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ICT expansion and the digital divide in democratic freedoms: An analysis of

the impact of ICT expansion, education and ICT filtering on democracy

Article  in  Telematics and Informatics · May 2010

DOI: 10.1016/j.tele.2009.05.001 · Source: DBLP

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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Telematics and Informatics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tele

ICT expansion and the digital divide in democratic freedoms: An analysis

of the impact of ICT expansion, education and ICT filtering on democracy
Farid Shirazi a,*, Ojelanki Ngwenyama a, Olga Morawczynski b
a
Institute for Research on Innovation and Technology Management, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
b
Sciences Studies Unit, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In recent years, several case studies have appeared on how mobile telephones, SMS and the
Received 12 April 2008 Internet had an impact on political activities. It has been widely argued that information
Received in revised form 27 February 2009 and communication technology (ICT) is influencing democracy all over the world. How-
Accepted 3 May 2009
ever, few studies provide any analysis of how ICT expansion correlates with measures of
democracy. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the global expansion
of ICT and the level of democracy within nations. We analyze archival data on 133 coun-
tries from 1995 to 2003, which was the period-of-time of explosive ICT expansion. Some
Keywords:
ICT
important findings of our study are: (a) there is a growing digital divide in democratic free-
Digital divide doms among countries; (b) in spite of rapid ICT expansion in some countries, Internet fil-
e-Democracy tering is having a significant impact on democratic freedoms.
e-Government Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
e-Citizen
ICT filtering
ICT stock
ICT freedom

1. Introduction

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are central to information access and participation in social and
political life (Bennett and Fielding, 1997; Becker, 2001; Harwit and Clark, 2001; Snellen, 2001; Drezner and Farrell, 2004).
These technologies facilitate the rapid accumulation and dissemination of information, group interaction (Norris, 1999),
communication and collaboration. They allow citizens to engage in debate on political matters, and become familiar with
political opinions and events that affect their communities (Jankowski and van Selm, 2000; La Porte et al., 2001; Oates,
2003). The use of ICT for communication and collaboration is viewed as an opportunity for otherwise disenfranchised citi-
zens to participate in political life and to challenge the dominant order. One well-cited example is that of the Zapatista rebel-
lion in the state of Chiapas, Mexico (Cooper, 1994; La Botz, 1995; Gilbreth and Otero, 2001). This movement consisted mainly
of impoverished Mayan citizens who contested the state’s political transition towards neo-liberalism. Because the majority
of the state’s media resources sided with the ruling elite, they refused to reproduce Zapatista material. The Zapatistas needed
to find other media through which they could articulate their interest and influence the political process. Through the Inter-
net, they contacted newsgroups, indigenous rights groups, and human rights organizations and quickly made the world
aware of their situation. Soon the story of the Zapatista made international headlines and neglected segments of the Mexican
population received increasing attention, while the ruling elite came under intense pressure and scrutiny from the interna-
tional community.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: f2shiraz@ryerson.ca (F. Shirazi), ojelanki@ryerson.ca (O. Ngwenyama), o.morawczynski@sms.ed.ac.uk (O. Morawczynski).

0736-5853/$ - see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tele.2009.05.001
22 F. Shirazi et al. / Telematics and Informatics 27 (2010) 21–31

Dahlgren (2005) argues that the Internet extends and pluralizes the public sphere in a number different ways including
structures, representation, and interaction. ICTs not only foster the expression of individual interests, but also enhance public
dialogue and collaboration among constituents with divergent interests.
Some even believe that these ICT initiatives are creating a new type of political actor called the ‘‘digital citizen” (Katz,
1997). While anecdotal evidence is used to argue that ICT expansion has significantly influenced the expansion of freedom
and democracy globally, there are few systematic studies on this issue (Kampen and Snijkers, 2003). The existing literature is
mostly comprised of case studies of individual countries or journalistic reports on specific regions of the world. This paper
will fill this gap in literature. Our study uses archival data from 133 counties in different stages of ICT expansion. We use 2SLS
estimate to investigate three important relationships: (1) ICT expansion and democracy; (2) literacy and ICT expansion; (3)
ICT filtering and its impact on the future development of ICTs. This will allow us to analyze the extent to which ICT is influ-
encing democracy worldwide. The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the theoretical basis of the
concepts of freedom and democracy that we are using in our study. Section 3 discusses our research hypotheses and meth-
odology. Section 4 provides analysis of the findings. Finally, Section 5 discusses issues for future research.

2. e-Democracy framework

2.1. Defining democracy

At the most basic level, democracy denotes a form of government in which all constituents are able to participate by
standing for election to public office and electing others to represent their interests. This also includes the right to chal-
lenge and/or call to account an existing government for actions that violate public trust. In a recent comment on the nat-
ure of democracy, the Nobel laureate Amartya Sen asserted that ‘‘democracy has complex demands, which certainly
include voting and respect for election results, but it also requires the protection of liberties and freedoms, respect for
legal entitlements, and the guaranteeing of free discussion and uncensored distribution of news and fair comment”
(Sen, 1999). Norris (2001) in regards to the representative democracy points out to three major characteristics: (1) its plu-
ralistic competition among parties and individuals for all positions of government power; (2) its participation feature that
allows citizens equal opportunities in the selection of parties and representatives through free, fair and periodic elections;
and finally (3) its civil and political liberties to speak, publish, assemble, and organize, as necessary conditions to ensure
effective competition and participation. These characteristics focus particularly ‘‘upon how representative democracies
function through free and fair elections, as the primary mechanism for holding governments accountable for their actions”
(p. 7).
Balkin (2004) argues that central to free expression and democracy is access to information. Recent research shows that
citizens who have access to ICT are more likely to participate in the political process (Weare, 2002). In this regard, the role of
the state in promoting democracy is to foster the freedom of expression and access to information. Theories of political mobi-
lization also assert that open access to information enables citizens to monitor electoral campaigns and government actions
(Berry, 1984; Bimber, 2001). However, information also enables governments to identify citizens who participate in the
political process, and this can be problematic in societies where democracy is immature or does not exist (Lynch, 2003;
Yu, 2004).

2.2. ICT and e-democracy

Numerous studies illustrate the ways in which national and local governmental bodies are employing ICTs to enhance
democracy (Dertouzos, 1997; Sussman, 1997; Cigler and Burdett, 1998; Bennett and Fielding, 1997; Bimber, 2001). Mudhai
(2003) argues that ICTs have been perceived as a drive to the ‘‘third wave” of democratization. Balkin (2004) points out that
the digital revolution brings features of freedom of expression to the forefront of our concern and makes possible for wide-
spread cultural participation and interaction. He identifies cultural participation as a means of citizens’ participation in the
production of culture, and in the development of the ideas and meanings that constitute them and the communities and
sub-communities to which they belong. ICTs have enabled citizen participation in the democratic process by providing
e-democracy (Clift, 2003; Coleman, 2003; McCullagh, 2003; Morrisett, 2003; Rushkoff, 2003; Norris, 1999, 2001). ICT tools
and services such as the Internet and mobile SMS have enabled citizens to not only participate in democratic process, but
also mobilization. The wide spread and usage of the Internet in organizing and mobilizing people around the world have
helped individuals and groups to debate and influence issues relevant to political life and increase civic and political
participation (Suarez, 2006; Weber et al., 2003; Gilbreth and Otero, 2001; Norris, 2001; Bennett and Fielding, 1997;
Dertouzos, 1997; Sussman, 1997).
ICT tools and services are widely used as a source of information and mobilization in political life. For example, authorities
in Thailand sent SMS messages to over 25 mobile cell phone users encouraging them to participate in election (Thai election,
2006) or in the recent US presidential election about 24% of Americans regularly learned about the presidential campaign
from the Internet (The Pew, 2008). These tools and services were also widely used as a means of mobilizing people in polit-
ical discourses or monitoring the election outcomes. Suarez (2006) points out that SMS had a crucial role for mobilizing peo-
ple for mass demonstration against government demanding for the truth in 2004’s Madrid terrorist attack. It had also a
 F. Shirazi et al. / Telematics and Informatics 27 (2010) 21–31 23

crucial role in mobilizing people during the election campaign. In Iran’s presidential election (2005) the massive usage of
SMS sent by citizens in boycotting the election or to support other candidates frustrated the hardliners who monitored
the election and threatened SMS users for revenge (Iranian Judiciary, n.d.). These tools and services were also used as a
means of monitoring tool for election outcomes around the world. For example, Sierra Leone’s election was faced with
the challenge of monitoring election outcome in a country that lacks infrastructure and reliable Internet access to transmit
election data by conventional means, the election monitoring group used SMS to transmit election data and particularly from
their rural areas where there is no ICT infrastructure established (Sierra Leone, 2008). The same monitoring feature of SMS
was used in Ghana’s election 2008 after the violence and fraud experienced in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria (Ghana, 2008).
ICT tools and services are also used for organizing groups and individuals to express their grief and protestation against dif-
ferent social, political and global issues (Norris, 1999; Postmes, 2002; Suarez, 2006). Backus (2001) defines e-democracy as
processes and structures that encompass all forms of electronic interaction between the government (elected representa-
tives) and the citizens (electorate) (cf. Savic, 2006).
Clift (2003) argues that e-democracy is the use of ICTs and strategies by ‘‘democratic sectors” within the context of polit-
ical processes from local communities, up to the global stage. Some researchers argue that e-government is more responsive,
and connects citizens to meet challenges of building a more sustainable society and world (Clift, 2004; Terry; 2005; Savic,
2006). However, there are many challenges in building appropriate infrastructure for citizen engagement and collaboration.
Other researchers are arguing that while communication technologies facilitate the distribution of political documents and
provide a virtual space for citizens to discuss and engage in local political processes, this does not necessarily result in wide
spread participation (Cavanaugh, 2000; Watson and Mundy, 2001; Frissen, 2002; Hoff et al., 2003; Hill and Hughes, 1998).
Riley (2003) points out that UK Government hopes to use the Internet and in particular e-voting in order to bring youth into
the democratic process since their participation in elections was regarded as very low. In other societies, such as Iran and
China, mobile telephone and Internet use for political activity has risen dramatically in the last decade, but these govern-
ments have responded with stricter controls on ICT (Sohmen, 2001; Lacharite, 2002; Lynch, 2003; Yu, 2004). Further, a trou-
bling dimension of Internet usage concerns the propagation of hate speech and terrorism (Gerstenfeld et al., 2003). A
challenge for researchers involved in ICT and the political sphere is to understand how ICT expansion is affecting different
groups in the ‘global village’. So far, studies of the impact of ICT on democracy have focused on examining specific local social
experiments. While there is a general feeling that ICT has had an impact on democracy globally, systematic studies exam-
ining this issue are scarce (Kampen and Snijkers, 2003).

2.3. Components of e-democracy

This research adapts Clift’s (2003) e-democracy conceptual model as depicted in Fig. 1. There are five components that
construct the e-democracy model namely: ICT, e-citizens, government, civil society and media. e-Citizens in this model
are individuals that use ICTs to participate in democratization process. This participation can take many different forms.
e-Citizen can use ICTs to interact with social groups, government agencies, media and private sectors as well as the ability
to use, create and disseminate information, and demand for a more open and democratic society and/or organize social ac-
tion in form of e-petition, organize social rallies and participate in the debates and policy dialogues that are shaping global,
national and local governance in the emerging information age (Lenihan, 2002). Morrisett (2003) points out that ICTs can be
used to enhance the democratic process in form of e-government in which citizens are able to effectively impact the

Civil Society

text
Government E-Citizens

Media

Fig. 1. General model for investigation, adapted from Clift (2003).

24 F. Shirazi et al. / Telematics and Informatics 27 (2010) 21–31

decision-making process in a timely manner within and between institutionally, politically or geographically distinct
networked communities.
The main objective of civil society, such as NGOs, women’s groups, trade unions, human rights groups and political orga-
nizations are to use ICTs in the pursuit of ‘good governance’ (Mercer, 2004) and democratic development. For example, polit-
ical groups are able to run online advocacy and political campaigns (Clift, 2003).
Government in this model represents e-government paradigm in which it provides citizens, civil society, private sector
and media with extensive access to information electronically to support the functions that a government performs
(Lenihan, 2002).
ICTs facilitate new forms of e-government based policymaking process that enshrine some of the important norms and
practices of e-democracy (Chadwick, 2003). The potential for linking e-democracy in civil society with e-government at the
local and national levels is far from straightforward but nevertheless achievable. Media is another important component of
our e-democracy model. Bentivegna (2006) argues that ICTs signify the power to destabilize the control of the production
and circulation of information held by the traditional media. The increase in the weblogs and the proliferation of text mes-
saging, e-mail exchange, news groups, net meetings and so on have provided e-citizens with space for the creation of ideas,
promoting gender equality and respect for human rights. The explosion of ICT tools and services has also improved commu-
nication and interaction among people across the globe and assisted opening up new possibilities for political participation
(Drezner and Farrell, 2004; Yu, 2004; Doostdar, 2004). Balkin (2004) argues that the Internet has enabled people to shape the
public opinion by routing around traditional mass media. Sites such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Photobucket are the
examples of the power of the Internet in social networking. There are more than 100 million personal profiles on MySpace
and Facebook has over 35 million profiles online (Laudon and Traver, 2008) the same phenomena happens with YouTube.
YouTube reaches over 73 million people visitors per month just in US (Quantcast, 2008). For example, MySpace and Facebook
were media vehicles used by US Candidates in the 2008 US presidential election for mobilizing people especially young peo-
ple. During his presidential campaign, the US President Obama had and still has his website, in both the English and Spanish
languages, as well as his own YouTube channel. He was actively present in other social networking sites such as Facebook,
Flickr and MySpace (DigitalNatives, 2008). These social networking sites are important sources of communication and in par-
ticular for the younger generation where approximately 67% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 are actively par-
ticipate in these communities (The Pew, 2008).

3. Research approach

Our research is motivated by three general questions: (1) what is the impact of ICT expansion on freedom and democracy
around the world; (2) what is the impact of education on ICT expansion; and finally (3) how systematic filtering has affected
the expansion of ICTs. At the center of the model is the dependent variable political rights and civil liberties (PRCL). Our
intention is to investigate how changes in the variable ICT network expansion (ICTs) correlates with changes in PRCL. The
UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines PRCL as the rights to free communication, religious and political partic-
ipation, and the right to engage in economic activity. However, many scholars equate PRCL with constitutional democracy
(the right of individuals to elect their governments) and freedom of the press (Pettit, 1999; Sen, 1999; Rose, 1999; Joyce,
2003). Some also argue that constitutional democracy is essential as it provides the basis for and protections of civil liberties
and political rights (Lundstrom, 2005; Berggren, 2003; Gwartney and Lawson, 2006). In this study, we do not limit our inves-
tigation to countries with constitutional democracy nor do we include the issue of economic freedom. This is beyond the
scope of our study. In this research, we focus on understanding the impact of ICT expansion on political rights and civil lib-
erties globally.
Within the context of this study, PRCL is a complex measure of a country’s adherence to the basic principles outlined in
the UN Declaration on Human Rights. Freedom House, an independent non-governmental international organization, which
runs regular surveys, compiles data on this measure and ranks countries on various dimensions of PRCL (see Table 1A Appen-
dix). The variable ICTs is a measure of ICT network, ICT uptake and ICT intensity (see Table 2A Appendix). Data on this com-
plex variable is collected from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an agency of the United Nations
organization, and provided to researchers. Variable filtering (FILTER) is a measure of the level of media freedom exercised
by citizens of each country. This variable constructed by aggregating two indices published by Freedom House and Reporters
Without Border (RWB). The final variable, education (EDU) is a measure of adult literacy and educational enrollments for
primary through tertiary levels. To investigate the model we posited three hypotheses:
H1: The expansion of ICT networks (ICTs) is positively correlated with democracy (PRCL), as ICT expansion increases the
level of democracy as measured by PRCL will also increase.
H2: The increase level of education is positively correlated with the expansion ICTs.
H3: Filtering and state censorship of ICT networks is negatively correlated with the expansion of ICTs.

3.1. Data collection

For this study we gathered two types of archival data from several sources; (1) rankings of political rights and civil lib-
erties from Freedom of House (www.freedomhouse.org); media freedom rankings from Freedom House and Reporters
 F. Shirazi et al. / Telematics and Informatics 27 (2010) 21–31 25

Table 1
Ranking scales of Freedom House.

Category Scores
Rating scale Free Partly free Not free
Political rights 1–7 <3 3–5 >5
Civil liberties 1–7 <3 3–5 >5
Press freedom 1–100 0–30 31–60 61–100

Without Borders (www.rsf.org). The latter was also the main source of data on the degree of filtering and state censorship
applied on ICT networks. (2) ICT expansion and information usage data were collected from the International Telecommu-
nications Union (ITU). The ITU compiles, annually, statistics on ICT investments, infrastructure capacity, traffic, and individ-
ual uses of the Internet and telecommunication devices and costs. (3) Data on adult literacy were collected from the UN
human development database and ITU. We collected data on all countries that we were able to find complete records of
ICT networks (ICTs), education (EDU), political rights and civil liberties (PRCL) and press freedom measures. Our dataset cov-
ers 133 countries for the period between 1995 and 2003.
The data are provided for individual items and a composite democracy index. A rating scale from one to 100 is used where
one indicates the lowest rating of democratic freedom and 100, the highest. On the individual components, Freedom House
rates each country’s political rights (PR) and civil liberties (CL) on a scale from one to seven, where one represents the highest
degree of freedom, and seven the lowest. Countries that rate an average score of less than three (combined PR and CL average)
are classified as ‘‘free”, those with a rating between 3 and 5 ‘‘partly free” and a score between 5.5 and 7 are considered ‘‘not free”
(see Table 1). Freedom House defines the level of freedom of press of each country by dividing the levels into three broad cat-
egories of environments: legal, political and economic. The legal environment examines the level of influence laws and regu-
lations have, on the media content, as well as the government’s ability and inclination to use these laws and their legal
institutions to restrict or allow the media to broadcast. The political environment refers to the degree of political control over
the news content. The economic environment includes the media structure such as ownership, transparency, costs, etc. Each
country’s press freedom rating is based on these three categories, the higher number, the less free, it is considered. A score of 0–
30 categorizes a country in the free-press group, 31–60 in the partly-free, and 61–100 in the not free-press group.

3.2. Analytical methods

To analyze the impact of ICTs on freedom and democracy as defined by hypotheses H1 through H3, a two-stage least
squares (2SLS) estimate was applied on the panel data with endogenous variables PRCL and ICTs, and exogenous variables
education (EDU) and filtering (FILTER). Since the ordinary linear regression may produce biased and inconsistent estimates
when there are relevant explanatory variables omitted from the model, or when the covariates are subject to measurement
error, a 2SLS estimate can help us to overcome this problem. The endogenous variables, in the context of this paper, are the
dependent variables of other equations in the system in which each dependent variable is associated with its own error term.
In other words, all dependent variables are considered endogenous to the system and are assumed to correlate with the dis-
turbances in the system’s equation.
Based on the theoretical model the following 2SLS regression model was constructed where the subscript refers to coun-
try i and year t:
ln PRCLit ¼ b0 þ ln ICTSit þ e1 ð1Þ
ln ICTSit ¼ b1 þ b2 ln EDU it þ b3 ln FITERit þ e2 ð2Þ

4. Findings from analysis

Before running the 2SLS regression we tested the panel data for multicollinearity and estimated the Inflation Factor (VIF).
Multicollinearity occurs when the independent variables are highly correlated; high multicollinearity may cause a wide
swing in the estimate of parameters due to small changes in data (Shirazi, 2008). Our test shows a VIF value of 2.80 which
is far from the critical value of 10 (moderate multicollinearity) or 30 (severe multicollinearity). As Table 2 indicates the P-
value for all the variables show a value of zero to reject null hypothesis of (P > |t| > 0.05). The model fit statistic, R2, for endog-
enous variables ICTS and PRCL are 0.7151 and 0.3886, respectively.
The reader will notice that in Table 2, ICTS shows a positive value for the regression coefficient along with positive cor-
relation with PRCL.
The same relation is true in regards to variable EDU and ICTS (positive coefficient, strong t-value and positive correlation).
Thus the results from the regression support the claims described in hypotheses H1 and H2—that ICT infrastructure has a
positive impact on democracy (as measured by political rights and civil liberties), and the increased level of education (as
measured by adult literacy and gross enrollment) has a positive impact on ICT expansion. On the other hand the variable
FILTER shows a negative coefficient along with negative t-value and negative correlation with ICTS. Again, our regression
analysis confirms Hypothesis H3.
26 F. Shirazi et al. / Telematics and Informatics 27 (2010) 21–31

Table 2
Parameters of 2SLS regression and test statistics, an (*) indicates significance at the 0.01 confidence level.

R2 PRCL 0.3886
R2 ICTS 0.7151
Endogenous variables: PRCL, ICTS Number of observations 1197
Exogenous variables: EDU, FILTER Corr. PRCL, ICTS 0.6677*
Corr. ICTS, EDU 0.8106*
Corr. ICTS, FILTER 0.6342*
Variables Coefficient Std. error t-Statistic Prob. |t|
ICTS 1.065113 0.0314172 33.90 0.000
EDU 0.8393288 0.0231836 36.20 0.000
FITER 0.3224954 0.0206997 15.58 0.000
Regression test validation statistics
Root MSE: PRCL 23.87597 Akaike info criterion 5.2457405
Root MSE: ICTS 13.88358 Schwarz criterion 5.2627416
Sum squared resid 225625.287 Hannan–Quinn criterion 5.2532414
Mean VIF 2.80

Hypothesis 1: In our research model, we theorized that since communication networks facilitate social interaction by per-
mitting open and efficient access to information, it is reasonable to expect that ICT will have a significant impact on open
discourse and political life. Our findings confirm that ICT is positively correlated with PRCL. Consequently, all other things
being equal, greater expansion of ICT infrastructure should lead to higher levels of democratic freedom.
Hypothesis 2: In our research model, we theorized that education is positively correlated with ICT infrastructure expan-
sion. Further, prior studies have shown that education and democracy are strongly correlated (Dewey, 1952; Page, 1997; Nie
et al., 1997; Arnot and Dillabough, 2000; Print et al., 2002; Starkey, 2002; Annette, 2003; Osler, 2005a,b). However, while
there are many studies that investigate the impact of ICTs on education (Adams, 2000; Aviram and Comay, 2000; Laurillard,
2000; Aviram and Talmi, 2005), only a few studies have investigated the impact of education on the expansion of ICTs
(Caselli and Coleman, 2001; Kiiski and Pohjola, 2002; Baliamoune-Lutz, 2003). Our findings suggest an important mediating
role for education between ICT expansion and democracy, since increases in education are positively correlated with ICT
expansion, which in turn is positively correlated with democracy.
Hypothesis 3: In our research model, we theorized that filtering and state censorship of ICT is negatively correlated with
ICT infrastructure expansion. Our findings confirm that filtering of ICT inhibits its expansion, and since ICT expansion is pos-
itively correlated with PRCL, we argue that state controls and censorship of ICT networks has a direct negative impact on
democracy and freedom of expression. Further, ICT filtering and other forms of information censorship violate the funda-
mental rights of citizens to free and open communication and interaction (Selian, 2004).
Fig. 2 shows the relationships among variables for all countries in our analysis: (1) graph 1 indicates that countries with a
greater level of political rights and civil liberties enjoy greater access to ICTs; (2) graph 2 shows a positive correlation be-
tween ICT expansion and the increased level of education; and (3) graph 3 shows the negative correlation between filtering
and ICT expansion. Further analysis of our data shows that those countries that implement extensive state censorship and
filtering of the content of ICTs are those that have the least developed ICT infrastructure as explained in the next section.

4.1. ICT and the democratic freedoms divide

The 2SLS regression analysis also allows us to draw some conclusions about the digital divide in democratic freedoms
during the period of study. Our analysis also allows us to generate an index ranking all 133 countries with regard to the de-
gree that their policies for ICT use are free and open; we call this the ICT freedom index. Of the 133 countries we analyzed
four main groupings emerged:

(a) Front-runners: countries with high democracy performance and high ICT expansion.
(b) Above potential: countries with both ICT and democracy indices above the world average.
(c) Average: countries with both democracy and ICT expansion around the world average.
(d) Under-performers: countries with both democracy and ICT performance below the world average.

In general, countries with higher levels of ICT infrastructure tended to enjoy higher levels of democracy and freedom of
expression. It is not surprising to see that the top democratic nations (such as Scandinavian countries, the UK, Ireland, the
Netherlands and others in Europe, along with Canada and the US in North America, and Australia and New Zealand in Oce-
ana) are those nations with highly developed ICT infrastructure whose citizens enjoy the highest degree of e-democracy.
As indicated in Fig. 3, we can observe a transitional shift from the category of under-performers to a higher category. For
example while 54% of countries were located in the under-performers category in 1995, this value decreased to 47% in 2003.
The biggest shift was related to the front-runners category. While 14% of countries were located in this category in 1995, this
value increased to 23% in 2003. Among the newcomers in this category, we see countries from the former Eastern block such
 F. Shirazi et al. / Telematics and Informatics 27 (2010) 21–31 27

PRCL ICTs Education & Fitering (1995-2003)

80 100

80 100
60

60
icts
prcl
40

40
20

20
0

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
icts Edu
graph1 graph2
60 80 100
icts
40
20
0

0 20 40 60 80 100
filter
graph3

Fig. 2. Spline plots showing the impacts of ICT on PRCL and education and filtering on ICT.

Fig. 3. Four categories of ICT freedom.

as Lithuania, Estonia, along with other European countries such as Spain, Portugal, Malta and Cyprus. From Asia, those na-
tions with highly developed ICTs such as Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea are placed in this category.
It is important to note that most of the countries located in the low performers category, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran,
Tunisia and China, impose heavy and systematic censorship on Internet and other ICT media (OpenNet Initiative Report,
2004, 2005). In addition, there are a number of countries whose ICT infrastructures are highly developed but rank below
the world average on democratic freedoms. These countries include some of the Middle East countries of the Persian Gulf
region such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates as well as Singapore in Asia.

5. Limitations and conclusions

This research has some limitations resulting from the choice methodology and the data we analyzed. Our research was
broad and focused on the macro level; we did not investigate the micro level. We were interested in investigating the general
impact of ICT on freedom and democracy. As such, we did not examine any case studies of individual countries to understand
the nature of the ICT impact and responses to it. In-depth field studies are needed to understand how specific ICTs are influ-
encing freedom of expression and democracy in each country. These studies can reveal which ICTs are making the greatest
contribution to the expansion of such freedoms in each country. They can further reveal the unique barriers that community
members face when accessing an application. As has been noted by several in-depth studies of ICTs, access does not translate
to usage. A variety of barriers, including gender relations, affect if and how a technology is used (Morawczynski, 2008).
Furthermore, studies are needed to understand the impact on freedom and democracy of filtering and censorship practices
28 F. Shirazi et al. / Telematics and Informatics 27 (2010) 21–31

in the specific countries where they occur. However, in this study we have demonstrated that there is a very high correlation
between ICT expansion and democratic freedoms. We have also demonstrated that filtering has a significantly negative im-
pact on democratic freedoms and that there is a wide gap in ‘digital democracy’ among countries and regions (Milner, 2006).
In general, ICT infrastructure expansion has had a positive impact on democracy and freedom of expression. New ICTs, such
as the Internet, enable new dimensions of expression and democratic participation (Gimmler, 2001; Klein, 1999; Lynch,
2003). These technologies have also changed the nature of interaction. Individuals can now more easily engage in discussions
with individuals, and not be constrained by time and space. The explosion of websites, weblogs, e-mails, and SMS has also
improved communication and interaction among people across the globe and assisted opening up new possibilities for polit-
ical participation (Drezner and Farrell, 2004; Yu, 2004; Doostdar, 2004). It is also important to note that these new ‘‘digital
activities” mediated by ICT not only include interpersonal communication, political organization and promotion of free
speech, but also ‘hate speech’, religious fundamentalism, fraud and terror (Roman, 2005; Barzilai-Nahon and Barzilai,
2005; Gerstenfeld et al., 2003; Weimann, 2005). Several examples have been noted in the media, which illustrate that ICTs
also provide a meeting place for radical hate groups to collaborate. In some cases, the result is terrorist activity that under-
mines the democratic freedoms of other citizens. One such example are the July 7, 2005 London bombings. There were asser-
tions that the London bomb plot was heralded on the web (Lyall, 2006). This example illustrates that ICTs can be used to both
enhance, and undermine democratic freedoms. Some governments have responded by filtering Internet sites and threaten-
ing to ban some forms of communication (Zittrain and Edelman, 2003; Harwit and Clark, 2001; Lacharite, 2002). However,
these practices negatively impact democracy and freedom of expression. For example, when millions of young Iranians to
sent SMS messages in support of, or against specific candidates during June 2005 presidential election, clerics and hardliners
appealed to the Ministry of Justice and obtained a ban on SMS messaging (Iranian Judiciary, n.d.). Such negative practices are
prevalent in countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria and Singapore. The filtering of websites in many of these coun-
tries also affects some groups more than others and silences voices. A specific example is the unequal access to the Internet
that women face in the Middle East. A review of the OpenNet Initiative’s documents show that the filtering of sites related to
women’s rights is the fourth most prevalent practice in this region. Further, Internet filtering and censorship is not only done
by local governments, but also some larger ISPs in the region that are actively involved in the practice (Harwit and
Clark, 2001; Rheingold, 1993; Sohmen, 2001). Our analysis shows that such filtering of ICTs has an especially negative impact
on political rights and civil liberties.

Appendix 1

Table 1A. Democracy components.

Electoral process Political participation Government

Political rights
Head of State and/or Head Individuals have the right to Freely elected representatives
of Government elected organize into political parties determine the policies of the
through free and fair and to seek electoral office in government
elections an open and fair system

Legislative Is there a realistic possibility The government free from

representatives are for the opposition to increase pervasive corruption
elected through free its support or gain power
and fair elections through elections?

Are there fair electoral People’s political choices are
laws, equal opportunity free from domination by
to campaign, fair military, foreign powers,
polling, and honest totalitarianism religious
tabulation of ballots? hierarchies, economic
oligarchies, or other
dominant groups
The government accountable
to the electorate between
elections, and does it operate
with openness and
transparency

Ethnic, religious, and other For traditional monarchies

minorities have reasonable
self-determination, self-
government, autonomy, or
participation through
informal consensus in the
decision-making process
that have no parties or
electoral process, does the
system provide for
consultation with the people,
encourage discussion of
policy, and allow the right to
petition the ruler?
 F. Shirazi et al. / Telematics and Informatics 27 (2010) 21–31 29

Table 1A (continued)
Freedom of expression Associational and Rule of law Personal autonomy
organizational rights

Civil liberties
There is a free and
independent media and
other forms of free
cultural expression
There is freedom of assembly,
demonstration, and open
public discussion
There is an independent There is personal autonomy.
judiciary Citizens’ right to travel, choice
of residence, or choice of
employment are protected.
System is free of extensive
political indoctrination

There are free religious
institutions, and there
free private and public
religious expression
There is freedom of political
or quasi-political
organization including
political parties, civic
organizations, ad hoc issue
groups, etc.
The rule of law prevails in civil
and criminal matters. Police is
under direct civilian control
Citizens have the right to own
property and establish private
businesses. Private business
activity is not influenced by
government officials, the
security forces, or organized
crime

There is academic
freedom, and the
educational system is
free of extensive
political
There are free trade unions
and peasant organizations or
equivalents, and there is
effective collective
bargaining
There is protection from There are personal social
police terror, unjustified freedoms, including gender
imprisonment, exile, or equality, choice of marriage
torture, whether by groups partners, and size of family
that support or oppose the
system and there is freedom
from war and insurgencies

There is open and free Professional and other Population is treated equally Are there equality of
private discussion private organizations are free under the law opportunity and the absence
of economic exploitation?
Source: Freedom House.

Table 2A. ICT measurement characteristics.

ICTs
(a) Networks
 Main telephone lines per 100 inhabitants
 Waiting lines/mainlines
 Digital lines/mainlines
 Cell phones per 100 inhabitants
 Cable TV subscriptions per 100 households
 Internet hosts per 1000 inhabitants
 Secure servers/Internet hosts
 International bandwidth (Kbs per inhabitant)
(b) Uptake
 TV equipped households per 100 households
 Residential phone lines per 100 households
 PCs per 100 inhabitants
 Internet users per 100 inhabitants
(c) Intensity
 Broadband users/Internet users
 International outgoing telephone traffic minutes per capita
 International incoming telephone traffic minutes per capita
Education
(a) Adult literacy rates
(b) Gross enrollment ratios
 primary education
 secondary education
 tertiary education

Source: ITU and Orbicom (2005).

30 F. Shirazi et al. / Telematics and Informatics 27 (2010) 21–31

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