Tweet Nothings

A lot of gushy talk has washed over the falls about the powerful effect of social media on the situation in Iran. Major cable networks -- and millions of individuals -- have followed developments there through the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Certainly, no one should underestimate the value of Twitter and similar services. They are powerful tools, and their utility in the rapid dissemination of news reaffirms the oft-repeated statement that information wants to be free.

On the other hand, so do people. But while Twitter has gone where even journalists have not been able to, it has been powerless to stop the Iranian regime's violent crackdown on democratic protests. Twitter has enabled the international community to learn about developments almost instantaneously. It has not enabled the international community to do anything about them.

In fact, Twitter and similar social media sites could prove deleterious to the cause of democracy -- a point made recently by three scholars at Harvard's Center for Internet and Society. As John Palfrey, Bruce Etling, and Robert Faris note in a recent article, "the 'freedom to scream' online may actually assist authoritarian regimes by serving as a political release valve of sorts. If dissent is channeled into cyberspace, it can keep protesters off the streets and help state security forces track political activism and new online voices . . . .This appears to be part of a long tradition for governments in the Middle East, especially in Egypt, where dissent is channeled into universities and allowed to thrive there, as long as it does not escape the university walls."

The same applies to newspapers, of course. News coverage, editorials, and columns do not change the facts on the ground, either. Despots tend not to be moved by stern denunciations or desperate pleas. That is what makes them despots. Ultimately, those who rule by the fist often must be opposed in a similar manner.

And that is why, in their farsighted wisdom, America's Founding Fathers penned not just the First Amendment but also the Second.