The great firewalls of non-European eDemocracy

Before Barack Obama can enter the White House he must surrender his beloved BlackBerry, a device pinned to his person throughout the presidential campaign.

Under the Presidential Records Act all his personal correspondence becomes part of the official record after he is sworn-in, making any emails open to public review. Since this makes it impossible to communicate freely by electronic means, Barack is unlikely to be America’s first emailing president. Sadly this is not news; eight years ago President Bush retired the email address “g94b@aol.com” for the same reason.

But what is worse, a President who is restricted by his position or a nation of people restricted by their heads of state?

Well, you can now experience the web from the perspective of a Chinese citizen thanks to a FireFox add-in which spoofs your IP address as if it was inside China. China Channel provides an intriguing insight into the world of suppressed on-line dialogue (please let me know if the PEP-NET blog is getting blocked!).

Thankfully every cloud has a silver lining .  The former Chief Election Commissioner of India has launched a new website aimed at providing information about candidates standing for the assembly and parliamentary election. A mash-up of the UK’s “Votewise” and “Theyworkforyou“,  EmpoweringIndia includes an analysis of election results, details about candidates, and disclosures on election expenditure.

Tags: barriers