1. Symposium "Internet-Driven Developments: Structural Changes and Tipping
Points."
Berkman Center for Internet and Society
Harvard University
December 7th 2012
"Use Case #1: Political Participation: New Orders, Democracy, Governance,
and Civic Engagement"
By María Elena Meneses
Goog morning,
I would like to point out the following 3 themes for our discussion:
Internet development and its knowledge is different within countries, but we
are probably facing similar problems and questions -more than we think.
In emergent economies we are facing a complex environment about the link
between Internet and democracy
In one side: Domestic challenges, like the connectivity gap and new forms of
political participation versus weak democratic institutions.
In Mexico bloggers and Internet users are facing attemps of censorship in
many regions affected by the organized crime.
And at the mean time, we are facing global threats like ACTA.
1. About political participation:
1.1 In economies where the penetration of Internet under 40% the big
challenge is: Connectivity
The main effect is that the new ecosystem is not yet a real counterpower for
the traditional institutions and mainstream media.
Even so, during the recent presidential elections (2012) a group of students
started a collective action, Yo soy 132.
They used social networks against the mainstream media (often corrupted
and biased - self censored- because of the criminals threat) and against the

2. candidate that was leading the polls, Enrique Peña Nieto, accussed to be
supported by the most important media mogul in the country: Emilio
Azcárraga the owner of Televisa.
As some studies point out, this movement that demand the end of the
television monopoly, probably affected de results of the presidential election,
but not enough, to change it. Peña won the presidency.
Even so the students stared a new form of political participation and they
revitalized the young mexican democracy.
2. About social networks and organized crime
Local Goverments have the attempt to regulate the Internet arguing that they
want to keep social peace. Bloggers have been arrested for spread rumors
about shootings.
In the other side, in the north part of Mexico Bloggers have been assesinated
by drug trafickers, where citizen journalists are taking the social networks to
inform what the mainstream are not informing: shootings and kidnappings.
3. About global challenges
Some emergent economies are facing an extremely pressure in order to sign
trade agreemenst like ACTA (Anticounterfeiting Trade Agreement) , thats´s
the case of Mexico.
A new trade agreement is another threat: The TPP (Trans Pacific-
Partnership), negotiated by 11 countries with dangerous implications on
freedom of speech.
Agreemenst like these could inhibit the use of Internet in countries where the
digital divide is an obstacle for electronic democracy and participation.
Even more, if Internet providers do a surveillance labor, who garantees
citizens not to be bothered by gubernamental censorship?

3. It´s complex environment, but at the same time is an enormous challenge for
emergent economies like Mexico and probably others in Latin America
I propose the following questions...
• What is the best way to elaborate alternative proposals to ACTA and
domestic bills like SOPA, PIPA an others like Sinde in Spain, Lleras in
Colombia or Doring in Mexico?
• How can we measure Internet power for democracy where it is not
strong?
• What kind of political participation is emerging?and how this
movements organized by social networks would impact in emergent
democracies?
• Is it possible to elaborate a third way for Internet develompment in
emergent enonomies?