Why Tyrants Like Twitter

Members of the Iranian Army participate in a military parade to commemorate the anniversary of the start of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, in Tehran, in this September 22, 2009 file photo.

(Reuters/ABC News Photo Illustration)

New Media Can Give Appearance of Openness

In Russia, the government befriends new media entrepreneurs who spin online conversation in the government's favor. The Chinese, Morozov said, have created a "50 cent party" composed of thousands of people across the country who get paid 50 cents for each comment they leave online.

For some authoritarian governments, new media can be used to give the appearance of openness and legitimacy.

In a piece written earlier this year for the human rights blog openDemocracy.org, Babak Rahimi, a professor of Iranian and Islamic Studies at the University of California, San Diego, wrote about the "politics of Facebook" in Iran.

Despite blocking a number of dissident Web sites ahead of the presidential election, in February Iranian authorities unblocked the popular social networking site Facebook. Why would the state unblock Facebook while limiting access to other Web sites?

Part of the reason could be to encourage younger people to vote, thereby boosting electoral participation and signaling state legitimacy, Rahimi wrote.

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Another reason could be to identify dissenters.

"By unblocking Facebook and creating a false sense of open and fair elections, the intelligence services are able to monitor the activities of dissidents who may feel more comfortable to express their views on Facebook," he wrote.

But the primary reason, Rahimi continued, was so authorities could show off their strength as a legitimate power.

"By conceding small amounts of liberty, the regime also hopes to gain approval for its 'progressive' nature," he said.

Morozov said that new media has also made it easier for repressive regimes to identify dissenters. Instead of employing hundreds of people to read published material, rulers can automate the process with computers programmed to search for keywords.

The Beijing-based TRS Information Technology, a search technology and text mining company, helps China control public opinion by using keywords to search for subversive content, the Financial Times reported earlier this year.

A marketing manager for the company told the Financial Times that it was starting to sell services that allowed monitors to track comments and forecast public opinion. He also said police use the technology to focus attention on certain groups of people, such as university student forums.