The internet is supposed to unite people. In my first blog post, I wrote about how the internet makes cooperation, collaboration, and communication easier. In short, it makes forming groups and associations simple (just think of how easily you can friend someone on Facebook, twitter, linkedin, or any other social media site). This reminded me of Alexis de Tocqueville’s image (painted in Democracy in America) of a society of rugged individuals which needed little government, because as problems came into existence, groups would spontaneously form to solve them. The internet should be making these groups infinitely easier to form.

Emily Parker, in her book Now I Know Who My Comrades Are, speaks about how the internet is used, but not quite in the group-forming way, in China. Their government, the book makes clear, is afraid of groups. If someone tries to use the internet to organize a meeting of activists, that person or their website will be shut down. But there are other ways to use the internet to foment opposition. People online can use the internet to access real news instead of government approved propaganda. They can write, but need to do so in a way that won’t be so confrontational and lead the government to come after their work. People can learn about each other (their comrades) on the internet, but need to be careful and self-censor themselves online lest they go too far and anger big brother.

Rebecca Mackinnon, author of Consent of the Networked, describes this as “the paradox of the Chinese Internet: public debate and even some forms of debate are expanding…while at the same time, state controls and manipulation tactics have managed to prevent democracy movements from gaining meaningful traction.” The Chinese government use pressure and the example of some businesses and individuals to force internet companies and people to edit and tone down their own work. And when people or businesses do cross the line, they are dealt with, arrested, not allowed to do business in China, fined, and/or shut down.

The internet makes it easier for people to communicate with each other. It can unite people to accomplish a cause. Whether pursuing a lost cell phone or helping elect a new president or even diagnosing a disease remotely, the internet can bring people together. But at the same time, when big brother (a government…or a corporation watching over how people use the web at work) is watching, and there are consequences of behavior that violates policy, it suddenly gets much harder to form those groups. I find myself wondering if I would personally have the moral courage to stand up and post my thoughts online if they could possibly lead to my arrest. I guess it would depend on the strength of my beliefs and the size of the issue; but I am honestly not sure what I would do.

Interestingly, Parker’s book relates stories about life in Communist China during the Cultural Revolution, and how people turned on each other and reported each other for even minor offenses, afraid that they themselves could be turned in and punished. This reminded me of George Orwell’s 1984. China grew out of this, with an implicit contract to support the government so long as they provided rapid economic growth. But reading about how the Chinese government has successfully convinced its own population, and even massive multinationals like Microsoft and Goggle (for a limited time) to self-censor themselves made me wonder if the era of 1984 in China ended at the close of the Cultural Revolution, or if it is still taking place today.