A Global Voice can be heard

Over the past blog posts I’ve taken a look at (among other topics) the number of issues that hinder cyberdemocracy especially in Africa. The digital divide and the language barrier of the internet as it is are major contributing factors to the low levels of e-political involvement.

A large majority of websites are in English. However a large majority of the world’s population does not have English as their first language and some do not even speak a word of it. This presents an obvious language barrier and obstacle for any non-English speaker wanting to participate as an internet activist.

The digital divide has worked to cut off an entire section of the world’s population. As noted in a previous post, “even in the advent of this great cyber-democracy, those who were marginalized by the politics of the apartheid regime are still marginalized by the politics of this new virtual-democracy”.

But…this does not mean that e-democracy is doomed to fail in Africa. The fact that Africa only makes up 3.4% of the world’s online population does not mean that this 3.4% cannot become internet activists.

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Global Voices is a non-profit global citizens’ media platform that allows everyone the opportunity to raise global awareness about the issues that the mainstream media often forget, or simply choose not, to cover.

They use “weblogs, podcasts, photos, video, wikis, tags, aggregators and online chats – to call attention to conversations… that will help shed new light on the nature of our interconnected world”.

Bloggers spark up conversation, spread information and call on action for their particular regions. A team of translators ensure that all content is available in a wide range of languages like, French, Spanish, Chinese and Bangla. Users are even able set up their own networks which translate content into any language of their choice.

This means that with as little as just a GPRS enabled mobile telephone and basic computer literacy, a small group of women in rural North West province can take part in e-politics by blogging in seTswana. They could express the view of people at the grassroots level and have their content translated into a number of languages for global access.

South African bloggers are regular contributors to the site with debates often started with user comments. Nelson Mandela’s 90^th birthday celebrations, environmental issues, and the International Criminal Court’s charges against Sudanese President al-Bashir are only some of the most recent posts from South Africa.

South Africa still has a long was to go when it comes to internet penetration but that does not mean that e-politics is not a possibility.

Granted, one could argue that with internet access still largely in the hands of the more financially affluent, the politics of the poor and uneducated are still marginalize. However, with the government setting up more Thusong Service Centres, all voices can gradually begin to be heard at the global level.

Same ol’ politrix…just a different shade

Ok, so now we have the Internet, this new technology that’s open to all, allowing everyman expression. That sounds great!

The notion of democracy is based on issues of representation and participation. For any democracy to be strong it needs the masses to be politically active, engage in public debate and be able to express their views and concerns.

The web is an open medium that allows the average man a voice louder and more far-reaching than any other. The gate-keeping mechanisms that come with traditional journalism can be bypassed with great ease.

It’s really simple; you start up a blog about cyber-politics and publish your own work…for free. No printing units, no media houses, no distributors, just you the masses and your opinion.

The connectivity and interactivity of its users allows for networks to be created between users with the same views, interests and concerns.

In my third year politics class, our lecturer went on about how the details of where South African parties get their funding for political campaigns was hidden and near impossible to get a hold of. Clearly he never Google searched “who funds South African politics”.

With the Internet information that was previously, near impossible to get a hold of is now just a couple of clicks away. From who funds local political parties to questioning why the ANC Youth League still exists, it’s all on the net, available to every user.

However this is in no way an answer to the question of political apathy or weak democracies. The Internet is open medium only to those who have Internet access and who are computer literate. A quick glance at local statistics, clearly shows that South Africa is far from celebrating the effectiveness, or even just the birth of cyber-democracy and cyber-politics.

Although Internet use increased from 5.5% in 2000 to 9.9% in 2005, these figures are extremely low. This becomes increasingly apparent when looking at the United Kingdom’s 55% and the United States’ 71% figures. The third world simply does not have the capacity to compete.

South Africa’s illiteracy rate is just alarming. Between six and eight million adults are not functionally literate, never mind computer literate. Statistics show that “65% of whites over 20 years old and 40% of Indians have a high school or higher qualification, this figure is only 14% among blacks and 17% among the coloured population”.

The digital divide speaks heavily to the issues of Internet access and use and to education levels. This means that even in the advent of this great cyber-democracy, those who were marginalised by the politics of the apartheid regime are still marginalised by the politics of this new virtual-democracy.

If democracy is about the majority, then we can only really speak of cyber-democracy when the masses can at the very least send an e-mail with a basic attachment.