ABSTRACT
Libertarian supporters of the Internet argue that the medium is a universal space
allowing access to unfiltered flows of information, that it lacks established
hierarchies of power and is ‘a raucous and highly democratic world with no
overlords or gatekeepers’ (Warf and Grimes 1997: 261). For many, cyberspace
resembles the nineteenth-century American West: vast, unmapped and legally
ambiguous. Increasingly easy access to e-mail and the World Wide Web globally
allows politically disenfranchised groups to communicate with like-minded or
sympathetic audiences. Furthermore, particularly in regimes where the freedom
of the mainstream media is restricted either by direct regulation and legislation
opposition groups have been able to have a voice. Indeed, for some
commentators, in such regimes, the Internet is not only a medium of
communication, it is effectively a vehicle for political change and transformation
(Warf and Grimes 1997; Perrit 1998: 431) or indirectly as a result of conservative
corporate ownership, the Internet has become an alternative medium through
which opposition groups have been able to have a voice. Indeed, for some
commentators, in such regimes, the Internet is not only a medium of
communication, it is effectively a vehicle for political change and transformation
(Warf and Grimes 1997; Perrit 1998: 431).
