How will Blockchain be a force for social and public good?
News and Information
Propaganda has been a age old tool of oppressors, dictators and tyrants. On an Industrial scale by governments or on a corporate scale by Big Business it can invade peoples lives today even in the "free" west, not to mention its continuing widespread use in many countries around the world.
The Internet Era
In the 2000s the Internet has given a voice to anyone with access to the Internet. Twitter and Facebook have contributed to revolutions around the world and it is now easier than ever to get multiple version of the story.
If anybody has experienced an injustice they now have an outlet where they can be heard.
The internet has provided part of the solution....But
12 years ago I spent some time travelling in the Middle East and I had to bring a long wave radio receiver with me so that I could listen to the BBC World service. Local news could not be trusted. The widespread use of the Internet and social media has meant you can now travel freely and secure and you can have access to world news wherever you may be (As long as the site is not blocked by an ISP)
The problem with the regular Internet is its centralised nature. Websites can be influenced by Governments, or Interest Groups to remove content, censor content or promote certain ideas. Web giants to cooperate on removal of extremist content
Blockchain...
For the first time in history the world has an immutable social media and news outlet in Steemit. Anyone can post and once they do it's going to be there for anyone to see. Its verifiable in the sense that posts cannot be forged or backdated. They can be down-voted but this is not censorship because "Whales" have an incentive which is to promote the platform and good content.
A force for good
@stephenkendal describes some of the possibilities for the Steemit model in his post The scalability of STEEM and STEEMIT is simply MIND BLOWING..!!
Implications
This decentralised immutable platform for news and information means
- freedom of press
- an end to censorship
- a verifiable, immutable history of events
Public Good
They can do this because it's easy to forge records, digital or paper. There is no one keeping these people honest and they have an unfair advantage over the people not in power.
In 1994 the former North Korea dictator Kim Jung-Il completed a round of golf in 34 shots, which included 5 holes in ones. What was most astonishing about this round was that it was his first time playing golf. This “fact”, his score, was verified by his 17 bodyguards.
Blockchain...
Using Blockchains, technologies can be built around digital records which means that they cannot be falsified and there is only one source of truth:
- property deeds
- votes in elections
- outcomes of events
- even golf scores!
Anything can be stamped in this “Spreadsheet in the Cloud”. It will be verified by more than just 17 bodyguards, using a global network of computers.
Blockchain can be used for
Proving Ownership of Property
Not a huge issue in America but significant in countries without stable governments.
Outcome of Events
The whole betting Industry and a lot of the Insurance industry is based on the outcome of events such as Matches, Weather Events, Factual Events such as deaths, flight delays or rulings in Court Cases.
An immutable registry of these events on a Blockchain would have significant applications, reduce costs and reduce corruption in countries where functioning legal systems and governments cannot be taken for granted.
Election rigging
Elections for governments have always grappled with transparency and questions over outcomes. Blockchain based voting would mean there would be few elections where a leader would get 99% of the vote as happened in Iraq in 1995.
Voting by corporation boards
Stock markets and Corporations could create efficient voting technologies that would streamline the process that is used for voting. Increasing transparency and reducing costs.
Conclusion
Such an unstoppable force, Blockchains will give people, that have never been heard before, a voice. They will take power back from the powerful and give to the masses. It's likely in many other parts of the world a new Arab spring or twitter revolution will be played out on this new world stage.
Thank you for reading this. I write on Steemit about Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Science and lots of random topics.
Other Posts in this series
Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin
Blockchain - Beyond Bitcoin (Part 2)
Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 3) Banking
Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 4) Trade / Ecommerce
Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 5) Investments and Insurance
Blockchain – Beyond Bitcoin (Part 6) Social Media, Digital Media and Publishing
Image Credits. Images have been sourced from https://pixabay.com