January 27, 2005

Iraq Election Online

Internet Allows Inside Look At Iraq, But Aids Iraqis Little

The Internet is great for discussing the Iraqi election, unless of course you're an Iraqi

Interest High, Penetration Low

With the Iraqi election just days away, one might expect Iraqis to be surfing the Internet in search of the latest news and information on hopeful candidates. They're not. And although PoliticsOnline's Chief Iraqi researcher is on Holiday, we're pretty darn sure it's not just the failure to understand Arabic that draws us to this conclusion. It's not that Iraqis to do not wish to have an online voice or find more information, it just that with an Internet penetration of little more than 0.01% the nation is simply not connected. Even so, there are signs of a very fast acceptance.

Astonishingly, a little more than five years ago ordinary Iraqis did not have even access to the Internet. Although Saddam Hussein's regime certainly censored the information on the Internet, the main reason is an UN-imposed trade sanction that made it impossible to import the necessary technical equipment.

At the turn of the 21st century the government began allowing Iraqis to go online through a state-run Internet Service Provider. The first Internet cafe opened in July 2000 where Iraqis could surf the web for about 25 US cents per session, according to Radio Netherlands. By 2003, there were around 60 cafes. And for the few Iraqis with disposable income, they could receive the Internet at home for about US $25 for three months, with an additional charge for each e-mail message. A locally built computer cost around US$600.

Two Sides To Iraq's Internet - The Positive

While very few Iraqis use the Internet, those who do have made a significant impact, both positive and negative. Iraq the Model is one such positive example, and is arguably the most widely known Iraqi weblog, according to the BBC.

The blog is ran by three Iraqi brothers who recently became the unlikely setting for a huge web spat after conspiracy theorists alleged the brothers were phony.  Though tangled up in false claims, the blogs popularity enabled two of the brothers, Omar and Mohammed, to attend a blogging conference at Harvard University in the US, and they even met President George W Bush. The online support has also encouraged the brothers to run for office, and even raise campaign funds online through their Party website.

It's a great story of politicians using the Internet to campaign, but it's most likely the only online Iraqi campaign story this election season. The online audience is so low Iraqi candidates are not using the Internet, and really do not have many other options to campaign apart from using traditional media outlets. Campaigning on foot is too dangerous. 

Newsday Iraq Correspondent Matthew McAllester writes, "the level of intimidation and intolerance for the opinion of others is so great that there is almost no public political discourse, even during the last days of the election campaign."

McAllester also notes that the debate is usually primitive for the Iraqis that do get involved in political discourse, suggesting that it's "partly because Iraqis have been given few solid issues to debate by their would-be leaders."

Though Iraqi blogs are small potatoes in the blogosphere, talk of the Iraqi election has been the topic de jour for many popular English language blogs for weeks. The online debate gives a clear indication that the world is very interested in the Iraqi elections. A look at the BBC's online coverage gives a glimpse of how curious the rest of the globe is about the elections. One popular new feature on the BBC website is a global E-survey on the Iraqi elections that has attracted thousands of respondents from all over the world. The tool allows visitors to take a survey in their own language (7 to chose from) with the ability to post comments throughout the series of questions. The survey results are then instantly available providing much more rich information than traditional surveys, with comparison features that break the survey down by age, region, sex, etc. Comments are also translated to every language. For example, an English speaker in Australia can not only know how Arabs responded to the survey, but also read his or her thoughts about the questioned asked.

Full Disclosure: PoliticsOnline developed the e-survey tools for the BBC in cooperation with a number of international partners. We proudly continue to develop and host these interactive tools for the BBC and other global media clients.

It's A World Wide War - The Negative

Though most Iraqi citizens do not use the internet for news and information, terrorists and insurgents in the country are using it in an all out campaign to tell the world of the terror it will bring on Election Day.

Militants in hiding have been effective at using the web to broadcast messages they hope will be picked up by mainstream media. The latest instance took place on Tuesday when Militants in the Islamic Army in Iraq (a Sunni Muslim group which has killed several foreign hostages and claimed a number of attacks against U.S. and Iraqi targets) posted a statement on an Islamic website promising to intensify attacks and urged other insurgents to take hostages to disrupt the Jan. 30 poll. The statement was instantly amplified around the world, when it was broadcast on mainstream television and radio, according to the Turkish Daily.

A Soldiers Diary

As US soldiers' presence grows in Iraq, their presence also grows online. Blogs reporting from battle lines surged in popularity at the onset of the war, but dissident blogs are now capturing more attention. A growing number of US Iraq veterans are using the web to criticize the war efforts.

Operation Truth began with 5 members and now has 300 with an email list of 25,000 people, according to the New York Times. The group focuses on day-to-day issues affecting soldiers. The group conducted their most recent successful operation when Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld took questions from soldiers in Kuwait last month about equipment shortages. In response, the website's readers sent 3,400 email messages in 24 hours to members of Congress asking for hearings into the issue. Iraq Veterans Against the War is a similar group that started in July with 8 people and now has more than 150 members. Iraq Vet's are seeking a quick withdrawal from Iraq.

Military Blogs have often presented a problem for military brass because information posted in the online diaries could be used against them by insurgents, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.  The Pentagon allows blogging so long as authors do not disrupt discipline in their units, make statements on behalf of commanders or the Army as a whole, or reveal operational details that could aid attackers. If you don't believe the Pentagon is serious just ask Maj. Michael Cohen whose blog was shut down. Cohen, a doctor with the 67th Combat Support Hospital unit, had chronicled the bloody aftermath of the Dec. 21 mess-hall bombing in Mosul that killed 22. That account and 12 months of other postings on his Web log, www.67cshdocs.com, were replaced with a short notice: Levels above me have ordered, yes ORDERED, me to shut down this website.

Blogs revealing information is a concern for the safety of soldiers, but soldiers stepping over ethical boundaries is another concern. According to Australia's Herald Sun, the US Defense Department has been asked to investigate a website being used by American soldiers to post grisly pictures of Iraqi war dead. The name of the blog was not revealed.

A Historic Moment Captured Online

The historic election will be held in Iraq on January 30, 2005. Though, most Iraqis do not have the online elections resources provided to the rest of the world, it's probably not their greatest concern as some risk lifea nd limb just to take part in a free election. But regardless, if anything happens (good or bad) you can bet that it will be mentioned first on the web.

For the best online information on the Iraqi elections try these top sites offering election coverage:

• BBC
• Al Jazeera
• Yahoo

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Posted by Buzz Webster at January 27, 2005 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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