[governance] Re: [bestbits] Google's growing web of influence

[parminder]

On Sunday 20 October 2013 05:40 AM, Norbert Bollow wrote:
> Dear all
>
> Google is definitely working with determination and a long-term
> strategy to shape the public discourse as much as possible in its
> favor, and its civil society funding activities are part of this
> strategy
>
> http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/how-google-lobbies-german-government-over-internet-regulation-a-857654.html
>
> http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?288214
>
> We need to discuss what this means from the perspective of protecting
> ourselves from getting unknowingly corrupted and compromised. This
> discussions needs to happen both in regard to international civil
> society in IG as a whole and in regard to BestBits in particular.

very interesting... These are very significant structural issues of 
global IG that we cannot avoid confronting directly. How much civil 
society will really be taken seriously depends on how much moral 
legitimacy we have, which is one of the chief legitimacies of civil 
society. And such legitimacy would come from confronting such issues 
directly, and being rather upfront about it. I think there should be a 
basic transparency (and accountabiltiy) code of conduct for civil 
society in IG space,  at least that part of civil society that works 
together in spaces like BestBits and IGC. May be today's BestBits 
meeting can discuss this in the session on internal BB issues etc. I 
would greatly prefer if we do so.


Around the same time last year a similar analysis came out of how google 
was trying to (rather effectively) capture the IG related civil society 
discursive and advocacy space in Germany ...

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/how-google-lobbies-german-government-over-internet-regulation-a-857654.html 


Your choice of the email subject line suggests that you know of this 
german news item, but just in case...


If google can do such a thing in a rather mature institutional system of 
Germany, we can well judge what would it be like iin places with less 
mature social institutions.. I know that in countries ranging from Korea 
to many countries in Africa, also of course in Asia and Latin America, 
Google is aggressively throwing in funds for IG civil society groups.


parminder
>
> Greetings,
> Norbert
>
>

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