Nowadays it's being used for good there, as well:<p><a href="http://www.labenevolencija.org/en/current-activities/great-lakes-reconciliation-radio/projects/rwanda/programs-activities/soap.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.labenevolencija.org/en/current-activities/great-l...</a><p>A friend of mine is doing some research with them, and I've had the pleasure of meeting several people involved with the organization here in Holland.<p>They use a dramatic soap-opera format to follow the lives of some characters during a horrible series of events, their experiences, conflicts, etc. Something like 90% of radio-owners in Rwanda listens to the program regularly.<p>The goal is to teach how cycles of violence can be cut short, to lend a platform so that people can think about and discuss their experiences, and to help give tools to individuals to help deal with the psychological trauma that nearly everyone there shares.
The sad thing is, 16 years after the Rwandan genocide, most of the countries in Eastern and Central Africa are unstable and deeply divided between tribal lines and are fast heading towards becoming failed states. Kenya is a good example; after the 2007 General elections burst into chaos fueled by Private Ethnic Radio stations and SMS messages.<p>If nothing is going to be done soon, either Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda or DRC will fall into genocide preetty soon. My bet is on Kenya during the 2012 General Elections.<p>The radio stations there are starting to sound as Radio Rwanda. The first thing someone asks you is your tribe!<p>Sanctions need to be imposed on the leaders of this countries or else the Rwandan genocide will look like a Christmas party.
What is more dangerous in my opinion is the use of the internet for spreading mistruths that could lead to terrible consequences. On a much lower level you see countless facebook groups protesting against things which are untrue as well as false rumours perpetuating on twitter and other social networking sites with no level of moderation. Virtually all of this has been relatively benign so far but this could quite easily go the other way. However, the internet does have the advantage that people generally take it with a "pinch of salt". Nevertheless Voltaire's quote could still ring true one day:<p><i>Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.</i>
While I not only concede but actively promote this to be an important issue, I nonetheless question that it belongs on HN. It's not something that, in the words of the guidelines, gratifies my intellectual curiosity.<p>The problem is, for technical people who are in a community whose members they respect, where else can they go to discuss things like this?
This is one of the canonical "technology is not always a positive" stories. (I know, radios don't kill people, people kill people, but radios make people damn more <i>efficient</i> at killing people.)