Digital Lobbyists

The Internet has lobbyists! Using blogs and social media, people, groups and companies everywhere are flaring up in response to Internet regulation bills trying to be passed in congress (not only the US but in Canada and the EU as well). These new loosely organized online lobbyists are becoming a political force. They assemble like a flash mob: forming and disbanding quickly. “Two Internet regulation bills on the fast track to becoming law were stopped in less than 24 hours after tech-savvy netizens erupted in protest through social media and tech blogs. The instant and overwhelming force of the same community that overturned the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is starting to gel into a recognizable political lobby.” People in government are increasingly using the Internet for news, allowing online innovators and technologists a platform to make their demands and bypass staff and media filters.