Political blogs on Fiji: A ‘cybernet democracy’ case study

Abstract

Political blogging in politically unstable and repressive countries has been seen as a form of cybernet democracy. This research article examines this claim in post-coup Fiji in the wake of the 2006 military takeover, details the author’s experiences with blogging, comments on the Fiji blogosphere in a climate of conflict, and attempts an analysis of the overall pro and anti-government blog landscape that involves more than 70 political blogs. Unlike earlier published research on Fiji blogs, it is an ‘insider’ view, written by an academic who is also a blog publisher—publishing Fiji As It Was, Is and Can Be (FAIW).

Keywords

• blogging
• censorship
• conflict reporting
• cybernet democracy
• digital democracy
• Fiji coups