Internet is now the forum for debating issues

Tobacco and alcohol are certainly amongst the substances that have the potential to be most harmful for youth. They can create addicts, sickness and poverty. Of late, there have been significant political pushes to regulate these substances further, with plain packaging for tobacco becoming a likely prospect and a vote to raise the drinking age to 20 on Thursday of this week.

However, while politicians have pushed, the opponents of these bills have pushed back through what is fast becoming the most effective political medium in existence: the internet.

Political issues are now, more than ever before, present and prominent in cyberspace. The power of the internet to mobilise support for or against a particular issue is immense, particularly with regard to issues that have ramifications for Generation Y.

The passing into law of plain packaging for tobacco in Australia has made the prospect all the more real here in New Zealand. In response, tobacco heavyweights British American Tobacco have launched a comprehensive online campaign, featuring slick advertisements talking of their rights to market their products just like any other producer.

Philip Morris, a cigarette company controlling 15.6 per cent of the international cigarette market outside the US, recently launched a website called 'My Opinion Counts.' The website aims to provide a framework for smokers concerned at the ever increasing regulation of the industry to voice their concerns. Issues such as the continual rise of excise taxes on tobacco, bans on smoking outside, the concealing of tobacco displays and the prospect of plain packaging evoke strong opposition from not only the companies that profit from it, but also those who enjoy the cigarettes. It is becoming apparent that the internet is one of the best ways to centralise these opinions.

These are websites which have not only channelled opposition to the regulation, but have also spawned other opportunities for the companies to voice their concerns, due to radio and television interviews on any number of stations being initiated as a result of the publicity created by the web campaigns. At the very least they make the issue a more legitimate debate, rather than being one which people see as 'a no brainer.'

Similarly, as the vote on the alcohol purchasing age nears (at the time of writing it had not taken place) campaign group 'Keep it 18,' a coalition of the youth wings of Parliament's major political parties, appear to have done a fantastic job of alerting concerned teens and young adults to the impending vote. It was as simple as releasing a photo requesting that members share the page: "Help us get 20,000 likes - Keep it 18."

It was as simple as that, and within a few days the target had been achieved. Not only does that sort of activity indicate to politicians the opposition that exists to this policy, but it also provides a network to discuss the issue, to voice the concerns, and to explain to other youth why changing the age could be so harmful.

The nature of these online campaigns is that they appeal to the sector of society most plugged in to the internet: youth. They make political issues accessible, and they make having a view accessible. No longer do you have to sit down and write a strongly worded letter to your MP or to the newspaper; now you can simply post a comment on the campaign website, or fill out one of the direct email forms to send to an MP.

The same growth in online political debate can be seen in the prominence of blogging in New Zealand. KiwiBlog author David Farrar was named the fourth most powerful person in New Zealand in 2009 by the NZ Listener, such is the influence he has established, largely through his blog.

The best politicians will be those that embrace this medium of communication themselves. The way for them to turn the tide in their favour when campaigns on the internet create such opposition is for them to actively partake in that online debate. The benefits of that will be great, and will amplify both the support and opposition that exists regarding political issues. Increased dialogue, verbal or virtual, is surely a positive outcome particularly amongst a generation who is typically the least politically engaged in society.

Of course, there are dangers to the simplification of issues that inevitably occurs when issues are compressed into a headline or twitter posting on the internet. The 'Kony 2012' campaign is a great example of this.

What that example also demonstrated, however, is that common rational sentiment and, crucially, information will triumph in the long run. The tide turned, rightly, against the Kony 2012 campaign not because the myths were dispelled on talk shows or in the houses of parliament. It was because informed individuals took to Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and the world wide web themselves and voiced their disagreement in the same manner; with brevity, accessibility and conviction.

James Penn is deputy head boy at Wanganui High School and is captain of the New Zealand secondary schools debating team.