Internet & Democracy Blog

Come rub elbows and engage in debate and discussion with some of the biggest names on the Internet at the Berkman@10 Conference May 15-16. In celebration of our 10 year anniversary we are hosting this conference as well as a number of exciting events of interest to the Internet & Democracy crowd, including a talk by Larry Lessig on his Change Congress initiative this Friday at 5pm at Harvard Law School, and a discussion on Youth and Civic Engagement at the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics on May 14.

Please also send in your nominations for the first Berkman Awards, which will be given to the people or institutions that have made the greatest contribution to the Internet and its impact on society over the past decade–they’ll win $50,000 with the top award! And even if you don’t win the award, you can still save a few bucks on attendance by posting a snazzy Berkman@10 badge on your blog or website. Come celebrate and contemplate the future of the Internet at any of these upcoming events.

In today’s WSJ, Emily Parker picks up an interesting anecdote about the potency and power of Chinese nationalism expressed online:

In fact, the widespread popularity of the Internet is allowing the people to influence the state media. A Chinese journalist who worked for CCTV, a major state media outlet, explained to me how this works. The journalist, who requested that he not be named, described his own experience covering Japan’s bid for a permanent seat on the Security Council. An Internet petition opposing the bid reportedly obtained over 40 million signatures.

“Public opinion may have played a decisive role in determining the state media reporting, not the other way around. “After the reactions on the Internet, the government changed, so we had to change. We had to report every day on how these efforts [to gain a seat on the Security Council] were going. Before this era, government could act unilaterally. Now, when something happens on the Internet, the government has to change policy.

cross-posted to In An African Minute.