Category Archives: Politics

Could Twitter Have Saved Gaddafi?

Tl;dr: The NATO intervention was made possible by the UN mandate to protect civilians which was as a result of news broadcast by western media and Al Jazeera (Owned by Qatar who is part of the NATO coalition) and public opinion going against the Gaddafi regime.

As the war has carried on, it is clear (my opinion) that the media reports are one directional (Pro NATO/Rebels and Anti – Gaddafi). I am asking if the outcome would have been different had Gaddafi used social media (represented by Twitter in this post) to communicate directly to the world thereby bypassing traditional mass media houses who seem to be against him. Changing public opinion and maybe the war outcome in the process.

My post.

Now let me clarify one thing I do not think Twitter is the second coming of Jesus. Actually, this new line of reasoning came up when I was thinking of how my position on Gladwell was right (the Twitteratti did not claim victory in Gaddafi’s fall like they did in Egypt or Iran’s ‘almost revolution’.

Disclaimer: I am utterly opposed to the destruction of Libya(ns) and the UN endorsement and execution of a selective violent coup in search of ‘freedom’.

Some Points

  • Public opinion is an under estimated extremely powerful force in this world. Using public opinion, world leaders and organizations push their cause. If they do not succeed, they quietly fall into line with public opinion. (Once Mubarak was obviously falling, the US fell in line although they supported him). Maybe the WMD war in Iraq is a clearer example?
  • The foreign press in this Libyan conflict has been at best a PR machine for the NATO–Rebel alliance.
  • The passing of the UN resolution was driven mainly by *public opinion alert* “international outrage” which was created by news reports and unclear YouTube videos. Basically, it was based on “unconfirmed reports”.
  • I am using Twitter to represent new (social) media (Facebook, Blogging, YouTube Google+?). In my opinion, Twitter is the most fluid when it comes to disseminating information and it is seen as a very important source of authentic news. Even Joey Barton’s Twitter account is worthy of a BBC editorial.

So how could Twitter have saved the day?

So let us imagine for a moment Gaddafi had a Twitter account:

  1. We would have known the correct spelling of his name (Yaaay!)
  2. He would have had over 1 million followers (potential re-broadcasters). Which would include EVERY major news source and opinion shaper in the world.
  3. Most importantly, he would have had a shot at getting his own word (spin/truth/propaganda) out which the major news network would have had no choice of reporting and reporting it accurately. When there is a public link to a source, it would be difficult to put any spin on it.
  • What if the Gaddafi regime had it own YouTube clip of people in Benghazi asking to be saved from terrorists taking over Benghazi? Showing ‘proof’ that it was members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group that was behind the uprising?
  • What if instead of ranting broadcasts which would be shown (translated) for about a minute, the Gaddafi’s wrote blogposts stating what was happening was no different from that in Bahrain and Yemen and did not need interference? Or anterior motives for the invasion.
  • If Gaddafi had tweeted he was ready to step down and begin a transition immediately but NATO and colleagues adamantly refused?
  • What of if Gaddafis Tweeted that mass murder scenes were orchestrated by the LFIG’s Tripoli Military Commander? Citing the random execution of blacks as reported by the guardian
  • That 60 countries recognizing the rebels means over 100 countries do not.
  • That NATO and co are killing Libyan soldiers and civilians in defensive positions.

These few points are some of the alternate views I see in comment threads and opinion columns. These alternate positions have failed become main stream news, as the mass media have taken a pro NATO-Rebel position.

But Gaddafi publicly stating (Blogging/Tweeting/Facebook Updating) these positions would FORCE the media to report them thereby bringing those views to the forefront.

I believe although this might not have changed public opinion, it would certainly have divided it. Maybe Russia and China would have been encouraged and used their veto powers to prevent the invasion or try to stop it now it has started.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera came to prominence during the earlier ‘War of Terror’ and the invasion of Iraq. It was seen as the station where you could watch and get the other perspective. However, this Libyan war the other side only means Qatar’s side. I was surprised for the first time, Al Jazeera sounded no different from CNN only to realize that Qatar was part of the alliance.

Lesson? Do not depend on any entity you do not have direct control of to speak your side of the story .

But there are already several anti-NATO-US-Rebels blogs out there painting a different picture?

Two things going against that line of reasoning are

1. They do not have the audience size an official Gaddafi account would have.

2. More importantly would not have the credibility that information from an Official Gaddafi news source would have that would make it worth a news story.

So why did the Gaddafi regime not do all these?

I am guessing when you have been all powerful for 42 years, you tend to start believing you are a god of some sort. Other than that i have no idea,

What do you think?

 

I am Oo, founder of GBEDU.FM where I hope to make sense of this business of music. I once tried to kill the business card with OnePage.

Just Before The ‘Nigerian Annonymous’ Blossoms.

A few days ago, it was reported that the website of the NDDC, a Nigerian Federal Parastatal was hacked by the NaijaCyberHactivists. The site was taken down, restored, rehacked and then taken down. This is the second Parastatal that is getting is this treatment. The first was the website of the National Assembly. Their grudge with the government then and now is the excessive amount of money used for the celebration of events when a lot of basic issues are yet to be addressed by the government.

This time around, the have gone further; they have threatened to cripple financial systems in the Country.

At first I wanted to dismiss their threat since I question their present capability carry out attacks on bigger targets like financial institutions. Taking down a website is quite easy, a bit of Googling can show you how to ‘hack’ any CMS site.

Then I remembered the wise words of my forefathers

“Na from clap na’im dance dey start”. (Meaning: big things start small)

A bit of history.

When the militants of the Niger Delta Areas of Nigeria began agitating, they were dismissed as common criminals. I warned that if not curtailed and nipped in the bud by looking into their demands, it would go out of control. Well, the ‘amateur militants’ showed will, international illegal oil ‘bunkerers’ showed the way and we started seeing highly trained and equipped young men comfortably holding the government to ransom. It is said the militants, got weapons and training in exchange for access to cheap crude oil.

Money became involved and quite a large percentage of the ‘freedom fighters’ became wealthy and powerful criminals.

The country is still paying for being slow to respond to the threats properly

Back to the present.

If things are not properly handled, this is what will happen.

The hackers might not have the capability to wreck havoc on Nigeria’s financial and telecoms infrastructure presently, but they are one URL or IRC chat room away from learning the way. Hackers can get support across borders. It only takes the NaijaCyberhactivists’s getting the attention/support of a powerful group online and we would be fighting a much tougher battle. Money will be made and a few will lose sight of their stated goal of keeping government in check etc. It will be harder to curtail. Much harder.

Nigeria’s Internet economy is growing and we do not need unwarranted security challenges so early, especially when we are still trying to get people to make payments online. A high security breach on financial institutions will erode confidence in the system. Not good.

So how do we move forward?

I might not be so sure about how to proceed, but I am definitely sure how not to proceed. Legislating or bullying your way out. Do not get me wrong, the technology sector needs a bit of regulation, to protect consumer from businesses e.t.c but not as a response to hackers fighting for a cause especially one which has public sympathy. Ask SONY what happened when they attacked one of ‘their own’

I dare say that the people behind this are unemployed and are truly unhappy with the system. They have the hunger and drive to tackle challenges technically. If you leave such hands idle, they will come back to fight the system they believe is responsible for their plight.

Even though anonymous, they can me engaged, employed and redirected towards more constructive things like building or working for companies. (Assuming the government is ready to tackle the problems they are raising) .

The federal government has to take science and technology serious. Agencies like NIRA, NITDA and co need to be overhauled. They have failed continuously in harnessing our IT brains. (I will speak on NIRA at a later time)

It would be extremely pathetic if our brightest ‘hackers’ grow up as outlaws. Let us nip it early.

Of course, those close the Presidency/government are already submitting their IT security proposals. Thats cool, but if the long term and core issues are not taken care of as I have outlined above, it would be bas for us all.

 

While I was writing this post I learned that the National Assembly site was hacked again. see screenshot

 

It would be nice if I can get them to respond.

 

PS: pardon spelling errors. I just don’t see them. If it is any consolation I had C6 in English. if it is just too bad, let me know in the comments and I will correct them.

I am Oo, founder of GBEDU.FM where I hope to make sense of this business of music. I once tried to kill the business card with OnePage.

Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have.

If you do not have the balls to do what you think is right at the time whet it really means something, please just shut up, when it becomes convenient.

It is just disgusting.

I am Oo, founder of GBEDU.FM where I hope to make sense of this business of music. I once tried to kill the business card with OnePage.

Why I Think Gladwell is Right.

Techcrunch published a post highlighting yet another bunch slamming Malcolm Gladwell for pointing out again how inconsequential social media is when it comesto fuelling and sustaining social activism.

Let’s examine recent events in North Africa.

Tunisia’s revolution was over before CNN (and other western media outlets) got the chance to report YET another African disaster.  Determined to redeem their revolution credibility (RevCred), they stormed Egypt with their cameras and Anderson Cooper became a ‘hero’.

14 days later, Mubarak is still president and the outside world appears not to be so enthralled with 24-hour news channels coverage of Egypt; disappointed that their ReTweets have not pushed out Mubarak. We are so bored that there is no trace of the Egypt’s revolution on twitter’s trending topics.

What we fail to understand is that the people on the ground – the people affected by the Mubaraks – are not twits. They the guys and girls on the streets; the 94% of the population not on Facebookthat experience real hopeless and oppression.

I fully concede that social media toolswill have a big role to play in some cases. e.g the upcoming Nigerian elections. But when its comes down to putting your life on the line – that is giving your life for the change that needs to happen in one’s country – the real fuel will be the people in the streets.

Not Facebook. Not Twitter.

NB: One could even argue that the Internet slowed down the momentum of the revolt or how else can you explain that the most intense part of the protests took place when the Internet was cut off (people had to leave their homes) and slowed down around the time the Internet was restored?

Thanks to Uzo for helping me edit this post.

I am Oo, founder of GBEDU.FM where I hope to make sense of this business of music. I once tried to kill the business card with OnePage.