Croatia’s Social Democratic Party walked out of parliament after Interior Minister Ivica Kirin levied accusations of posting clips showing him in a poor light to YouTube. It’s not exactly the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, but it’s an indication of the impact YouTube is having on politics worldwide.
The use of the Godfather theme in the above clip of Kirin is classic, and there’s definitely a soap opera element to it all. The video has over 200,000 views, and Croatia is a country of only 4.5 million. The clip, along with others, was posted by YouTube user Bijesprvi, who has a very popular Croatian-language channel.
The news made it Stateside thanks to BoingBoing reader Mrak, who’s done all of the English reporting on the subject I can find so far.
It’s an illustration of how an interesting story from a small country can break internationally thanks to online tools like video-sharing and blogs. And YouTube is clearly a cultural phenomenon over there as well — a tendency to mispronounce YouTube “JuBito” has led to something of a cottage industry in Croatia, according to Mrak.
While everyone debates the impact YouTube will have on politics in the United States, democracy lovers should take note. While it’s not clear who posted the videos, for a country ranked 53rd in press freedom by Reporters Without Borders and which is trying to join the European Union, this kind of unfettered free speech in Croatia is a great sign.
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