After
UN
Vague on
Dictators
Tweets, ICP
Said to Mock
as Ban Takes
War
Crime Advice
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 9 --
Last week UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon read a
speech that
said, "Some
dictators in
our world are
more afraid
of tweets than
they are of
opposing
armies." Inner
City Press
ignored the
quote,
assuming that
Ban as on
issues from
Syria to UN
reform had
simply read
from an
over-heated
script written
elsewhere.
But
this Ban quote
was noticed,
and quickly
gave rise to
derision,
including from
international
law professors
who for once
asked,
"What's
Ban
Ki-moon
smoking?"
And so, along
with questions
on Syria,
Yemen and the
Congo,
Inner City
Press at
Monday's UN
noon briefing
asked Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
to clarify the
comment and
respond to the
mocking. But
first, Nesikry
tried to hit
back by
implying that
only Inner
City
Press was
mocking Ban:
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Let me check
on that,
Matthew. I
think you had
one other
question, and
then I think
that will be
it, okay?
Inner
City
Press: I want
you to just
clarify, there
was a quote by
the
Secretary-General
where he said
that in our
world some
dictators fear
tweets more
than armies,
it is a very
interesting
quote, but
some
people hav
some
questions,
what exactly
does it mean,
which
dictators
is he
referring to,
is it really
the tweets
that they are
afraid of
or the people
tweeting? Do
you want to
clarify it at
all, because
some have kind
of mocked it.
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I wonder who
that might be
who is mocking
it, Matthew?
But…
Inner
City
Press: Foreign
Policy
website, take
a look at it.
Spokesperson:
Well, let me
just say it is
very easy to
parse
speeches,
remarks,
articles,
blogs — it’s
very easy to
do that. I
think it is
quite
straightforward
to note that
tweeting has
become a
phenomenon in
the
political
sphere; in the
course of the
Arab Spring
that has been
particularly
apparent, but
not just there
and not just
then. I think
he is simply
referring to
that
phenomenon,
and the fact
that, in some
parts of the
world, in some
countries, you
have seen
tweets, you
have
seen other
forms of
social media
playing a role
in galvanizing
public
opinion and in
providing
dynamic
movement for
change. I
think that’s
— that’s a lot
more than 140
characters —
but I think
that’s
roughly where
we are going.
[The
Spokesperson
later added
that the
Secretary-General
would take
part
in a Google+
hangout with
young people
from Africa,
Asia, Europe,
the
Middle East
and North and
South America
on Tuesday, 10
April, from
United Nations
Headquarters
in New York.]
We'll
see how that
goes. But
Monday evening
Inner City
Press observed
Ban posing for
photos almost
entirely with
South Koreans
at a photo
exhibit he was
thanked for,
and on the
sidelines of
which
Ambassadors
from the
panoply of
continents
said he was
exercising
censorship and
weakening
the UN.
At the same
time, Ban
accepted
without
comment an
alleged war
criminal as
his adviser,
then his
minders tried
to hinder
Press coverage
of the issue.
No
canned "Google
Plus hang out"
can make up
for
that. Watch
this site.
, 
