We’re watching (and commenting on) you.

-Social Media and its ability to be a tool for anti-corruption 

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Social Media has this crazy ability, to spread news, and spread it fast. Whether that news be two people breaking up, the result of a reality tv show or suspected government corruption. Social media will spread it like wildfire.

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We no longer have to wait for the six o’clock news or the morning paper to see or hear about significant world events. The authorities are no longer able to keep things as quiet as they used to. All you need is one post to spark a worldwide debate. We can now share the things we’ve seen with the world, rather than just with those who are physically around us. This leaves no room for the government or authorities to hide if they’re doing the wrong thing. 

 This video, posted in March 2013, is a perfect example of this. After witnessing what they saw as police brutality, spectators began filming an altercation between an Officer and festivalgoer during Sydney’s Mardi Grais. The video quickly went viral, being shared throughout various social networking sites with large debates beginning in the comments. Its significance on social media propelled the incident to mainstream media for the rest of society to see.  The man involved in the altercation, Jamie Jackson had no intention of filing a report about the incident, but its popularity and impact on social media left the NSW police force with no other option than to launch their own investigation on the incident.

Social media gives strangers the opportunity to openly discuss and debate issues, giving participants and viewers the chance to hear augments foreign to those around them.

Henry Jenkins describes participatory culture as something that needs the consumers to act as produces (prosumers) who support the ease at which discussion can be created but also truly believe that their contribution stands for something and matters. Jenkins ideas of participatory culture links with the ultimate use of social media to fight corruption, Wikileaks. 

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Julian Assange and the Wikileaks project have come under major scrutiny since it’s realise of the ‘collateral murder’ video in 2010. The video shows a US chopper firing shots on a group of unarmed men in Baghdad, and later at a van of passers by who were trying to help the injured. Two innocent children on their way to school were also injured during this airstrike.

As Assange is known as the face of Wikileaks, this leads to many questions about who he is and what he stands for. Is Assange a whistle blower, hacker, hacktivist or terrorist? Augments have been made accusing Assange of being all these things.

A whistle blower is defined as someone who exposes wrongdoing in order to stop it. The term whistle blower comes with negative connotations, but what a whistle blower does, and what Assange did was for the greater good of humanity. Wrongdoing, especially within the government cannot be tolerated, and society needs whistle blowers. We need somebody to show us what’s happening, so we can process, discuss and form our own opinions. Yes, Assange is a hacker, but that also makes him a hacktivist. He uses the information he acquires to educate society about injustices taking place, not to intentionally damage national security. For that reason, it is unfair to label Assange as a terrorist. 

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 With the rise of videos and discussion of social and political injustices online, it seems as if Wikileaks sparked the beginning of a popular trend. People are becoming more willing to share their thoughts and opinions on issues online, and weather it be through the creation of more websites as complex and serious as Wikileaks or as simple as sharing and commenting on videos on Facebook, this trend will continue well into the future. The power of social media will only get stronger, and soon there wont be anywhere to hide your secrets.    

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