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Virtual
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Dissent
Networking Dissent Tiffany Danitz and Warren P. Strobel Appendix A The Internet Activist Survey Results In an attempt to sketch a profile of the activists working on the various Burma campaigns via the Internet, we drew up a survey that was distributed via electronic mail and posted on the World Wide Web. The survey was posted on the BurmaNet Daily Digest on March 1, 1997, and on the Free Burma Coalition's Web site later that month. Survey responses were accepted through June 1997. The information gathered was limited due to a low number of responses, but it still allows for a bit of quantification. We had thirty-three responses to the survey, the majority of which were completed in full. We are aware of Burma activists who did not participate in the voluntary, anonymous data collection. We recognize that it does not meet the requirements of a scientific sample group, but we still believe it sheds some light into the Burma campaign and the effect the Internet has had on activism. A sample survey is included in Appendix B. The Internet is "an unequaled tool for communication of information and an unequaled tool for publishing information after it has been cross-examined," wrote a respondent from a computer in Nepal before adding, "It is also a way to get information published in mainstream media, that without [the] Internet, would never have been published." That, he says, is because of the high cost of faxes and overseas telephone calls. The majority of the respondents fell between the ages of 26 and 35. (see Figure 3.1). This was surprising, since we have encountered a large number of younger students who are actively working on the various Burma pro-democracy campaigns. For instance, several hundred attended a national conference at The American University in February 1997 that was completely organized on the Internet. We found out about the conference while monitoring the Internet and attended it. There we interviewed a number of students who came to Washington from every corner of the United States. Each of the other age categories shared a relatively equal number of respondents. Age of Burma Internet Activist Sample
It appears that Burma activists are closely divided by gender, with two fewer female than male activists. People said they became involved in the Burmese pro-democracy campaign for various reasons. Many had lived in the region or visited it. A number of people had worked with refugees on the Thai-Burma border. One Burmese respondent writes of becoming involved while a medical student in Rangoon in the early 1960s. "A group of medical students from the Institute of Medicine started anti-government [demonstrations] because over one hundred university students were killed at the main campus on the 7th July 1962." The majority of respondents (twenty) also were active on other campaigns, an unusually high number of which were human rights or environmental campaigns. (Still more said they also were active on campaigns for Indonesia, Tibet and Nigeria.) There were a few journalists who responded that they learned about Burma via their occupation. Some had studied Southeast Asian politics and history in school, but even more found out about the campaign from BurmaNet. Nearly half of the respondents said they were currently enrolled in college or graduate school. The majority held graduate and postgraduate degrees as well. Most of the careers held by respondents were heavily influenced by information. A significant number of people categorized themselves as students or teachers, which likely explains the strong reliance on college accounts for Internet access. Nineteen respondents hold college accounts, as opposed to fourteen personal accounts and six work accounts.107 Some categorized their occupations as journalists or research-consultants. Still others had ties to media production and information systems. Several respondents are involved in "helping" fields, as medical professionals, clergy or human rights activists. A smaller sample came from the banking industry. There is no way to correlate whether their interests were triggered by the financial sanctions aspect of the Burma pro-democracy campaign. The national campaign in all its facets has, according to the survey, been fueled mainly by U.S. nationals. Twenty-one respondents identified the United States as their country of origin and of residence. Six people listed Burma as their birthplace, but none remains there in residence. Others were from Australia, Canada, France, Malaysia and Nepal. By place of residence, Japan and Australia had the second largest contingent of respondents, followed by Thailand, and then Malaysia, Nepal and Canada. Although the U.S. residents were fairly evenly spread out, the largest cluster responding was from Michigan; California, Massachusetts, Ohio and Washington State were tied. No trend developed from the survey depicting concentrated areas of activity. This implies that the use of the Internet, where geography is all but irrelevant, in supporting this growing network of activists was significant, and possibly the determining factor in the success of the campaign. The respondents use English over other languages to communicate on the Internet, regardless of their native tongue. A very few respondents, in addition to their use of English, communicate in Japanese, French or German on the 'Net. When respondents broke out the time they spent on Burma (as opposed to other Internet use), the answers ranged from as little as 10 minutes a day to as much as 30 hours a week. This highlights how Internet-driven campaigns provide a "menu" of involvement that allows activists with little time to get involved, as well as those who wish to dedicate many hours every day. Twenty-three respondents reported using the Internet to lobby local government, state legislators, Congress, the State Department and the White House. They say they used e-mail, faxed letters and made phone calls to pressure politicians on Burma-related issues. A respondent from Japan who currently lives in Malaysia wrote, "I recently e-mailed a letter of petition to the New York Mayor." Another listed "Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, Gore, Sen. Kennedy and Kerry," as recipients of e-mails sent for the Burma campaign. Activists also used the Internet to gather information, including sending versions of different sanctions and boycott legislation to one another. "I use e-mail to receive and forward documents (legislation, etc.) to other interested parties for comments and/or assistance," wrote a respondent who says he/she uses the Internet daily to organize campaigns. Seventeen activists used the 'Net to set up meetings and twenty-two used it to organize nonviolent protest actions. "It is too much work to dig up someone's phone address [sic] and leave a message, especially because many people are on the net every day. This is a far more interactive form of communication," said one. At least seven respondents expressed concern over SLORC's possible activities on the Internet. They were fearful that SLORC might sabotage the effort. "There were instances of SLORC agents trying to disrupt the 'net (BurmaNet especially) by flooding with bogus e-mails," said one respondent. But most figured SLORC was using it to gather intelligence. Many respondents were familiar with Okkar's activity on the 'Net but found it at most inflammatory. "They seem pretty inept, considering their main propaganda source is just Okkar, who only seems capable of re-spewing New Light of Myanmar garbage," writes a respondent, referring to the government-run English-language newspaper in Rangoon. Yet, another respondent says that he is sure SLORC is monitoring Internet activity because a Burmese member of his campus group received phone calls threatening his/her life. He said that on other occasions, their group has been harassed by Indonesian and Nigerian government agents. Still another activist expressed little concern about SLORC's involvement because he/she uses Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), a popular encryption program, when communicating on the 'Net. To our surprise, two people said they have been able to contact people inside of Burma on the Internet. Both mentioned using the embassy and government accounts to gain access inside the country. "A number of embassies have Internet access. They dial out to '.th.' [Thailand]. Also a couple of [government] ministries have access to the Net inside Burma," wrote one respondent. Most others said they would not try to contact anyone inside for fear of endangering their contact. One couple, who jointly completed a survey, said they stay in touch with their friends inside the country using "snail mail," the regular postal service. "We get messages, of course, from friends, but hand-carried or mailed from overseas." A few activists described contacting people in the border regions. Still others said there was no way to gain access to people inside of Burma via high technology. One respondent said that at his/her campus, individuals were worried about the college administration monitoring their activity to learn about planned actions on Burma! In the end, it appears that the Internet serves best as a tool of information, giving activists instantaneous access to specific news that they have never been able to use before. "I mostly use e-mail as a means of hearing the latest news and forwarding it to other interested people," writes a respondent. Those who do use the 'Net as a means of activism described how they used it to organize meetings or share information, such as different resolutions or legislation that was successful in another local campaign. Another real advantage the Internet offered activists was the time element. One respondent described how the 'Net allowed her to get involved even though she holds a full-time job and works long hours: "Without the Internet, the mailing lists and the information at my fingertips, I would find it difficult to participate in the way that I do now. I read the Free Burma postings over coffee or while talking on the phone. I copy and paste faxes and fax them with my other work, I e-mail asking questions or cross-research anything I might need to know with the click of my mouse . . . activism on the 'Net has not only bridged geographical gaps but also time considerations." What once took up after-work hours with travel to meetings for face-to-face activism work can now be done on-line. But, while interconnection across the nation and the globe strengthened the Burma network, and gave it the appearance of a larger constituency, traditional means of lobbying and activism are still necessary and probably are the most impressive upon decision makers. Home | Jobs | FAQs | Contact Us | Directions | Privacy Policy | Site Map United States Institute of Peace -- 1200 17th Street NW -- Washington, DC 20036
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