THE INTERNET, POLITICS AND THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN ASIA

There have been spirited exchanges over the consequences and effects of both globalisation and the growing new economy. Some critics have argued that the new digital technologies have merely reinforced the growing divide between the haves and the have nots in the world; they claimed that the ‘digital divide ’ is real and cannot be wished away. Others have welcomed the advent of these technologies as the necessary first step in creating and fostering a more equal, just and interdependent global society. There is clearly a lack of agreement over the contours of this debate and evidence can be marshaled to support either case e.g. there is clearly a lack of connectivity in developing societies but at the same time, the connectivity that prevails engenders new possibilities for some of these communities. The evidence is mixed. In this paper, the focus is more narrow: it examines in particular how the Internet and the new ICTs can and have played a role in opening up political spaces in some Asian countries. It argues that via these new technologies, the seemingly political divide can be partially straddled and used judiciously, can be used to further enlarge prevailing windows of political opportunities in once-seemingly authoritarian regimes. It, however, cautions that an uncritical embrace of these technologies is equally fatal. It narrows options and other possibilities for community and social action