In the first article, former United States Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld asserted that the proliferation of blogs help the terrorist's cause as they can now spread incendiary articles around the world with impunity to invoke hatred and negative feelings among the people, leading to dire repurcussions all over the world such as riots and fightings resulted from these misguidings.
However in the second article, blogging has been lauded for being fierce advocates of freedom of speech, putting the pressure on countries notorious for clamping down on free speech to back down, thus given the name "Power to the people".
In my opinion, both arguments are valid and I will now explain why.
Let's start with the first argument. One palpable reason why blogs, dubbed the new media by many, pose a threat to stability to the global community is because they provide an avenue where pernicious messages can be send to all parts of the world with a click of the mouse. These messages may be used by terrorists to vilify the americans, thus manipulating the feelings of the muslims around the world to turn against the west. One example given in the article is about the false allegations of the desecration of a Koran by american soldiers some time back. The story was first published in a weekly magazine and subsequently on websites and emails. The effect? Deadly riots broke out in some islamic countries, with their hatred targeted against Americans. This is what blogs can do. False information can be spread without a distinctive source, promoting terrorism around the globe and help the cause of those who are intent to disrupt peace among all human communities. Therefore, the new media is no doubt a threat to stability.
The second article however, shows that blogs can actually be the source of power to the people and human rights. That is also true. My justification for this is that blogs impinge upon government of many countries, even the ones most intolerant to opprobium. Previously, it was extremely difficult for many living under tyrannical regimes to get information of the outside world or to express them. Any attempts to do so will be dealt with severely and therefore the plight of these people came under international scrutiny. However, condemnation by many nations did not stop the government of these countries to continue banning freedom of speech and access to information.
That was in the past. In today's world, people can rely on blogs to convey and to express what they have always wanted to say. No matter how hard the governments try to suppress blogging, their efforts will alway end up in vain. They can imprison bloggers, torture them or use whatever method that they think is effective, but they will never be able to overcome the huge tide of bloggers coming at them. The governments can gag one or two of the bloggers and drowning their voices by jailing them, but it is virtually impossible to supress the people's power in this aspect. Hence, the new media brought about power to the people, and that I hope, can continue to carry on in the future.
However in the second article, blogging has been lauded for being fierce advocates of freedom of speech, putting the pressure on countries notorious for clamping down on free speech to back down, thus given the name "Power to the people".
In my opinion, both arguments are valid and I will now explain why.
Let's start with the first argument. One palpable reason why blogs, dubbed the new media by many, pose a threat to stability to the global community is because they provide an avenue where pernicious messages can be send to all parts of the world with a click of the mouse. These messages may be used by terrorists to vilify the americans, thus manipulating the feelings of the muslims around the world to turn against the west. One example given in the article is about the false allegations of the desecration of a Koran by american soldiers some time back. The story was first published in a weekly magazine and subsequently on websites and emails. The effect? Deadly riots broke out in some islamic countries, with their hatred targeted against Americans. This is what blogs can do. False information can be spread without a distinctive source, promoting terrorism around the globe and help the cause of those who are intent to disrupt peace among all human communities. Therefore, the new media is no doubt a threat to stability.
The second article however, shows that blogs can actually be the source of power to the people and human rights. That is also true. My justification for this is that blogs impinge upon government of many countries, even the ones most intolerant to opprobium. Previously, it was extremely difficult for many living under tyrannical regimes to get information of the outside world or to express them. Any attempts to do so will be dealt with severely and therefore the plight of these people came under international scrutiny. However, condemnation by many nations did not stop the government of these countries to continue banning freedom of speech and access to information.
That was in the past. In today's world, people can rely on blogs to convey and to express what they have always wanted to say. No matter how hard the governments try to suppress blogging, their efforts will alway end up in vain. They can imprison bloggers, torture them or use whatever method that they think is effective, but they will never be able to overcome the huge tide of bloggers coming at them. The governments can gag one or two of the bloggers and drowning their voices by jailing them, but it is virtually impossible to supress the people's power in this aspect. Hence, the new media brought about power to the people, and that I hope, can continue to carry on in the future.
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