May 14, 2004
Toppling tyrants with IT power
Technology Editor Francis Chin for Today Online in an interesting essay (posted at length in Textually) on the IT revolution and referring to the Iraqi prisonner abuse, wonders how politicians have "not yet wised up to the fact that it is not their million-dollar high-tech missiles that are capable of inflicting civilian damage only.
Chin writes, "The latest cellphones with embedded high-resolution digital cameras, in the hands of courageous individuals, can inflict far greater damage on those in power. Technology in the form of cheap, hand-held devices capable of recording and transmitting raw, unvarnished information, is a powerful weapon for any man on the street to create awareness, fight untruths and persuade enough of people to change sides.
This is what revolution is all about, the information revolution, that is."
For more related articles, cf Picturephoning's The military as citizen reporters category on this issue.
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