Part three

Can the internet really bring about political change?

In recent times we have seen how the internet has given the public a newfound platform to organize demonstrations.

Sigurgeir posted earlier how Google and Twitter played an integral part in the run up to the Egyptian revolution last January where a series of protests ultimately lead to the resignation of president Hosni Mubarak.

Here in Iceland following the banking crises in 2008 events unfolded that had no precedence in the country’s history. Peaceful protests turned into riots as the nation demanded political reform. In the Household Revolution (Búsáhaldarbyltingin) more than 30.000 people (that is over 10% of the Icelandic population) took part in demonstrations which eventually led to the resignation of the nation’s government.

Without the existence of the internet, today’s communication equipment and global media these events could not have occurred on such a grand scale.