The whole world is watching the autonomous region of Spain in Catalonia, fighting for its right to be a sovereign nation. Can the technology behind the crypto-currency revolution play a role in ensuring the security of voters?
On October 1, 2017, more than 2 million Catalans voted to secede from Spain and become an independent country. The Spanish government said that the holding of such a referendum was illegal, triggering a wave of unrest heavily suppressed by the police.
Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy denied that a referendum took place at all.
"Today, all the Spaniards have seen that in our country the rule of law remains in force and stops those who want to undermine it," the minister said.
The brutality of the reaction of the Spanish government has caused international condemnation. In particular, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zayed Ra'ad al-Hussein, said:
"I am very worried about the act of violence that was committed in Catalonia this Sunday. Since hundreds of people have reported injuries, I urge the Spanish authorities to ensure a thorough, independent and impartial investigation of all acts of violence. The police response must always be proportionate and necessary. I firmly believe that the current situation should be resolved through political dialogue, with full respect for democratic freedoms. I call on the Government of Spain to urgently accept the requests of the relevant United Nations human rights experts to visit the country. "
Problem
- Catalonia, whose economy can roughly be compared with Finland or Portugal, is located in the northeast of Spain and is for the most part famous for its Mediterranean beach resort of Costa Brava, the Pyrenees mountains and the city of Barcelona. In the region there are 7.5 million people who have preserved their own traditions, language and culture. Spanish nationalists claim that Catalonia has been a Spanish province since the 13th century, and the Catalans carefully guard their special identity and disagree with this statement.
- Both sides use history to back up their arguments, and the truth must be established by diplomats and lawyers. Until then, violent disputes related to the referendums in Catalonia can be leveled by the use of transparent technology. At moments when truth is perceived as relative, the key is the trust in the data. Blocking can be a solution for two main reasons.
Reason number 1: information control
Technology blockade can provide Catalonia with technical means to circumvent the total control of information from the Spanish government. It will allow people to more effectively organize and present to the world a more united opposition. Coordination of time, dates and locations is important for any movement that relies on mass numbers for the success of an enterprise. Blocking technology can support open communication lines, fighting censorship of the Internet. Moreover, the information recorded in the blockroom is decentralized. This means that physical voting booths can be replaced with software, and voting can be conducted remotely, thereby eliminating the need for mass meetings that are the target of repressive governments.
Reason # 2: Trust in data
- Blockade provides a reliable means to overcome the problem of ignoring the struggle for the independence of an entire people. In this regard, the technology of blockades can be viewed as a tactical tool that supports the observance of democratic principles. The data stored on the blockroom can be raised and checked mathematically.
- This eliminates the possibility of refuting election results or manipulating data in support of unreasonable conclusions or illustrating biased history. Voices can be counted in a matter of seconds, and results can be immediately transmitted worldwide. Without the ability to argue with the data, layers of prejudiced abstraction are removed, related to cultural disputes, such as in Catalonia. The voting system on the blockbuster will require the Spanish government to recognize the results of the vote of 2.3 million people, instead of trying to rewrite history, as it is today.
