"Silencing murderous messages is not as easy as it sounds"

Source: The Economist, July 23, 2009

Last year, as Kenya faced crisis, radio was used to encourage tribes to participate in ethnic cleansing. In the Rwandan genocide, radio was also used to target individuals and groups for attack and murder.

In an era of drones and spy satellites, it may seem odd that crude simple radio transmitters can still make huge mischief. But the scale and sophistication of broadcasting has mutated downwards as well as upwards. In the mid-20th century, totalitarian dictators found national radio stations were a handy way to foment hate and fear; and non-state actors (from communist guerrillas to churches) have been using radio for almost as long. In recent years the medium has been exploited in ever darker ways by petty warlords as well as by big-time tyrants.