Monitoring Social Networks? - So What? A Case Study in Chile!

Since 2008, some researchers have considered the Internet responsible for the "civic reawakening of a new generation" (Harvard Institute of Politics, 2008, cited by Hoffman, p.218, 2012) through the use of social media and the exercise of free speech to demand political and social changes and to organize massive protests. Social networks have been credited with the downfall of dictatorships and political structures that remained in power for decades, and with the achievement of economic and social changes (Hoffman, 2012). The Arab spring, the riots in England and the social protests in Latin America are some examples (Hoffman, 2012; Valenzuela et al., 2012). In order to explore the potential impact of the use of the social networks over the political participation of the citizens of a nation-state, a case study was conducted in Chile. Interviewees included members of civil society organizations, academia, civil servants, professionals and students. Chile has been facing continuous protests from students and other members of the civil society because of unfulfilled election promises from the Pinera’s administration. These are the largest protests since Chile returned to democracy in 1990 (Valenzuela et al., 2012). Activists have been using social networks as a mechanism of protest and organization for their demands (Valenzuela et al., 2012). This practice prompted the Chilean government to implement a policy of monitoring social networks in 2010. As stated by the government, the monitoring policy had as ultimate goal knowing the main concerns of the population about the Pinera’s administration (Matamoros, 2011). The representative of the Chilean government made clear that the monitoring policy was created because "‘the government has the responsibility of listening what happens in the social networks" (Emol, 2011). This situation generated in the Chilean civil society a debate about the implications of the use of social networks on Internet users’ civil rights and the effectiveness of the social networks as an organization tool and their capacity to challenge the institutions of a democratic system (Valenzuela et al., 2012). Although governmental policies to monitor social networks may happen very often for reasons of national security or police control by governmental intelligence bodies (Kramer, Starr, & Wentz, 2009), the peculiarity of the Chilean case was the public bid to hire a private company to perform such monitoring activities. The hired company was empowered to: 1) Monitor comments about the Pinera’s administration, 2) Identify main opposition leaders and 3) Locate “geographically” specific Internet users if the government required it (Emol, 2011). Findings show that social networks may be an efficient tool for the organization of social protests and an efficient tool for the analysis of public policies; however, findings also challenge the traditional idea that social networks are capable per se of achieving political changes. As stated by the participants in this case-study, twenty years ago (1989-1990), massive national protests made possible the end of a seventeen-years-dictatorship that ruled Chile (1973-1990) and made possible the transition to a democracy, at a time when social networks did not exist. Similar conclusions have been achieved by some researchers who have questioned the role of the Internet (specifically the social networks) in political participations suggesting that the main issue to consider is not how activists used technology to share ideas to fight against political structures or to achieve social changes, but how and why activists’ ambitions influence their local contexts at the point of creating a revolution or promoting massive political participation (Anderson, 2011).