American International Journal of Social Science

Web 2.0 and National Security Strategies: Similarities Between and Perspectives on Spain and Ecuador. The Cases of #15M and #30S
Fredy Rivera Vélez, Gilda Alicia Guerrero Salgado

Abstract
Internet is a political space and scenery for collective action. It influences and reproduces the events that occur on the “offline reality”. Hence, the cyberspace has become a battlefield where the integrity of the State can be questioned or even harmed. Occasionally, these characteristics are considered threats to the State which intervenes, legislates, monitors or blocks the communication. This phenomenon, called the securitization of the Web, will be studied through the analysis and comparison of two cases that were discussed and even created in the social media: the attempted coup d'état on September 30, 2010 in Ecuador and the 15M movement in Spain. By analizing the legal and social discourses over these events, this article points out how the State is trying to protect its interest and structure (securitize) in order to maintain its power, force and integrity; everything in the name of the national security.

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