US hails social media sites

Describing this new media as a necessary tool of diplomacy, Senior Advisor for Innovation in the Office of Secretary of State, Alec Ross, told journalists in Washington that through such media sites, the US government could understand what people think and feel about certain issues.

Ross cited the positive role played by social media in responding to tragedies such as the Haiti disaster and the ongoing Mexico drug war in Mexico.

'A few hours after the Haiti tragedy, the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton was somewhere around the Caribbean and we thought of how we could have people donate about $10. That night we set up the whole program and approached the secretary of state (Hillary Clinton) who readily agreed (with the program) the next day more than 300 million US citizens donated more than 30 million dollars,' he said.

Referring to the Mexico narcotics violence where drug-lords have been causing havoc by killing people, Ross said they have realized that people in Mexico are afraid of reporting crime to the police because of fear of retribution. Once again, said Ross, the US used the social media and created a crime-reporting program to 'an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) that analyses the information and publishes it. Then the police will arrive in a few minutes at the scene. They would then report back what they found in the program,' he said.

He revealed that the last time US president Barrack Obama gave a speech, they set a program for an answer and question session where journalists from across Africa posed questions to the president.

When a Pakistani journalist, Saadia Qamar wanted to know how the social media can help in Pakistan's war against terrorism, Ross said the social network creates a safe space 'where instead of giving a speech at a town square and risk being killed, one just writes a message on anti-terrorism. It's a way of elevating and empowering these voices so they can feel safe,' he said.Responding to questions on press freedom and the Google clampdown in China, the official said that the US has issued a strong response, consistent with 'our view of freedom of speech. More than 30 US companies were cyber-attacked,' he said.

Ross however stated that the US would not play the role of negotiator between China and Google, 'because we are not a foreign policy wing of Google. The reason we got involved is that about 30 US companies were cyber-attacked,' he said.