[kictanet] Do social media threaten democracy? - Scandal, outrage and politics

[Ali Hussein]

Barrack

Not at all! In fact the printing press and other 'mass media' are becoming
almost irrelevant in the scheme of things...Think of the 'Twitter
Diplomacy' that is now the Hallmark of the Trump Presidency.

My concerns are simply that by us (and I mean Kenya in particular and
Africa in general) ignoring to put in place solid policies on how to engage
in this new era we are living ourselves vulnerable to the vagaries of the
Internet. On one hand we have positive influencers and the other negative
influencers and in between you have governments that at best are
incompetent to handle the *New Normal* and at worst reactionary and
unleashing a hammer where a surgeon's scalpel would have been more
appropriate.

Regards

*Ali Hussein*

*Principal*

*Hussein & Associates*



Tel: +254 713 601113

Twitter: @AliHKassim

Skype: abu-jomo

LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
<http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>


13th Floor , Delta Towers, Oracle Wing,

Chiromo Road, Westlands,

Nairobi, Kenya.

Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely
mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the
organizations that I work with.

On Wed, Nov 8, 2017 at 7:29 AM, Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Ali,
>
> Are you suggesting that we blame the printing press for propaganda and
> mwakenya's? , the answer is no, people are always the problem, technology
> is just a medium. History is never complete without  tells of people who
> solved puzzles and cracked codes to secure victory over their competitors.
> As Frenchman Jean Baptise Alphonse Karr The more things change the more
> they remain the same (plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose :-))
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 8, 2017 at 4:01 AM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> Listers
>>
>> An interesting article from the economist.
>>
>> Facebook, Google and Twitter were supposed to save politics as good
>> information drove out prejudice and falsehood. Something has gone very wrong
>>
>> Read on:-
>>
>> https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21730871-facebook-
>> google-and-twitter-were-supposed-save-politics-good-information-drove-out
>>
>> What are your thoughts from a local perspective?
>>
>> After one of the most highly contentious electioneering periods in
>> Kenya’s history some hard questions need to be asked.
>>
>> 1. Is Ezekiel Mutua after all a visionary in his assertions about Social
>> Media?
>> 2. Have we allowed ourselves to be further divided by these platforms
>> instead of using them to bring us closer together?
>> 3, Have we allowed politicians and other influencers to literally take
>> our freedoms to do what’s right?
>> 4, Shouldn’t the whole world - State and Non-State Players - have taken
>> Internet Governance (especially the Third Party Liability conversation)
>> more seriously?
>> 5. Is it too late to redeem ourselves?
>>
>> These and more are important issues to ponder.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> *Ali Hussein*
>> *Principal*
>> *Hussein & Associates*
>> +254 0713 601113 <0713%20601113>
>>
>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>
>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>
>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>>
>> "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a
>> habit."  ~ Aristotle
>>
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
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>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Barrack O. Otieno
> +254721325277
> +254733206359
> Skype: barrack.otieno
> PGP ID: 0x2611D86A
>
>
>
>
>
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