Subscribing to Democracy through the Internet

fenghua@pobox.upenn.edu

The Internet empowers individuals with the ability to broadcast easily, cheaply, and quickly. It equips people with the tools to create grassroot support to voice their concerns and motivate others to support their beliefs. Chinese students used the Internet to transmit news and solicit support during the democracy movement in China in 1989. The Zapatistas used the Internet to spread their communique throughout the world. Two professors went to the Internet to plead for public support when their administration filed criminal charges against one of them for handing out leaflets for the labor union. Two people can form grassroots lobbying groups to influence public policy because of the Internet's broadcasting power. A university's decision to publish the tabacco papers on the Internet changed the dynamics of a court's decision. This article illustrates the potentials of the Internet.

On May 19, 1994, CBS Evening News reported, "Every day, planeloads of Chinese citizens arrive legally in the United States, ordinary people. But to the Chinese Government, some of them may be future spies, who a few years down the road will be activated to steal America's military and technological secrets, whether they want to or not." To illustrate this scenario, the report staged a conversation between two people—a woman representing the Chinese government and a young person representing a student seeking to go abroad. Both persons' faces were blocked out. The "government official" was asking the young student to "lie low" and wait to be called to steal American secrets for China.

Immediately after the broadcast, a summary of the report was posted on Internet Chinese discussion groups. The report stirred up strong reactions in many recent Chinese immigrants and students. People discussed protesting against CBS for their unfounded accusations. During the next few days, CBS's fax machine was jammed with letters of protest, and thousands of phone calls flooded in. It has been estimated that over 2,000 fax and phone messages reached CBS to protest the report. On May 23, the Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS) Vice-President Heping Shi wrote a letter to CBS President Eric Ober to express their concerns caused by the broadcast. The CBS Vice-President replied to Mr. Shi's letter on June 1 with the words "We stand by it [the report]."

Fearing that CBS would ignore the protest and use Freedom of Speech as a protection shield, ignoring the protest, the CBS Incident Committee (CBS-IC) was founded about two weeks later, on May 28 to coordinate the protest efforts. Members of the CBS-IC corresponded with each other and reported to Chinese communities about the progress through . They researched and developed strategies to anticipate any possible CBS arguments to defend its position. The CBS-IC utilized the expertise of its volunteers and developed a detailed document analyzing the sources and statistics which CBS had referred to, and sent their research results to CBS. The document charged that CBS's report was racially motivated in that it singled out the Chinese only when spying cases from Western countries far outnumber those from China. The CBS-IC argued that the CBS report was intentionally slanderous and racially biased.

Two weeks after the report was sent to CBS, CBS-IC called CBS to follow up. They were told that their complaints, along with other documents related to the report, had been sent to CBS lawyers to be analyzed for legal liabilities.

The committee also contacted all civil rights groups and Chinese American organizations and the media to ask for their support. The United States Commission on Civil Rights addressed the CBS-IC's complaints with concern. The Commission wrote,

After a month, CBS called CBS-IC to inform them that they would like to schedule a meeting with leading Chinese American community members. The result of the meeting was that CBS made a public announcement of "corrections" to their report. On Oct. 21, 1994, CBS finally broadcast "an unusual 'clarification' " (New York Times, 1994). Connie Chung reported,

Introduction

Today, the Internet has been used for virtually all human communications needs in the world: shopping, entertainment, information gathering, broadcasting medium, communications, political actions, etc. In this paper, I am going to focus on the use of the Internet as a communications medium for individuals to express their political concerns to influence the public, politicians, administrators and the government. Many success stories demonstrated that the Internet has the potential to empower individuals who might otherwise not have the resources or influences to launch a campaign or form loosely connected issue networks to advocate their beliefs. The CBS case is an illustration of this empowering ability. The Chinese immigrants had no financial or political clout, but their persistence eventually forced CBS to make a public announcement to "clarify" their report. Through one person's message posted on the Internet, thousands of individuals were alerted. It requires one person's leadership in instigating hundreds of others to take action, and launch a political campaign. People volunteered their expertise across the country through emails to assist with the effort. At its peak, there were about sixty active volunteers and over 2,000 participants.

On the Internet, every individual has the potential to serve as a surveillance force in society and inform others about issues of general concern. Issue-based networks are formed quickly and easily to start grassroots political campaigns. Through the Internet, a few individuals can quickly and effectively coordinate and facilitate appropriate actions in response to certain issues of their concern. Individuals are more willing to participate and contribute when they identify with a specific issue and feel strongly about it. Using the Internet as a communications tool, one can communicate instantly with thousands of others at any time, in any place. The costs of organization are low, and all volunteers work together on an equal basis for one issue alone. Therefore, a consensus can be built more easily than in interest groups dealing with multiple issues.

Because of the economic concerns of traditional mass media, news reporters communicate to their audience from a central station where information is broadcast on a schedule, limited by time. It provides a one-way communications system, in which the audience has little recourse to give feedback and comments. Talk radio revolutionized this system by allowing the audience to call in to voice their opinions. However, the program is still limited with the "hosts" playing the central mediator who has the power to agree or disagree with the callers while the callers have little chance to rebut. There is still a hierarchical layer in this system. However, the low cost and accessibility of the Internet make it possible for all individuals to use it as a broadcasting medium, and giving them the potential to reach millions of people simultaneously with little cost. The Internet allows "one-to- many" and "many-to-many" communications. The relative low cost of this medium empowers the general public to become broadcasters, hosts or reporters. As a result, anyone with persuasive power can start a political campaign by focusing on one issue. Issue-based networks for political events or grassroots public campaigns can be initiated quickly and easily.

This paper compares the Internet to the mass media in their communication methods, and discusses the benefits that the Internet brings for the general public to take political actions. The benefits are illustrated through some successful cases of the public's use of the Internet for political campaign. Through the examination of some cases where individuals managed to influence government and administrations, I explore the possibilities that the Internet communications medium can provide for political participation. However, this is not to say that the Internet is the solution. It provides the potential place to launch a new idea left out by the mass media. However, the mass media's response is essential in escalating the spread of the idea.

Who are the Internet Users?

The profile of the typical Internet user has been thought of as a predominantly middle-class, professional, white male with advanced education, a mean age of around thirty-five, and a median income between $50,000 to $60,000 (Pitknow, 1995). According to Bonnie Fisher's survey of Internet users, "only two percent reported being laid off or unemployed, eight percent said they worked only part-time, and only one percent were retired. Eighteen percent classified themselves as students." The figure means that about twenty-nine percent of Internet users are economically disadvantaged. With the availability of the World Wide Web, the Internet users' age has increased, shifting from primarily young, computer savvy users to "the 'early adopters/seekers of technology'" (Pitkow, 1995). Asian users outnumbered African-Americans and Hispanics by a ratio of two to one (four percent versus two percent each). Fisher indicates that Asian respondents were more educated in comparison with other minority respondents.

Kevin A. Hill (1998) compares the demographic characteristics of the general public with the Internet users based on 1995 Pew Center survey:

Demographic Characteristics of Internet Users and the Public

Hill concludes that Internet users and activists are considerably younger than the general public, with Internet activists averaging a very young 32.8 years. In terms of gender, Internet users are still predominantly male, and Internet activists are overwhelmingly male. Non-political Internet users are divided about 60/40 between males and females, while Internet activists are 72% male. In terms of ethnicity, there is a similar percentage of white and non-white, however, a higher percentage of non-white users are Internet activists.

In general, Hill's study is consistent with Fisher's survey insofar as Internet users tend to be more educated, younger, and at higher income levels than the general population. However, what is surprising is that the percentage of non-white Internet political activists compared to the non-White general population is higher than the percentage of the White Internet activists compared to the White population. His finding is important for my claim that ethnic minorities have already recognized and taken advantage of the opportunities offered by the Internet to assert their political influences.

The Media and Open Society

Openness and freedom of access to the media are often used to measure a society's democratic values. Providing ordinary citizens with the rights, instead of privilege, to broadcast their views is central to the perception of democracy. The functions of the media are to provide an instrument for social surveillance, to inform and interpret the meaning of events and social conditions, through which to set the agendas for further political or social action. The media's public surveillance is politically important "because it arouses civic concerns and stimulates action" (Graber, 1993, 6). Citizens' voices are not only transmitted but also amplified by the power of electronics. However, the great trend in the mass media today is toward conformity. Grossman writes "the mainstream media tend to reinforce and reconfirm mainstream values and establishment views... because the news professionals themselves identify with those values and beliefs" (82).

A few big corporations largely control the media in the United States: General Electric, Time Warner, Disney, and Westinghouse. The privately controlled media are pressured for financial returns, which can affect content selection. In addition, American journalists are interested in appealing to their audiences, therefore, "their stories usually reflect the values of mainstream American society, regardless of the journalists' personal political orientations" (Graber, 1989, 49). Limitations on time, space and economic facts determine that not all news can get the media's coverage. As a result, some important events or issues are neglected by the mass media and in turn by the general public. In reality, according to Grossman, "the mainstream media are a difficult environment in which to launch new ideas or gain acceptance for new and unknown faces. But once there is a sense that an idea or a personality is starting to take hold, to "make it," the media climb on the bandwagon and accelerate the new entry's visibility and popularity" (Grossman, 85).

The Internet fills the gap precisely where the mass media left off in launching new ideas. The Internet has transformed media and communications from a necessarily centrally based organ controlled by political and social elites, to a fragmented, grassroots-based, open forum. The audience or readers who are placed in a passive position of being news "receivers" in traditional broadcast media are, with the Internet, able to become active participants or broadcasters themselves. Ordinary people who have not had access to broadcast their views are able to speak and can be heard by thousands of people in virtually no time and with little cost. While the power and influence of the centralized mass media continue, the availability of the Internet adds new voices and new representations, and provides an alternative, de-centralized communications medium. The Internet medium is diversified into numerous "mini-stations" through discussion groups, the Usenet, listservs, etc. Each mini-station represents a new interest, a sub-culture of society.

Internet users can be broadcasters by posting information to inform fellow users about certain issues of general concern. Their messages are not only read by the subscribers of one particular group, they are also transferred to other news and listserv groups quickly and easily, with just a few keystrokes. As a result, their influence can be potentially immeasurable, especially when the messages have wider appeal. While the media are perceived as the eyes and ears to the world, the many Internet users have widened their scope. Though the Internet plays an alternative role in informing the general public, the mass media still play the central role in escalating the newsworthiness of an event for a much wider appeal.

Issue Networks

An issue network is an important resource for exercising a power in the political landscape. An issue network is defined "as a communications network of those knowledgeable about policy in some area, including government authorities, legislators, businesspeople, lobbyists, and even academicians and journalists. A lively issue network constantly communicates criticisms of policy and generates ideas for new policy initiatives" (McFarland, 1992, 70). Issue networks facilitate discussions of policies and practices, sometimes followed by appropriate actions to encourage or discourage policies.

An issue network in interest group theory corresponds to the Usenet and Internet discussion groups, through which the like-minded communicate with each other and share news and opinions, coordinate actions, and influence politicians or other decision-makers. The Internet discussion groups like the media and citizen interest groups serve as a surveillance force for the political and social systems. Through the establishment of some of the new civic groups on the Internet, political discussions can be increased.

While the Internet was still mainly used for private communications among friends and colleagues in the 1980s, the Chinese students used the Internet to publish newsletters concerning China, facilitated public discussions and organized public campaigns. In the spring of 1989, the democracy movement in China prompted the Chinese students to communicate through the Internet with each other in order to share and collect news. The news was then faxed back to China to inform people who were unable to obtain such news within China due to the information censorship by the Chinese government. In October 1989, after the Tiananmen Massacre, Chinese students coordinated a Washington March for Democracy through email with over 40,000 people across the country participating in the demonstration.

The Chinese students became one of the first groups to use email to organize political protests. Subsequently, they used email to organize lobbying activities for Chinese Students Protection Act. After the tragedy in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, the Chinese students in the U.S. asked the U.S. government to protect them from being forced to return to China and facing prosecution by the Chinese government. They used email as the major communications medium, and successfully lobbied Congress to pass the Chinese Students Protection Act of 1992 (Li, 1990).

The Chinese students' use of email was progressive at the time, but precisely for that reason, it was deemed to be suspicious by some who did not understand the progress of technology. Senator Alan Simpson said during a congressional debate regarding the Chinese Students Protection Act,

Issue networks are organized not necessarily by people of status, but possibly by someone totally unknown. Conventional mass media have worked to homogenize people through the creation of images. Traditionally, people rely on the mass media "as attitude and behavior models. The media's image-shaping power prompts people to "accept" certain kinds of people and reject "others" who are deemed to be outside of the mainstream. Image becomes more important in determining what kinds of people they want to socialize with. However, users of the Internet are often race and colorblind in communicating. Users do not know the sex, age, race, or social status of the people with whom they are communicating, which results in the elimination of the boundaries of the above groups of people who are from different social positions. The invisibility of one's image provides opportunities for those who would otherwise be subjected to the prejudices of their audiences. "In face-to-face groups," says Robert Kraut, a research psychologist at Bellcore, "the person with the highest status tends to dominate, whether that status was earned or not. In an electronic group, the effects of status are reduced. Attention is focused on what is said, not who is saying it" (Kraut, 1991, 12).?Accessing to and spreading information empowers the underprivileged individuals to achieve influences at a level that they had not been able to achieve in the past, and gives other groups the bargaining power through the capability to get organized quickly and effectively. The invisibility of one's image on the Internet helps make it possible for individuals with persuasive abilities to take leadership in issues by organizing people with similar interests across the geographical boundaries.

Huang Lin, a Chinese student who had shied away from presenting himself in public, was suddenly made a hero among Chinese Americans because of his leadership in organizing protests against CBS's report that implied that all recent Chinese immigrants or visitors were potential China spies. Before the CBS-IC's existence, CBS responded to the uncoordinated protests by Chinese Americans with the curt reply that the broadcast was fair and protected by freedom of speech. In the wake of these initial fruitless protests, Huang Lin and two other Chinese organized CBS-IC to coordinate further protests, which resulted in the final success. CBS-IC used the Internet to communicate, and wrote all their reports and documents. They used the Internet to fax the documents to other Chinese-American media and groups. As a result, many influential Chinese American associations joined the protest. Almost all Chinese media reported the events and developments. This incident demonstrates that the Internet has the potential to increase minorities' political representation, particularly of groups that have traditionally maintained a low political profile.

The reason Chinese students in the U.S. were able to react quickly to the democracy movement in China was because a Chinese student network already existed. The Chinese students used email for casual and intellectual exchanges across campuses in the United States. Such is also the case with the Zapatistas. Before the January 1994 rebellion, the Zapatistas had already built networks of communications system. During the Rebellion, the electronic networks ensured that all their documents and claims were disseminated to the world.

The Internet issue network is especially effective when an issue is time-bound, necessitating immediate action and response. Chinese students used it to conduct a survey in four days when the result was urgently needed for a congressional hearing in order to gain protection from the U.S. government (Li, 1990). When the message that a survey was needed came from Washington, DC, student leaders on different campuses went around their cities collecting signatures from faculties, fellow students and citizens. Data was tabulated, and the signatures were faxed to their lobbying team. All of this was done in four days.

All of the above cases would have been virtually impossible to achieve with the traditional means of communications by interest groups. Although the number of people who are currently able to take advantage of such technology are still limited to the educated elites, the progress signifies a step closer towards a more open society.

Case Studies

SUMMARY

The vastness and diversity of the Internet and its users provide an alternative and inexpensive medium for the people who would otherwise have no access to disseminate their opinions widely to voice the viewpoints. One individual's email can sprout to a mass political campaign. While the media have been used as a symbol of democracy, the Internet provides the potential for an alternative medium to instigate more political participation by the public. This is particularly the case for those who would otherwise lack the economic resources and political strength to gain access to the mainstream media or to organize political campaigns on a massive scale, and achieve the same kinds of results and recognition. The Internet provides the means to fulfill the promises of democracy. It has the potential to provide an effective tool for citizens to exercise their freedom of speech, protect their rights and facilitate actions. Individuals or groups using the Internet as a major communications tool reduce organization costs, and are able to speedily reach a large audience. The Internet provides grassroots organizations with the means to get more effectively and quickly organized, equipping individuals with the power to communicate with thousands of people in very little time and with virtually no resources. Most importantly, it provides opportunities for under-represented individuals or groups to speak for themselves. It has the potential to reduce corporate control of information.

The media's surveillance and interest groups' ability to check and balance social, political and economic conditions of the country can be enhanced further by the additional communications means which the Internet offers. The Internet media are creating a revolution in areas that have been traditionally dominated by the elites and the powerful. As a result, issue-based, electronic grassroots "citizen groups" can be effectively organized, and function as a countervailing power to break the traditional iron triangle of the Congress, government agencies, and economic interest groups. The Internet provides an alternative communications tool for ordinary citizens to voice their opinions, and to make it easy for people to get organized. People of different colors and classes can become integrated more easily on the Internet.

The Chinese students' successful use of the Internet has made them exemplary but also an exception among marginal minority groups, for most of the students have free access to the Internet provided to them by their universities. While one hopes that the majority of the traditionally underrepresented groups eventually will be able to take advantage of the democratic promise of the Internet, at present they still have limited access to it, given the educational disparities of status that lie between them and groups such as the Chinese students. Ironically, although the Internet is one step further towards the fulfillment of the democratic dream, that revolutionary technology stands in danger of replicating and even aggravating a very old problem, namely, reiterating and even amplifying the differences between social hierarchies. This question should be a major issue of policy concern.

Further, because of the speediness of communicating on the Internet and the vast amount of information one can get, people tend to develop a tendency of react to information instead of deliberating and thinking through it before they act. For example, In November 1995, when the Republicans threatened to shrink funding for the PBS, Elizabeth Weiner and her roommate, both university freshmen, decided to take actions. Weinert crafted an email petition, and sent it out over the Internet, instructing people to sign it and pass it on. They asked every 50^th recipient to return it to either of them. More than three years later, the petition is still circulating. Ironically, the petition never reached its target. Soon after it was sent, it was spun out of control, generating too many responses for them to handle. The computer systems department was not happy for its computer to circulate so much "junk" email. Weinert dropped out of school for unrelated reasons. So, for the next two years, her roommate responded to each petition-related email (up to 400 a day), asking senders to stop forwarding it. "I've been trying to take responsibility and sort out the mess," she says. "It was not a smart thing to do" (Fryer, 1999).

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