The Internet and its effects on Political Transparency

As the Internet is such a permeable tool, it has major implications for political transparency and the way governments run things in our modern world. Back when the internet did not exist, it was a lot easier for governments to be secretive, and to withhold information that they wanted to keep secret. This was because of a general lack of media, people learnt information through either the newspapers, television or word of mouth. When there are few sources of information, it is easy for the person or organization with the information to select and control who gets to hear what. This is especially so when the mass media is under the thumb of the government, which was fairly common back in the old days.

Types of Transparency

The first kind of transparency is informational transparency: knowledge about government actors and decisions and access to government information.

This is the transparency that is most affected by the internet, it greatly increases, because all it takes is one person to leak information. Once the internet gets a hold of it, it will spread like wildfire. It can be something as small as a government official's secret tryst with his mistress, to something major like WikiLeaks, which exposed many incriminating actions taken by the governments of the world behind closed doors.

A second type of transparency is participatory transparency: the ability to participate in political decisions either through fair representation or direct participation.

The internet has affected this in a few ways. It definitely helps to increase participation in politics as it is a convenient media outlet to express opinions and exchange views. It is also a good way for governments to get a snap poll of what people think of them, especially during elections. On the other hand, the internet creates a lot of "keyboard warriors", people who like to incite others and oppose their views just for the sake of it, otherwise known as "trolls". As people are able to hide behind screens, they can say anything, including malicious rumours and unfounded accusations at a particular politician or political party.

A third kind of transparency is accountability transparency: the ability to hold government officials accountable – either to the legal system or to public opinion – when they violate the law or when they act in ways that adversely affect people’s interests.

This is possibly the most significant of the three, and the internet has definitely improved it. Governments had a lot more power last time, but now the internet has given some of that power back to the people, as democracy should always have been - a people's government. There are political activists and watchdogs who are constantly on the lookout for policies and laws governments might try to pass. Once they sense something is wrong, they immediately post it on the internet, and the rest takes care of itself. Once there is an uproar among the population, it is hard for politicians to do as they please. Occupy Wall Street and a few other protests, notably in Europe, have all been a result of the internet and its power to spread information at lightning speed.

 

WikiLeaks

Of course, the biggest and most famous exposé in politics on the internet is WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks is an international, online, non-profit organisation which publishes secret information, news leaks and classified media from anonymous sources. Its website has claimed a database of more than 1.2 million documents within a year of its launch. Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been arrested numerous times for this. He is in hiding, and has been granted political asylum by the Ecuadorian government. He currently resides in the Ecuadorian Embassy in England, where the Metropolitan Police have stationed officers outside to arrest him when he does try to leave.

It has released a number of significant documents which have become front-page news items. Early releases included documentation of equipment expenditures and holdings in the Afghanistan war and corruption in Kenya. During April 2011, WikiLeaks published 779 secret files relating to prisoners detained in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

In November 2010, WikiLeaks collaborated with major global media organisations to release U.S. State department diplomatic "cables" in redacted format. This was one of its most significant releases, and was a big gaffe for the American government. It led to a US manhunt for Assange.

There was also the Global Intelligence Files, where an email involving a Stratfor (a global intelligence company) analyst stated that it had been determined that up to 12 officials in Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency knew of Osama bin-Laden's safe house. Another email indicated that Stratfor Vice President Fred Burton had knowledge of the killing of bin Laden, and that the body was not dumped at sea, but rather sent to Dover Air Force Base in the United States. This fuelled doubts about the US Government's account of the killings.

Obtaining information is becoming easier with each passing day in our modern world, and politics is no exception to this rule. If someone wants it, there will be someone willing to go the length to obtain it. It might not directly cause politicians to resign their positions over any wrongdoings they might have committed, but it at least puts some fear into them and makes them think twice before executing such acts in the future. At least more people are aware that their government is not the great and perfect leaders for the country that they make themselves out to be.

 
Pervasive information will keep them in check.