Scott Goldstein was in Singapore this week to attend conferences, and was interviewed by Digital Life (Wed June 17th) on his now legendary role in engaging supporters of the Obama Campaign through social media and mobile comms.

Also this week, Tom Friedman in his NYT column (The Virtual Mosque) wrote about how Moderates in Iran were using social media to “meet” , communicate, mobilize and assert their strength as a political force.

For the same paper, Nicholas Kristof writes of an application written by Falun Gong supporters (called “Freegate”) that allows Iranians (and citizens of countries where internet access is restricted by Governments) to bypass the roadblocks erected to keep them away from “offending” websites and e-Services.

When Myanmar faced cyclone nargis and the uprising by Monks, it was text messages and uploaded videos that prevented the ruling Junta from hiding what was happening from the world.   The grassroots movement that was mobilised and inspired by the Obama campaign’s use of internet and mobile marketing gave us the election of the one many saw as the least likely of the US presidential candidates to succeed when the primaries first began.  In Malaysia, the BN lost heavily in elections where the PR had the upper hand in putting out their messages on the internet. Years earlier, Filipinos SMSed their way to bring down the presidency of Josef Estrada.

Dramatic as these examples are, it’s enough for us to know that the more the internet and computer literacy bring about transparency and the free flow of information and knowledge, the harder it will be for con-artists, tyrants, manipulators of truth and those who seek to oppress & exploit …. to go about their dirty business.

Be afraid of any leader who tells you that he is restricting information from you, or restricting your ability to communicate with others for your own good and for the good of society.   Be very afraid.