Internet access and its influence on the political participation of people in the State of Johore

Cyberspace applications through alternative media such as blogs, websites, cyber forums, you tube, email, face book and twitter can expand the space for people to express opinions, increase political participation, social mobilization and democracy. In the past, apart from political speach, people obtained information on politics from print media such as newspapers, magazines and books; and electronic media particularly radio and television. However, at present, the internet as a source of information is becoming increasingly important. Internet serves as a cyberspace which is democratic and full of freedom. Accordingly, the purpose of this article to analyze the access and use of internet services and it’s influence on the political participations among people in the state of Johore. Based on a questionnaire survey administered among 3,021 respondents, of which 1,502 respondents were in the Parliamentary constituency of Muar and the remaining 1,519 respondents were in the Parliamentary constituency of Kluang, and field observations, the present study found that the people’s access and use of internet in the study area is quite encouraging, with 54.0 percent in Kluang and 33.7 percent in Muar used internet to obtain political information. However, the searches for political information vary according to educational background, age, ethnicity, gender, income, and occupation. Within the contact of the ‘new politics, issues such as corruption, malpractices and abuse of power now have become the major focus and shout of these alternative media. People especially the IT-literate young generation were no longer influenced by the old political issues such ethnicity, language, religion and locality. The access and use of internet also have influenced the support of young voters, especially those living in urban areas. This has also has a significant impact on the result of the 2008 general election. Nowadays, internet has become one of the important sources of information in Malaysia. The new media will certainly influence the voting pattern of the next general election in the state of Johore.