Schmidt: Internet Will Determine Next Election

November 30, 2006

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The most recent round of elections had a lot of people thinking about the Internet’s role in politics. Most onlookers agree that it is becoming increasingly important; Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, believes that politicians must adapt. “The ones that take advantage of this most effectively will be the ones that will be the winners of the next election,” he said.

Schmidt was speaking in front of a group of Republican governors. (This is interesting in and of itself, since Google has long been accused of having a liberal bias.) “The truth,” he told the gathering, “emerges much faster on the internet but falsehoods also propagate more quickly.”

The Google CEO, according to a Reuters report, cited the FBI surveillance tape of John Murtha that showed up on YouTube. Filmed in the ‘70s, the video (there’s a second part to it) shows Murtha turning down a bribe by saying “I want to deal with you guys a while before I make any transactions.” As you can see from the YouTube comments sections, “the truth” concerning that situation is hotly contested, but it seems to have torpedoed Murtha’s run for majority leader.

As Schmidt’s comments indicate, Google seems to have politics on the brain, and its focus has increased over the past month or so. The Google Earth Election Guide, which “serves as an easily accessible resource for users to find information about candidates, voter registration, and campaign financing,” launched on October 23. And let’s not forget the company’s political action committee, netPAC.

Of course, as much as the politicians may come to depend on the Internet, the Internet, in a sense, depends on them. Our own Jason Lee Miller reported yesterday on the latest news concerning Net Neutrality.

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