defied the Venezuelan government’s censorship and my own work on the potential of the web and Internet to support democracy in Nepal suggests, blogs and mobile phones are now being used by Burmese pro-democracy dissidents, as this BBC news report highlights.

“Technology will make it increasingly difficult for the state to control the information its people receive,” said Ronald Reagan soon after stepping down as America’s president: “The Goliath of totalitarianism will be brought down by the David of the microchip”.

I’ve written extensively about how the web, Internet and mobile phones can subvert repressive regimes and how simple, practical yet effective and sustainable ideas for ICT in peacebuilding can strengthen democracy. This has also been recognised by Freedom House in How Freedom Is Won: From Civic Struggle to Durable Democracy. And yet, what are the limits of online freedom and activism?However, as I note in Desperate for a Revolution:

The power of the internet and web is such that;

• you can support these activities through open discussion on the web, which the organisations can then use as a measure of support for their work
• you can flag initiatives you think are worth supporting financially through donations
• you can flag projects that people can volunteer in to help build local capacities
• you can use mobile technologies and Skype to create discussions amongst youth in Sri Lanka and in the diaspora on helping youth affected by the conflict
• you can flag anecdotal stories from the field that engender hope
• you can flag story ideas for the media to write on
• bring to attention the issues of conflict and peace to those in urban areas not usually interested in thempost photos on Flickr that show communities engaged in initiatives that help strengthen democracy, development and human security
• you can use meeting that bring together young bloggers to talk about ways that collaboratively highlight issues related to democracy and human rights
• post soundbites and videos from personal interviews with mentors or those working in the field in Sinhala, Tamil and English
• produce short documentaries that are pod-cast friendly – making content that’s hip and interesting to those in urban areas, but at the same time address issues of peace and conflict

Related posts:Nepal – Technology and DemocracyPublic Service Broadcasting – using technology for democracyBuilding peace through ICT – Ideas for practical ICT4Peace projectsDefeating repressive regimesDefeating repressive regimes – Take 2Related stories from news media:Bloggers silenced as curbs bring internet blackout‘Open-Source Politics’ Taps Facebook for Myanmar Protests 

Towards a new cartography: Mapping a peace process using Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

In exploring the possibilities of constructing a mapping process for peace in Sri Lanka, this monograph engages with the theoretical aspects of process mapping and then explores possible ways in which such mapping exercises can be conducted. The author’s research into the creation of Computer Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW) systems to support negotiations and peacebuilding has fed into this paper, along with his earlier work on systems design for early warning, conflict prevention and the mitigation of communal violence using technology.

Beginning with a brief outline of what constitutes a process and the importance of mapping such an activity, the monograph will follow through an examination of ‘wicked problems’ and the locale foundation and then explore other frameworks that may be useful in the formulation of a comprehensive mapping architecture for a peace process. Ending with some basic recommendations and a blueprint that synthesises the key aspects of other frameworks, the monograph primarily aims to stimulate further discussion on a relatively under-developed topic within the existing academic literature on conflict mitigation.

Download the full paper here.

Tips and resources for bloggers and online activists

The Rising Voices wiki has a great selection of training guides, tips, online resources and sources of funding for outreach projects that teach the skills of citizen media to new users.

In collaboration with Tactical Technology Collective, Rising Voices is also the process of developing a series of multilingual videos and tutorials which explain how to use tools like weblogs, photo-sharing sites, podcasts, wikis, and online video. At the time of writing, they have videos on a 3 Minute Intro to WordPress, Posting on WordPress blog along with a number of other useful topics available on their wiki.

Don’t forget to check out the ICT4Peace wiki for more examples of the use of ICTs in peacebuilding and humanitarian aid.

ICT4Peace Facebook Group

The ICT4Peace Foundation has created a group on Facebook to share and exchange information on technology in peacebuilding, conflict mitigation and humanitarian aid. It’s also intended to raise awareness on the Foundation’s ICT4Peace process.

Please join the ICT4Peace Facebook group here – for which you’ll need a free Facebook account if you don’t already have one, which you can create here.

SMS alerts during emergencies – Lessons from Sri Lanka’s tsuanmi alert on 13 September 2007

Schools in Galle, some in Colombo were closed today. The newspaper headlines did not, to the extend that I read them, show any methodical movement of people to higher ground and safe spaces. They showed people who were confused, running away with their belongings and praying in places of worship. The religious may find solace in prayer, but Government cannot be hostage to the foibles of the gods. This is precisely why we were repeatedly told that disaster management plans are in place and that the next tsunami, should or when it occurred, would find Sri Lanka well prepared to meet the emergency.

This myth has already been questioned.

What I found interesting about the hours from 6 – 8.30 last night and again from around 5.30 to 7 this morning was that my primary mode of information on earthquakes and tsunami warnings came from SMS alerts. They came from two sources but from multiple phones. The two sources were Reuters news alerts on Dialog and JNW news, which I also received on Dialog. The third was the same SMSs recirculated amongst friends and colleagues.

I have about 35 incoming messages for this period and I must have sent at least twice that number to friends with mobiles I did not know were subscribes to either SMS news alerts service.

I’ve reviewed and written about the JNW SMS news service many times on this blog, and I must say that I found it to be a tad more useful than the Reuters news alerts, for which I registered free about two or three months ago. From the first alert on Reuters of an earthquake to the first tsunami warning took well over an hour on my number (I was in Colombo 7) and after that, there were a lot of SMSs with quotes from officials in the Disaster Managament Centre that weren’t terribly useful after one knew about the tsunami warning.

Far more useful may have been to send some basic guidelines about what to do, even where to go to, useful websites with updated information (the Department of Meteorology has a rather suspect website that looks as if it was done on Frontpage 98 that gives tsunami alerts, tellingly, in English and Sinhala only) or some hotline numbers (Colombo as well as regional) to call if one wanted more information.

Basic stuff that many around me didn’t know.

Chamath Ariyadasa, the Editor of JNW, has written an insightful account of his experiences last evening in responding to the tsunami warnings through SMS alerts. There’s already been a lot of discussion on the use of SMS’s in emergencies and in early warning.

I had also read about the use of cell broadcasts – so that all users of a mobile network in a given area would get SMS’s delivered in a manner that bypassed network congestion. Did this occur in the areas most vulnerable to the tsuanmi?

While I got a steady stream of SMS’s – there was no way I could tell when they were sent out. I could send out SMS’s through my phone, but by around 6.15, the voice network was clogged in Colombo 7 all the way to Nugegoda and calls down South were impossible.

Clearly, SMS is here to stay and next to radio is perhaps the most accessible means of disseminating information rapidly amongst a large population (TV doesn’t really work – needs electricity, needs to be switched on and no one lugs them around for news alerts). The tsunami warning scenario yesterday was the first time in Sri Lanka where my primary mode of news and information on an unfolding situation spread over a couple of hours was through SMS.

It may be a harbinger of things to come.

Also read:
Lessons from Nagapattinum: Post-Tsunami and the Panchayat
SMS news alerts during emergencies – The experience of JNW and the tsunami warning of 13th September 2007

Mesh networking mobile phones

Swedish company TerraNet has developed the idea using peer-to-peer technology that enables users to speak on its handsets without the need for a mobile phone base station.

The technology is designed for remote areas of the countryside or desert where base stations are unfeasible. It is hoping to dramatically improve communications in the developing world.

Read the full story on BBC here. Read more about Terranet’s technology here.

Perhaps Google’s gPhone may give Terranet a run for its money. Either way, it’s good news for mobile phone based dispute resolution mechanisms.

The incipient hypocrisy of Vint Cerf – Google and web censorship

On the one hand, Vint Cerf, a Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google, says that it is a mistake to divorce what was seen online from what happens in the real world:

“Most of the content on the network is contributed by the users of the internet,” he said. “So what we’re seeing on the net is a reflection of the society we live in.”

“Maybe it is important for us to look at that society and try to do something about what’s happening, what we are seeing

He added: “When you have a problem in the mirror you do not fix the mirror, you fix that which is reflected in the mirror.

“We have a job to do, collectively as a society, to deal with the problems we discover in the network,” said Mr Cerf, “but suppressing the knowledge of what’s going isn’t going to help us.

Less than 2 weeks after he made these comments on BBC Radio 4 (click here to listen to the interview), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expressed its condemnation and dismay at Google’s censorship deal with the Thai government.

IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said the move sets a dangerous precedent, which could have global implications for freedom of expression.

“There is a clear potential for abuse of people’s right to information, which seems much more likely now Google has demonstrated its willingness to collude with governments to effectively censor information,” Park said.

“Freedom of expression has already been curtailed in Thailand, and electronic media looked to be improving the level of discussion of the country’s public life – but with the new cyber crimes laws, Thais can now face jail for visiting websites deemed inappropriate,” Park said.

Clearly, Google’s Don’t Be Evil slogan and Cerf’s pronouncements fall far short of their actions in Thailand and also earlier in China.

A conversation with Daniel Stauffacher on ICT4Peace and how it can help conflict resolution

Do you believe that the better use of technology can strengthen peace processes to the extent that there will be more peace 5 years hence than today?

Yes indeed. ICTs and in particular web 2.0 will create even more transparency and efficient tools for actors in the field of conflict prevention, mediation, conflict resolution and peace building.

An interview I conducted with Daniel Stauffacher, with whom I work with at the ICT4Peace Foundation, that address key challenges and opportunities in Information and Communications Technology for conflict mitigation.

The interview, conducted over email, covers a broad range of issues including international aid coordination, the role of technology in peacebuilding and the challenges of putting into action policies adopted by WSIS in support of ICT4Peace.

Read the full interview here.

For an audio podcast with Daniel, conducted in 2006 at the site of Strong Angel III, please click here. (Download directly from here.)

Thoughts on the Microjustice Initiative

Based on what I wrote on Juripax that I first saw at the Liverpool ODR Forum earlier this year, I was contacted by May Britt to comment on a fascinating idea called the Microjustice Initiative.

An overview of the initiative is available here. There are some fascinating ideas in it, though I understand that it is still at a very embryonic stage with the full complexity of what they have embarked upon only slowly dawning upon its champions.

One reason I find this initiative interesting is because it can possibly use mobile phones in its dispute resolution / justice mechanisms to a far greater degree than many ODR systems currently operational. Excerpts from an email exchange I had with some of the Microjustice Initiative’s key thought-leaders follows (and was based on the initial concept note they sent to me):

To May Britt | 3rd September 2007

The paper, which I read through briefly, sounds very interesting and timely. I would submit, and I am sure you would agree, that the technical architecture required for the systems envisaged in the paper would be easier to design than the networks of community participation required for it to be (and to be seen as) effective and just. This is particular a problem in societies where inter-communal trust is abysmal, such as regions of protected ethnic conflict. Micro-justice in these regions are invariably tied to the larger social and political inequity – and addressing them on the ground needs to be done in parallel with larger systemic legal (constitutional) and political changes at the national level. As a study on ADR done by some of my colleagues at the Centre for Policy Alternatives found out, there’s a rich tradition of ADR in conflict zones, but the practice and promotion of these mechanisms is deeply problematic in violent conflict.

There’s also the question of gender – which I didn’t see directly addressed in the paper. It is often the case that even successful ADR mechanisms are in the control of and culturally primarily address the needs of men. The access to and participation of women in micro-justice initiatives I think is of paramount importance, but also tied to the particular cultural dynamics of a region / country / locale.

You may be interested in the two attached papers I wrote a few years ago on the use of mobiles and PCs in ODR at a very local level and also in the work of the Claro Parlade in the Philippines.

Email from Prof. Mr. J.M. Barendrecht, Universiteit van Tilburg | 5th September 2007

You are absolutely right, the IT structure is doable, the networks of community participation are much more critical. Our guess is that providing simple and understandable information about what fair outcomes are for standard disputes would contribute to making existing informal processes more just. Moreover we assume that a ‘business model’ can be developed in which local people upload local knowledge about fairness to a Microjustice website. But we need people who have this knowledge and have an interest in doing this. Much research and development will be necessary, and that is why try to involve not only NGO’s, but also IT companies.

I’ll be keeping my eye on this.