SXSW: President Obama on Media and the Government.
SXSW (South By Southwest) for those who don’t know is a yearly media orientated festival in Austin, Texas. This year the keynote speaker at the festival was President Barack Obama (watch the video HERE). The President spoke about many of the topics that have come up in my classes this week. I would suggest any media or communication student watch this address as it has everything to do with what we are studying.
Tech and Government are two vastly different institutions with major cultural differences. As Evan Smith, CEO / Editor in Chief of The Texas Tribune who sat down with President Obama at SXSW said “Government is bloated, risk-averse, and inefficient while Tech is sleek, always ahead, and willing to take chances. So how can they work together? “.
President Obama ran a campaign that focused rather largely on social media. He is percieved as a “with it” president on the tech front. Which is why when the Obamacare website launch was a complete and utter failure – it was quite an embarrassment for him. The website represented everything the population hates about government; government is slow, doesn’t work, and behind the times.
After the Obamacare website launched the administration was in crisis mode. In response, they created a team of individuals from tech firms (google, facebook) to come and work on not only it but many other antiquated government systems. This team is now known as the U.S. Digital Service.
During the chat, President Obama gives other examples of antiquated processes in the United States that need to be fixed; that can be fixed with technology. One of the examples he gives is the voting process. The United States makes it extremely difficult to vote 1. If you’re unfamiliar with how ridiculous voter fraud laws and other barriers in the States can be Obama stated just how difficult it is and how simple it should be “It is easier to order a pizza or get a Lyft”. So how can we create an easy and safe ways to vote and register online? How do we have a space where everyone can get access to information on polling places, and the people they are voting for?
Other example included in this conversation were doing one’s taxes and going to the DMV (the VicRoads of the US). All of these situations voting, doing taxes, standing in line at the DMV for two hours are examples of everyday citizens experiences with the government. They (especially writing that check to the IRS) are examples of one-way communication. President Obama says tech will not only fix the systems but will also boost engagement. We tend as a society to not focus on the good that government does. A story about how the government messed up will always get more attention than that great new park your local government just built. Obama suggests that if we create easier processes people will have a better experience which will create more civic involvement in the digital age.
The conversation moves on to discuss the importance of access to digital platforms. As large amounts of non-white families still do not have internet access at home.
To close the event, Evan Smith asks the President about the current legal battle between the FBI and Apple. This is a topic that has come up in all of my classes this week to some degree. This is also a topic I have taken a keen interest in (I even bought tickets to see Edward Snowden via video link in May). I have had a fairly staunch view on this topic. That view being “PRAISE APPLE AND FACEBOOK FOR PROTECTING MY CIVIL LIBERTIES. GIVE ME ALL THE ENCRYPTION YOU CAN MUSTER!”. My view has been a pretty intense one, as may be able to tell by the all-caps. Obama spoke against having an absolutist opinion on this topic. Which is pretty sage advice for almost everything. He spoke about the idea of concession. We give up our rights in every other circumstance when we may have committed a crime so why is our phone or emails any different to what’s in our trunk or going through security at airports. Obviously, he says he understands the concern of the government overreaching their power. My concerns may run a bit deeper than what the President may be willing to say is reasonable (I would disagree). But, all in all, I found myself somewhat agreeing with how he President this conflict will end:
Finding a way to access the material of one’s data without gaining access to everyone’s; Finding a balance between high encryption and the need for security.
To quote an article I read the other day in the Guardian 2 ” Some technology executives think one middle path would be to encourage the use of encryption for the content of messages while maintaining the ability to hand over metadata, which reveals who is speaking to whom, how often and when.”
This in my current 3 opinion seems like a decent compromise. But this as well would require citizens to trust the government in a way they may not want or be willing to.
