The Scottish commercial media within the referendum will play its sleekit/ negative/ blatant oppositional role: we know that. That is why the cyber-media is so vital in the democratizing of the campaign, where power from the bottom –up can overcome the hegemony of ‘bitter the gither’ in the print media and the BBC. Of great concern therefore are the recent revelations of the manipulation and corruption of the cyber-sphere by state-agencies across the globe. Just look at the power of the US owned cyber- giants!
Adobe, Amazon, Apple, Blackberry, Cisco, EBay, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Intel, Logitech, Mac, MacAfee, Memorex, Microsoft, Netflix, Netscape, Oracle, Palm, PayPal, San Disk, Skype, Stumble-upon, Symantec, TiVo, Yahoo, You-tube
When last did you use one of these US owned increasingly ubiquitous global cyber-technologies? Just now? How much of the detailed policy- making, strategies and political intelligence around the Scottish Referendum campaign is being communicated using these digital services? Are they weapons of mass deception?
Make no mistake, illegal or illegitimate use of cyber-power to steal or capture domestic information by both state and commercial interests is a drone-like attack at the heart of our democracy
I would suggest that the near monopoly power of US based cyberspace technologies gives Washington as much global cultural power as their combined defence industry and military. This hegemony of cyber-power comes embedded with ideological assumptions in a near global dominance in defence of what is euphemistically declared ‘US interests’.
Now we hear that some of these cyber-giants are providing, in fact selling, surveillance services to the US Government. We are being permitted to understand more of the sheer illegitimate power of Government agencies to pry, spy and ‘hoover-up’ information, from the most recent insider, Edward Snowden. He is the latest in a series of whistleblowers angered by the corrupting utilization of private and domestic communications for sinister state purposes.
The sheer global ubiquitous presence of communication cyber-technologies (as well as Sim-card based mobile-telephony) offers the far more potent potential of manipulating not just national sources of news and information but indeed dictating global communications and managing global information gathering.
This power to collect , collate and store the ideas expressed by millions of individuals and to use that information for political, economic, military, financial, intelligence, marketing, cultural, commercial and illicit power manipulation is quite frankly frightening
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But let us tighten the lens and bring this cyber-imperialism closer to home. There is absolutely no doubt that with the YES campaign strategically committed to driving the referendum campaign through information cyber-technologies (See The Herald Saturday 21st July) much of the more discreet, sensitive and indeed secret info will ultimately be accessed by state intelligence sources.
We must accept that the NO campaign’s political-propaganda action people will acquire this captured information. We can of course attempt to take appropriate counter measures. But the very plural nature of the YES campaign with its multi-agency/party points of contact, spread across many diverse groups, using multi-platform technologies, leaves it exposed in the intelligence gathering cyber war.
But this ubiquitous cyber-tech can be harnessed by popular organs of communication as modes of cyber-resistance and digital - led counter-propaganda. Otherwise our democracy is in peril. Social media activists are alive to the enormous potential of thousands of sources of light within the dark dreich, fear and crabbit negation of the NO lobby.
Those who seek a new vision, for a new Scotland must be confidant in, yet conscious of, the power of the new technology to engage the dynamic of the many cyber-voices in this mass struggle of 2014. The campaign urgently needs the energy, resources and popular power of the cyber-warriors.
Thom Cross
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