Why is is New Media founded on PSB principles so important to democracy?
While many in the Global North carry on discussions on ICT and democracy in a manner that is blissfully ignorant of post-conflict realities, the burning question for societies embroiled in trauma and yearning for hope and peace is how technology can help better their lives. The travails of the use of New Media in peacebuilding are far more complex, giving rise to new power centres, new elites, new gatekeepers and new spoilers – ICT & New Media must navigate a careful and principled path in order to avoid becoming a tool in the service of stakeholders determined to upset the peace process. A discussion on Communication Technology and Social Policy in the Digital Age is one that hasn’t, as yet, global appeal. Billions of people exist without any awareness of the internet or its potential for social change. There are more pressing social issues in some regions than the digital divide – polio, HIV / AIDS, poverty and ethnic conflict continue to take their toll on mankind. Corruption and au
