The Technopolitics of Dissent in Sri Lanka – By Shakthi De Silva Source:internationalaffairs.org.au Observers in Australia and elsewhere have covered Sri Lanka’s ongoing protests and accurately teased out the nuances of the situation. However, many underestimate how technology played a key role in instigating this organic social uprising. Web platforms and social media has revolutionised the politics of public dissent. They give new meaning to free expression and empower citizen journalism and activism to take a life of its own outside the traditional domains of private or state-influenced media. Information is now coproduced by people and shared on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and more. Representative democracies around the world are feeling the pinch as stories, pictures, and posts on corruption and political malpractice become viral sensations. In more ways than one, this has become a feature of the modern-day democratic techno-politic climate we live in. Nowhere is ...
May 17, 2022
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Tagged Anonymous Group, Facebook, foreign debt, Google Maps, Gotabaya Rajapakse, International Sovereign Bonds, President of Sri Lanka, Rajapakse family, Shakthi De Silva, Sri Lankan government, Sri Lanka’s economy, technology, Twitter, virtual private networks, world’s digital town squares
