Just days before the 20th anniversary of protests in Tiananmen Square, China has shut down the popular social networking service, Twitter. Technology has become increasing influential in global and domestic politics.
Mark MacKinnon, the Beijing bureau correspondent for the Globe and Mail, described what happened while using the service to read messages regarding the June 4,1989 tragedy in which the Chinese government shut down demonstrations by predominantly Chinese students and intellectuals in Beijing resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of wounded protesters.
"I was marveling at all the free-flowing chatter on Twitter about the looming anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre of June 4, 1989...Then I hit the refresh button and a far-too-familiar message appeared on my computer screen: “The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading. The network link was interrupted while negotiating a connection. Please try again...The Great Firewall of China has grown again."
Twitter, which in 2008 had an estimated 4-5 millions users, has joined a number of other popular online services in being shut down in China. Earlier access to Youtube and Flickr.com, amongst others was dismantled.
In recent years, technology has played an increasingly influential role in international political affairs, if not always predictably. It is widely believed, for example, that cellular telephones and their ability to text message played an influential role in the Orange Revolution, which propelled a pro-Western and European Union government to power in Ukraine. Text messages were widely used by demonstrators to coordinate efforts and mobilize protesters.
Twitter itself played an interesting role in the recent unrest in Moldova. Following a victory by the Communist Party, opposition protests degraded into riots. During that time, it was reported that among the most popular and active discussions on Twitter regarded the tense and violent situation in the small former Soviet Eastern European nation.
In response to the growing effectiveness of technology in dispersing and sharing information, many authoritarian states have been weary of their influence and shown signs of feeling their authority and stability threatened. Mass protests, civic mobilization, and popular dissent are often organized and voiced through popular online networking services.
Whether shutting down services will be as effective as the Chinese government hopes is not yet known. In response to reports that Twitter had been shut down, Twitter for Dummies author, Laura Fitton delcared that "If that is their intent, they inadvertently created even more dialogue."
