Date: Sun, 17 Mar 1996 10:28:56 +0100
To: marxism-AT-jefferson.village.virginia.edu
From: Luciano Dondero <DOND001-AT-it.net>
Subject: Internet and Asia (fwd)


The following repost says something quite relevant to the possibilities
opened and the problems generated by the worldwide extension of Internet.
Any comments?
So long,
Luciano


>Date: Sat, 16 Mar 1996 18:48:30 +0100
>Subject: Yeo, Pea-brained Imbecile 
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>
>The Economist, 16 March 1996, pp. 42-43.
>
>Asia and the Internet: Not too modern, please
>
>Hunched quietly over their terminals around the world, the
>mouse-clicking, keyboard-tapping denizens of the Internet have
>created quite a noise in Asia. The worldwide computer network
>is still young in the region, but already cyberspace resounds
>to the crashing of broken taboos, and collisions with the
>powers that be.
>
>In discussion groups on the Internet, you will find views
>never aired in the domestic media; about Malaysia, a call for
>the emigration of ethnic Chinese; about Indonesia, passionate
>pleas for East Timorese independence; about Thailand, jibes at
>the monarchy, which are a crime. On the World Wide Web, the
>fast-growing multimedia part of the network, everyone from
>Confucius to the Penthouse pet of the month seems to have a
>"home page".
>
>All of this confronts many Asian governments with an old
>dilemma in a new form. All want to be "modern". But many
>reject the notion that modernity encompasses the sort of
>political pluralism seen in the west. On the Internet
>modernity and pluralism go hand in hand. Hence the recent
>flurry of efforts by governments in the region to exert
>control over the Internet and overturn what they see as the
>American colonisation of cyberspace.
>
>The effort is complicated by the undoubted commercial
>potential ofthe Internet, and its future as a business tool.
>Most countries would prefer to do without the smut and the
>anti-government invective, but none wants to risk being left
>out. Fidel Ramos, president ofthe Philippines,whose press is
>freer than others in Asia, has his own home page, but so does
>the military junta that runs Myanmar's media like an Orwellian
>Ministry of Truth.
>
>The dilemma is most acute for Singapore. More than any other
>country in the region, it prides itself on being ahead of the
>technological game. Indeed, its economic success relies on a
>state-of-the-art infrastructure. By the end of the century the
>government hopes to have created an "intelligent island", with
>at least 95% of homes cabled for services like the Internet
>and interactive television.
>
>Already, the government has a big presence on the World Wide
>WebHt even provides links to a Board for Online Graffiti ("the
>only place in Singapore where graffiti are legal"). You can
>make your choice of virtual lavatory wall on which to scribble
>a message. More seriously, the World Chinese Business Network
>hopes to harness the Internet to the legendary "guanxi" or
>connections that drive overseas Chinese business. George Yeo,
>Singapore's information minister, is fluent in cyberbabble.
>"we will need a URL [universal resource locator] that is easy
>to remember," he told a meeting of his colleagues from the
>Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on March 7th.
>"we should also encourage hyperlinks to each other's web
>pages."
>
>But Singapore is also among the staunchest critics of
>unfettered individualism, and of western attempts to foist its
>political standards on Asia. Because its content remains
>dominated by westerners, the Internet can be seen as part of
>such an attempt. Every fanatic liberal and foulmouthed crank
>can air his heresies and obscenities. So Mr Yeo also warned
>his ASEAN colleagues that "the influx of objectionable
>materials via the new electronic media, if left unchecked,
>will undermine our values and traditions."
>
>He was speaking the day after Singapore had introduced
>"anti-pollution measures" to clean up the I nternet in
>Singapore. The three local "providers", offering access to the
>I nternet by a domestic telephone call, will be required to
>filter out offensive material. "Cybercafes" providing
>computers for customers to use the Internet will have to
>install filter software such as "Net Nanny" or "Surf Watch".
>But this is not just an antipornography drive like that seen
>in many countries. Organisations posting political or
>religious information on to the World Wide Web will need to
>register with the broadcasting authority.
>
>Technically, Singapore's effort to control the Internet will
>be complicated. Mr Yeo suggested it was feasible because all
>international telephone traffic reaches Singapore through one
>network, operated by Singapore Telecom. So the authorities are
>able to monitor anything being sent to Internet servers (who
>distribute material) in Singapore. Singaporeans could still
>dial abroad and get access to the uncensored Net. But that
>would be expensive -- prohibitively so for most people,
>especially if they wanted to download a pin-up, which can be
>frustratingly time-consuming.
>
>Mr Yeo stressed that Singapore did not intend to "stifle
>discussion". The only obligation on those engaging in
>political debate was to take a "certain responsibility and
>accountability" for their views. It was not clear how these
>requirements would apply to the Singaporean who responded to
>the speech by calling the minister a "pea-brained imbecile" on
>an Internet discussion group.
>
>Singapore's house-cleaning effort will be watched closely by
>other governments in the region. Of Singapore's 3m people,
>100,000 already have Internet accounts, twice as many as in
>China (population 1.2 billion). Nevertheless, China has
>already gone a step further than Singapore, requiring all
>Internet users as well as providers to register. It too is
>looking at how to put a cordon sanitaire around the Internet.
>Like Myanmar and Vietnam, it is particularly concerned about
>the campaigning activities in cyberspace of exiled dissidents.
>Vietnam is seeking prevention rather than cure. The
>state-owned Internet provider, Netnam, does not as yet give
>subscribers access to the World Wide Web, just to e-mail
>services.
>
>Other ASEAN countries have so far preferred to be seen as
>Internet-friendly. Malaysia's deputy prime minister, Anwar
>Ibrahim, recently opened an exhibition about the Internet in
>Kuala Lumpur with a warning against censorship. "Let us not
>forget", he said, "that an informed citizenry is also a
>responsible citizenry."
>
>Similarly in Indonesia and Thailand, the Internet is largely
>unregulated. An Indonesian magazine, Tempo, banned in 1994 for
>upsetting the government, has just reappeared "on-line", which
>even the censors admit is perfectly legal. In the much freer
>intellectual climate of Thailand, the concern has been as much
>about sex as about politics. An Internet campaign has urged a
>boycott of Thai goods because of the prevalence of child
>prostitution in the country. And a photograph has been posted
>on the Internet purportedly showing a senior politician
>engaged in sexual congress with another man's wife.
>
>As the Internet gathers pace, so too will its impact on the
>political scene. InJanuary an article in Singapore's
>obsequiously pro-government Straits Times asked whether
>Singapore would "change the Internet", or the other way round.
>"A little of both," it concluded. But as the Internet
>free-for-all becomes more readily available to the population
>at large, other, more decorous, media may find it hard to
>ignore the challenge. The Straits Times itself may be among
>the first to feel the change.
>
>-----
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--Luciano Dondero--
--vote no to "r.m.w.p."--



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