14 DAY TRIAL // Think of the Nobel Committee what you will but one thing's for sure, they know how to get people talking about them. The latest example is the list of nominees for this year's Nobel Peace Prize award among which you'll find a Chinese dissident, a Russian human rights activist and the Internet. That's right, the World Wide Web is up for the award this year having made it to the short list of nominees after having been proposed by the Italian version of Wired Magazine last year.
The Internet is credited as a tool for promoting "dialogue, debate and consensus through communication" and democracy. The nomination may seem a bit of a publicity stunt but it is backed by Iranian activist Shirin Ebadi, who was awarded the Peace Prize in 2003, which makes it a legitimate contender, apparently. It's an unlikely candidate but one that does seem to have some good credentials. Supporters would cite the widely reported revolts after the Iran presidential elections, which got a lot of attention thanks to tools like Twitter.
Obviously, the Internet as an open communications platform is unmatched and has created a lot of opportunities for people to speak out and to inform themselves even in the most walled-off of countries. And with US President Barack Obama winning last year's prize despite being barely one year in office and having done nothing notable that far, except increase the number of US troops in Afghanistan maybe, the Internet being a serious contender wouldn't be that much of a surprise.
But the Internet, as much as everything else, is just a tool that can be used as much for good as for bad. As such, the Internet itself can't really be credited with any great achievement when it is the people themselves that define how it is used. And precisely because Barack Obama won last year, it's likely that the organizers are looking for a more conservative winner this year (story via Mashable).