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March 31, 2008

Zimbawee Bloggers Fear Election Fraud

The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front has been accused of delaying the results of this Saturday’s general election in an effort to rig the polls and continue President Robert Mugabe’s 28 year reign over Zimbabwe.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe's main opposition party, has already claimed victory over President Mugabe, but agrees that rigging is taking place to ensure Mugabe’s win.

Expectations of a fair election were already low among Zimbabwe citizens and bloggers.  It is difficult for Zimbabweans to gain information on the election since President Mugabe has complete control over the media in Zimbabwe.  Online coverage is being provided by bloggers who are calling on Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC, to take control of the situation and bring their victory to the streets.

Zimbabwe blogger Comrade Fatso states: 

"Victory is in the air. But so is uncertainty. MDC has quite likely won a big victory in the polls but the updates aren't getting out to the people. The townships should be filled with flyers, pamphlets and megaphones updating the people. And the MDC should build this hope so that if the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU) does try and steal this election then the people will resist. We can defend victory. We can't defend what we don't know."

Do to the extent of online coverage the election has seen, the Chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commision, George Chiweshe, has come under intense pressure to provide the election results in a fair and timely manner.

Fatso continues:

"Many think things have gone terribly wrong in the elections because the message from the MDC hasn't filtered to them. And the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is announcing results at the pace of a wheelchair-less cripple making their way down a power-cut Parirenyatwa corridor.”

Following his vote in Harare, Mr. Mugabe said: "We don't rig elections. I cannot sleep with my conscience if I have rigged."

CM, a blogger for Zimbabwe’s Review, writes:

"If the outcome that is announced in the coming hours and days is a Mugabe victory, it would be a strange 'win' for him. I can imagine outrage and disbelief, but I cannot imagine any significant widespread joy beyond his inner circle and the elite whose privileges depend on Mugabe's tenure.”

Posted by Buzz Webster at 05:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 27, 2008

Online Petitions Generate Global Attention

Online petitions have become a springboard for advocacy groups to generate global attention and support for local issues. These online petitions are engaging and educating millions, while garnering mainstream media’s attention. 

In 2007, Facebook and other social networking sites were used as a channel to promote awareness of global issues.  Seeking mainstream attention and action, Facebook groups such as  ‘Support the Monks Protest in Burma’ were created.

In 2008, online petitions have become the catalyst and driving force behind global reform.  ePetitions are the holy grail of online campaigns: engaging and educating millions, creating an incentive to act, generating urgency, and translating online publicity into offline action.  Plus, the tools are free and make creating a petition simple and easy. 

Avaaz.org’s online petition to Stand with Tibet has achieved historic viral proportions, reaching 1 million signatories in just 7 days.  110 people sign the online petition every minute. The petition has created global awareness of the violence and oppression being inflicted on Tibetan protesters.  It requests that Chinese leaders and the Dalai Lama come to a peaceful resolution on the crisis taking place between independence-seeking Tibetans and the Chinese government.

Avaaz.org has increased its goal to 2 million signatories, a number that seemed unattainable until now.  To put this in context, Stand With Tibet has rapidly surpassed Barack Obama's One Million Strong for Barack facebook group, whose diehard follower’s created the group in April 2007 and has accumulated 506,666 members to date.

The political world is also using online petitions to stir up action in the 2008 presidential election.  A group called the Afrosphere Action Coalition has created a petition in an effort to stop Hilary Clinton's run for office.  The petition has reached 1050 signatories so far.

Of course, merely signing an ePetition will not resolve the conflicts in Tibet or stop Hilary Clinton from becoming the next President; however, online petitions are spotlighting and publicizing local issues and concerns in the international community.  Thanks to online petitions, world leaders such as President Hu Jintao of China will be under mounting pressure and strict scrutiny to ensure global justice and respect international human rights.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 24, 2008

McCain Aide Suspended for Obama Video Twitter

Soren Dayton, a low-level McCain aide, has been suspended for posting a controversial video on Twitter, conceivably ending his political ties in 140 characters or less.

The Politico's Jonathan Martin broke the story:

Soren Dayton, who works in McCain's political department, sent out the YouTube link of "Is Obama Wright?" on Twitter at 12:31 Thursday with the tag, "Good video on Obama and Wright."  It has since been taken down.

Since Martin’s post, Dayton’s entire twitter account has been deleted.  Dayton’s LinkedIn profile still states that he is a current employee in John McCain’s Political Department; his employment time dates from January 2007 – Present.  Dayton describes the job as, “I do a bunch of things in the political shop.”

ZDNet defines a twitter as, “A Web site and service that lets users send short text messages from their cellphones to a group of friends. Launched in 2006, Twitter was designed for people to broadcast their current activities and thoughts."

Dayton has supporters who feel that the McCain camp overreacted to the Twitterpost.  The facebook group created by Joshua Trevino, “Support Soren Dayton!” calls for McCain “to FIGHT, not roll over at the merest hint of controversy.”  In an effort to salvage Dayton’s position, the  group's 181 members have been encouraged to voice their opinion to various McCain contacts, including Michael Palmer, the head of the e-campaign for John McCain, and McCain's blog outreach guy, Patrick Hynes.

McCains campaign has reacted with the following statement:

"We have been very clear on the type of campaign we intend to run and this  staffer acted in violation of our policy," McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker said. "He has been reprimanded by campaign leadership and suspended from the campaign."

Washington Post's Coverage

Posted by Buzz Webster at 03:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 20, 2008

Online Supporters Help Sen. Obama Quell Scandal

"As the e-mails and accusations about this continue to swirl, I need all of your help in the coming weeks and months to please forward this video on and get this message out to everyone you can."

Last Friday, Senator Obama requested direct action from cyberspace to forward his message of disapproval for the controversial remarks made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Engaging his online followers in such a direct request has proven to be a well-played move.  Viral Video Chart, which tracks the top election videos, reports that the video “Obama Denounces Controversial Remarks” is the 9th most watched election video on the Web, with 104,781 views and 47 new posts since last Friday.

This online action is not surprising, given that Obama interacts with his network of online supporters unlike any other Presidential Candidate ever has.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 06:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 14, 2008

March 12 Becomes the Official “Online Free Expression Day”

Internet users from around the world gathered yesterday to virtually protest government censorship of the Internet.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a media regulator crusading for global freedom of press, announced that March 12 will be “Online Free Expression Day” with virtual protests aimed at ending Net censorship.

Nine virtual renditions of public spaces were created to allow all Internet users to protest in places where demonstrations are not usually permissible.  Participators were encouraged to place messages on banners, voicing their opinions on “Internet enemies” during the 24 hour cyber-protest.

This year, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia have made the list as “Internet enemies”, joining the ranks of 13 other scorned governments including: Belarus, Burma, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

According to RSF’s website, “at least 62 cyber-dissidents are currently imprisoned worldwide, while more than 2,600 websites, blogs or discussions forums were closed or made inaccessible in 2007.  A response of this kind is needed to the growing tendency to crack down on bloggers and to close websites."

Over 17 million US citizens and politicians express themselves through blogs, using the Internet as an instrument and outlet in voicing democratic opinions and concerns.  The power of the Internet in influencing politics is not overlooked by dictators and governments who seek ways to reign in the Internet for fear of political reform.

Download RSF’s Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents

BBC Article

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 12, 2008

Spitzer Scandal Rocks the NYTimes Site

Less than 48 hours after the NYT story broke, Spitzer announced effective Monday, March 17, he will resign as Governor of New York, with Lt. Governor David A. Patterson taking over the position.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 06, 2008

Facebook's Political Demographics

Facebook has provided a cornucopia of valuable information detailing the political demographics of over 20 million users through their advertising search engine.

Joe Mercurio, a longtime friend of PoliticsOnline, brought Facebook’s political demographics to our attention.

The search engine was created to allow a company access to target audience information; rather than simply narrowing down the users into specific target audiences, the search engine can be manipulated to show specific political demographics including the correlation between politics and age, gender, geographies, educational level, and the relationship status of over 20 million users. 

By logging into Facebook's advertising search engine, and entering any company website to be advertised on Facebook, you will be able to access Facebook’s entire database of user information including: location, sex, age, key words, education status, workplaces, relationship status, and political views.

You won’t believe the volume of information you can achieve in two steps.  We decided to look into the voters, those users who are 18 or older, and the three different political views offered: liberal, moderate and conservative.  We found that out of the 20,526,420 people on Facebook who are 18 or older: 2,984,460 are liberal; 2,052,060 are moderate; 2,218,040 people are conservative.  And of the 4,827,340 college graduates on Facebook, 906,560 are liberal, 606,340 are moderate, and 613,740 are conservative.

With over 20 million people from around the world on Facebook, the search engines is a gold mine of info and well worth exploring...have fun.

Posted by Buzz Webster at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)