I was at home with the flu last week, but my previous post  (two weeks ago!) elicited a response that got me thinking further on the role of technology in government. Speaking about Ethiopia, I wrote in my response:

 I try to remain impartial to politics (on this blog anyway). What I do wholeheartedly support, is the means for people to choose their own solutions. Current policies discourage both free media and international understanding, which both reflect badly on the government and discourage economic and intellectual investment from local and international communities—no one wins. It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem and I don’t propose to have the answer. Which comes first, a more open government that encourages free media or a free media that encourages a more open government? The overwhelming trend in the past few years is that media comes first, simply because media advances more quickly than governments’ can take actions to limit them.

What I am wondering now is: does my stance on the freedom of media make me by default a promoter of American democracy abroad? I don’t know. Promoting an adherence to a strict American style of democracy feels a bit too close to imperialism, and historically doesn’t always translate well. What I think a truly free media does is create a forum for a population—of a nation, town, or just Zuccotti Park—to create their own rules and their own flavor of people-led governance. But in order to have a free media, you need a government that isn’t afraid of what the people might say. Which, in itself might necessitate some kind of democratically appointed government.

What the responder on the previous post was calling for, as I understood it, was an intervention (whether by citizens or outsiders) into a government that does not promote an open media. However what we’ve seen recently in the arab spring and in some US protests, is that media prevails eventually, usually despite authoritarian intervention strategies. Is that just because governments move so slowly? Or because people will always find a way to communicate, even in the most dire of circumstances?

Gabe Scelta is the Innovation Director at Ethicodes. A fellow at the Emerge Venture Lab, Gabe’s deep knowledge of the technology industry keeps Ethicodes pushing the frontiers of the fair trade industry. He holds a master’s degree from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies and a bachelor’s degree from Boston University. He lives in New York City.