wfn.org | Editorial: Internet technology – someone’s savior and someone else’s nemesis

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3021 Edition

>January 18~24, 2010

Editorial: Internet technology – someone’s savior and  someone else’s nemesis

>Translated by Lydia Ma

When a major earthquake rocked Haiti recently, the flow of  information was disrupted,

leaving the outside world straining for the latest information  update. Soon after the quake,

some people and organizations began issuing updates and requests  for help through

social networking sites such as Facebook. Pictures of people still  trapped under the

rubble were soon disseminated via internet and their locations  were marked on electronic

maps and disseminated via internet to speed up rescue efforts. A  few Haitians were

somehow able to find internet connection amid the chaos and  managed to post messages

on Twitter or upload video clips on YouTube. Networks like CNN or  BBC even relied on

these amateur video clips in their reportage at first.

The earthquake in Haiti certainly proved the power of internet and  you could say internet is

the most important medium of information dissemination nowadays.  For example, no

matter how poor or backward Haiti may be, internet still plays a  prominent role. No matter

how dismal the situation in Haiti, at least it shares one  commonality with most other

countries in the world – unrestricted, uncensored flow of  information.

While the rest of the world focused on the crisis in Haiti last  week, another crisis erupted

on the other side of the world which eluded most people’s  attention. Apparently, internet

search giant Google may consider pulling out of China altogether  in the near future

because of the China’s strict censoring of internet  information, which conflicts with

Google’s “Don’t be evil” corporate motto.

As Google tries to avoid being an unwilling accomplice of human  rights violations in

China, it is faced with the dilemma of foregoing a huge market and  an even larger share of

revenues. In an age when most corporations would bend over  backward for a slice of

China’s market, Google’s announcement did more than  raise a few eyebrows.

When the Sichuan earthquake occurred, the only information the  outside world had on

hand was the kind of information Beijing wanted the outside world  to know. All media

outlets were banned from reporting or giving interviews and  internet access to real

information was also shut down. However, if the Haitian government  had censored

information like China had done in the aftermath of a major  earthquake, the situation on

the ground would have gotten much worse. Without a doubt, freedom  of information saved

>Haiti.

 From an investor’s standpoint, China has a lot more to offer  than Haiti and internet access

is more prevalent in China than in Haiti simply because it is more  affordable in China. But

though China may be wealthy, Chinese society is morally bankrupt  in many ways as well.

Tragically, many corporations will overlook morality and be more  than willing to appease

China in the name of profit maximization and sell internet  censoring technology on request.

"The Medium is the Message," was Marshall McLuhan’s famous  motto, and he said it to

convey that the way in which information is relayed may be more  significant than the

information itself. Haiti’s earthquake serves as another  reminder of some positive aspects

of internet technology, but Beijing isn’t willing to let this  technology do what it does best

and precious information is thus locked up and locked out of  reach.

As churches mobilize resources to help victims in Haiti, internet  technology plays a vital

role in rescue and relief efforts. Let us look at this technology  God has given us with a

>brand new perspective.

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