Internet

=== Politics and political revolutions ===
{{See also|Internet censorship|Mass surveillance|Social media use in politics}}
[[File:Thai-coup-detat-2014-social-media-banner.jpg|thumb|right|Banner in [[Bangkok]] during the [[2014 Thai coup d'état]], informing the [[Thailand|Thai]] public that 'like' or 'share' activities on social media could result in imprisonment (observed 30 June 2014)]]
The Internet has achieved new relevance as a political tool. The presidential campaign of [[Howard Dean]] in 2004 in the United States was notable for its success in soliciting donation via the Internet. Many political groups use the Internet to achieve a new method of organizing for carrying out their mission, having given rise to [[Internet activism]].<ref name=cascading>{{cite web|url=http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/the-cascading-effects-of-the-arab-spring-28575/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110227051329/http://www.miller-mccune.com/politics/the-cascading-effects-of-the-arab-spring-28575/ |archive-date=27 February 2011 |title=The Arab Uprising's Cascading Effects |publisher=Miller-mccune.com |date=23 February 2011 |access-date=27 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2011/chokoshvili_davit.pdf|title=The Role of the Internet in Democratic Transition: Case Study of the Arab Spring|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120705155248/http://www.etd.ceu.hu/2011/chokoshvili_davit.pdf|archive-date=2012-07-05|date=5 July 2012 }}, Davit Chokoshvili, Master's Thesis, June 2011</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' suggested that [[social media]] websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, helped people organize the political revolutions in Egypt, by helping activists organize protests, communicate grievances, and disseminate information.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/middleeast/10youth.html |work=The New York Times |first=David D. |last=Kirkpatrick |title=Wired and Shrewd, Young Egyptians Guide Revolt |date=9 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129225903/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/middleeast/10youth.html |archive-date=29 January 2017 }}</ref>

Many have understood the Internet as an extension of the [[Jürgen Habermas|Habermasian]] notion of the ''[[public sphere]]'', observing how network communication technologies provide something like a global civic forum. However, incidents of politically motivated [[Internet censorship]] have now been recorded in many countries, including western democracies.<ref name="DeibertPalfreyRohozinski2008">{{cite book | author1 = Ronald Deibert | author2 = John Palfrey | author3 = Rafal Rohozinski | author4 = Jonathan Zittrain |year=2008 | title = Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering | publisher = MIT Press | pages = | isbn = 978-0-262-29072-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=l6ry0NeJ1N8C}}</ref><ref name="DiamondPlattner2012">{{cite book | author1 = Larry Diamond | author2 = Marc F. Plattner | year= 2012 | title = Liberation Technology: Social Media and the Struggle for Democracy | publisher = JHU Press | pages = | isbn = 978-1-4214-0568-1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xhwFEF9HD2sC}}</ref>

[[E-government]] is the use of [[Information and communications technology|technological communications]] devices, such as the Internet, to provide [[public service]]s to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offers opportunities for more direct and convenient citizen access to government<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Manoharan |first1=Aroon P. |last2=Melitski |first2=James |last3=Holzer |first3=Marc |date=2022-01-20 |title=Digital Governance: An Assessment of Performance and Best Practices |journal=Public Organization Review |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=265–283 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s11115-021-00584-8 |issn=1573-7098 |pmc=8769785}}</ref> and for government provision of services directly to citizens.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the City|last=Caves|first=R. W.|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|page=180}}</ref>