The Web's True Power

In sheer numbers, an estimated 200 million individuals were exposed to some form of the blackout on the 18th, with hit counts hovering around the 800 million mark. This, paired with the 7 million petition signings from Google's link, the 2.4 million individual tweets, and 500,000 letters, physical petition signings, and emails sent to congress representatives, makes this the largest public protest in world history. s1.s2.s3.

Regardless of the reason for these protests, determining the implications of last week's events should be done. It stands to reason that this volume of protest, while unprecedented, is nothing too shocking to those who understand the size and inter-connectivity of the web. The shock should come, however, when comparing this kind of a protest to ones that were considered monumental in their respective eras:

• Chartist General Strike: August 1842 - 500,000 participants (s4)
• Gandhi's Salt March: March 12, 1930 - 200,000 participants (s5)
• March on Washington: April 7, 1965 - 300,000 participants (s6)
• Iraq War protest in Rome: Feb. 15, 2003 - 3 million participants (s7) 

Comparing these numbers directly is not enough however, since the circumstance of each dictates how severely the community and society reacted relatively. With nearly 50,000 participants jailed in the aftermath of Ghandi's march to Dandi, it is clear that the level of risk in participation here far exceeds that of the act of sending a concerned email or signing one's name to a web protest form. The argument can certainly be made that the January 18th protests mean little since they were all done in this way behind a computer - no physical action or long term commitment was required. However, action from even 1/10 of the individuals involved in the petitions would dwarf the size of even the largest religious gatherings in history. This indicates, to me at least, the presence of a force with the influential power and widespread availability that has never been seen before, and that has never been used to nearly its full capacity.

The issue of censorship and information manipulation, however important, can not be compared to the significance of some of the aforementioned protests of history. These were about defending human rights, gaining civil liberty, halting corrupt governments, and preventing international wars. When these kinds of issues are in the playing field, and a tool with the powers demonstrated by the January 18th protests is used, I believe that this force will have the strength to overthrow even the most powerful of adversaries.

In a world where I can video chat with a friend from Honk Kong, read an article written by an independent Israeli journalist, and listen to the latest song from my favourite sweedish death metal band all in the same day, is participating in a worldwide movement against injustice really something special?