Definition of Global Actor Is Very Vague and Unclear, That Is Why Sometime It Is Hard To

State University – Higher School of Economics Department of public policy

Global actors in public policy: YouTube Inc

Author: Romazanova G.

Moscow-2010 1) Introduction

Definition of global actor is very vague and unclear, that is why sometime it is hard to carry on a discussion weather global actors existing in modern world. An actor is any who or anything that may play a certain role in social system. Individuals are the primary actors within all human societies. But, human beings belong to social groups and they form various kinds of associations. Social groupings and organized groups have leaders who speak for the group. These leaders have more power and influence than do the ordinary members of the group or association. What we call the state or the nation-state is a complex organization; and, an international system made up of states is even more complex. A global actor is able to influence the global or international system.

To specify feature that are defining global actor we will have get into theoretical approaches. The behavioral criteria include:

- certain degree of autonomy from external environment and its internal constituents; - significant and continuing functions having an impact on inter-state relations that is acknowledged by its members and third actors;

Structural approach says that formalization and separation of some working fields are the part of global actor. Sociological theory (constructivists) analysis structures are not defined only by material terms, but also include intersubjective features. According to constructivists global actors consists of shared understanding, expectations and social knowledge.

Overall, the global actor derives its definition from own name – global. The actor becomes global when it imbeds global thinking; global understanding, global environment and its actions are also global and affect the whole international community.

In this essay I aspire to prove that internet video broadcasting channel “YouTube” is modern global actor. Why YouTube? Just because most of the people who are active users of internet can not avoid the web-page having that name.

2) Origins and mission

YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 20051.Unregistered users may watch videos, and registered users may upload an unlimited number of videos. Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users 18 and older. The founders of YouTube are Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal. Hurley has a degree in design from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Chen and Karim studied computer science together at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. YouTube at first was a venture-funded technology startup, primarily from a US$11.5 million investment by Sequoia Capital between November 2005 and April 2006. YouTube's early headquarters were situated above a pizzeria and Japanese restaurant in California. The web-page was activated on February 14, 2005. The page has developed rapidly and became known all over the world. In May 2010 YouTube was serving more than two billion videos a day, which it described as “nearly double the prime-time audience of all three major US television networks combined2”.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube 2 The same source YouTube is famous for its liberal policy making about uploading videos. The official documents prohibit any defamation, pornography, and material encouraging criminal conduct. But there are always videos that are forbidden and inappropriate get uploaded. YouTube relies on its users to flag the content of videos as inappropriate, and a YouTube employee will view a flagged video to determine whether it violates the site's terms of service. Many officials and politicians have given negative responds on YouTube’s policy for which web-site representatives replied: “We have strict rules on what's allowed, and a system that enables anyone who sees inappropriate content to report it to our 24/7 review team and have it dealt with promptly. We educate our community on the rules and include a direct link from every YouTube page to make this process as easy as possible for our users. Given the volume of content uploaded on our site, we think this is by far the most effective way to make sure that the tiny minority of videos that break the rules come down quickly3”.

Most videos enable users to leave comments, and these have attracted attention for the negative aspects of both their form and content. When the Time magazine in 2006 praised Web 2.0 for enabling “community and collaboration on a scale never seen before”, it added that YouTube “harnesses the stupidity of crowds as well as its wisdom. Some of the comments on YouTube make you weep for the future of humanity just for the spelling alone, never mind the obscenity and the naked hatred4”.

3) Main activities and impact

YouTube is famous for giving an opportunity for ordinary and not ordinary users to upload videos. It would not be that famous if not the site’s policy on supporting freedom of speech and expression. There are no political restrictions on the content of the video and it is the reason why sometimes YouTube bothers politicians, celebrities and other public figures. It even reached the level whereby several countries have blocked access to YouTube by using Web filtering:

 People's Republic of China blocked YouTube in December 2010  Morocco shut down access to YouTube in 2008  Thailand blocked YouTube between 2006 and 2007 due to offensive videos relating to King Bhumibol Adulyadej  Turkey blocked access to YouTube between 2008 and 2010 because of the videos deemed insulting to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The block was lifted briefly in November 2010  On December 3d of 2006, Iran temporarily blocked access to YouTube for violating social and moral codes of conduct.  On February 23d of 2008, Pakistan blocked YouTube because of “offensive material” towards the Islamic faith, including display of the Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad  On January 24th of 2010, Libya blocked access to YouTube after it featured videos of riots in the capital and of family members of Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi at parties. The blocking was criticized by Human Rights Watch

This year YouTube was also meant to be banned in Russia. The court in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Khabarovsk region ordered Rosnet, a local internet provider, to block YouTube. The regional ban was made because YouTube hosted “Russia For Russians”, an ultra-nationalist video which was added to the justice ministry's federal list of banned extremist materials after a separate court decision in Samara region in November. Google (The owner of YouTube web-page) has understood it as an attempt to violate human right for information, but afterwards removed the 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube 4 The same source video from the page. And the video-channel always has trouble in clarifying if material is forbidden propaganda or consequence of right for freedom of expression.

The effect of YouTube on politics has risen rapidly because sometimes a content of the recordings can cause a big political scandal due to revelation of hidden information. Many media sources find interesting material on YouTube and then publish it as a new scandal. There are many examples of soldiers dancing next to prisoners in Iraq or Afghanistan or even implementing violence on them. And not only military people or officials sometimes get trapped, but also ordinary people become victims of their own videos.

Religious scandals always follow YouTube since it has become an open arena for expression of religious views also. But it also can take to extreme. In October 2010, U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner urged YouTube to take down from its website videos of imam Anwar al- Awlaki, who is close to the accused attempted Times Square bomber, and on the U.S. targeted killing list. In November 2010, YouTube removed from its site some of the hundreds of videos by al-Awlaki's whose speeches were calling for jihad.

YouTube in recent years has become a platform for political campaigning through providing political representatives with an unlimited option of video broadcasting. America’s 2008 presidential campaign has been called a “YouTube election” because of the candidate’s activity on the internet for their speeches. The CNN-YouTube presidential debates were a series of televised debates in which United States presidential candidates field questions submitted through the social networking site YouTube. The Democratic Party installment took place on July 23, 2007. The Republican Party installment took place on November 28, 2007.

As much as YouTube can be a pal of politicians, as much it can also be an enemy for them. Not everyone is able to say all right things all the time and remember saying them afterwards, but YouTube will never let forget. For example, Sen. John McCain had a career worth moment: “Remember that old Beach Boys song, bomb Iran. Bomb. Bomb. Bomb”. The Republican presidential candidate was just having fun with friends in South Carolina. But his comments got played over and over again on YouTube and became a story picked up by the mainstream media. “You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking,” said Joe Biden last July.

The investigation of murder of 47-year old lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg in Guatemala City in May 2010 has had a drastic change after finding his video on YouTube. He recorded a video blaming his assassination on President Ålvaro Colom and other senior officials. After the video surfaced the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, a UN panel set up to combat current organized crime and illegal security groups, launched an investigation supported by local prosecutors. After having such a twist, the investigation say that Rosenberg masterminded his own murder to frame the president. A UN investigation has concluded the lawyer, depressed over personal problems and angry with the government, sacrificed his own life in an elaborate sting.

There are many examples of YouTube having an impact on human lives all over the world from high commissioners to ordinary teachers.

4) Conclusion

According to the statement in introduction a “YouTube” phenomena can be acknowledged as a global actor since: - It is an independent source of information that is not suppressed by external environment - It has an impact not only on local level of human relationship, but also on high level of inter- state and inter-actor relations - YouTube is a liberal source that has no discrimination against political, personal views, race, religion or sex - YouTube policy restrictions are guided by universal moral standards that declared in international official documentation.

5) Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN-YouTube_presidential_debates http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube http://faculty.ucc.edu/egh-damerow/global_actors.htm

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