Arrested. One word posted to a Twitter account from a cell phone was enough to set of a flurry of international activity. According to the Washington Post, James Karl Buck, a journalism student from UC Berkeley, was arrested in Egypt last week for photographing a labour riot.

That one small message was enough to alert Buck’s friends in the U.S. to his plight and start the process of getting him released. Very quickly, both Berkeley and the U.S. Department got involved which resulted in the release of Buck from the hospitality of Egyptian penal system.

Twitter, which allows users to “communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”  is a series of short messages (less than 140 characters) that act as a very basic status update or miniature blog.

The emergence and spread of technology has created a new era for government transparency. Youtube, cell phones and camera technology mean the borders of countries are now more open to the speculation of the world community. Earlier, Dan wrote a post on the role of citizen journalism in transforming government. In it, he wrote,

So whether it’s the use of YouTube (while under house arrest) or the blogosphere to help bring light to the situation in Pakistan, or the use of mobiles and the Net to help local councils literally fix themselves up, the public is increasingly able to enact greater scrutiny on the activities of government.

Will international scrutiny bring pressure on governments to change their ways? No one can answer for certain but what is certain is that more than ever, the world is watching.