PROBLEMS OF THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION

PROBLEMS OF THE INFORMATION REVOLUTION
Public transport was challenged by the shift to cars, and familiar aspects of such public services as education and health could be challenged in the information revolution. Wider concerns over changing relations between private and public activities are reflected in debates about potential or already emerging problems, such as: Threats to privacy (unauthorized access to personal data, increasing surveillance of public spaces by security cameras, etc.) The alleged growth of “privatism” (a decline in shared activities as individuals pursue their own interests in isolation) The scope for participation. (How far can people have a say in the use of IT in ways that affect them? Do new media support the emergence of new social movements, and of new forms of interest groups, lobbying, and mobilization?) Questions about the ownership of knowledge. (Who has the right to charge for what kinds of information? Should large parts of the media be controlled by a few large companies? What is the scope for freedom of information to be practised by government?)
All this is in addition to the problems of information inequalities mentioned earlier. The information revolution fundamentally involves a change in the role of information-processing in our society. It is not surprising that fundamental questions are being raised about access to, and the use of, intimate and valuable sorts of information.
The outcome of the information revolution depends on social action and social choices as well as on technological developments. Just as industrial societies around the world take various forms, and there are very different ways of life within them, so it is likely that there will be a wide range of information societies. However, as new IT permits more global communication, and more firms expand into global markets, there are also strong forces at work to share elements of different cultures around the world on an unprecedented scale.