Facebook and the Arab Revolutions Gabe Steinmeyer

“Online we could be anonymous” ~ Foetus (Takriz’s CTO) Facebook and the Arab Revolutions 1998-2008 “Facebook” - Term used to refer to all things social on the Internet. Since most regimes controlled other forms of media, the Internet became the only viable option for organization. 1998-2001: Anti-regime groups in Tunisia started using the Internet Takriz (Cyber Think-Tank, 1998) SuXydelik (First Arab-African social network, 2000) TuneZine (Political Webzine and forum, 2001) 2008: fewer than 30,000 Tunisians had Facebook Tunisia ranked below Iran and China in terms of Internet Freedom “Online we could be anonymous” ~ Foetus (Takriz’s CTO)

~ Ahmed Maher (Leader of “April 6th Movement”) Facebook and the Arab Revolutions The Emergence of Facebook Early Egyptian organizers relied on leaflets, blogs, and Internet forums. First Egyptian anti-regime Facebook group gained 3,000 new fans a day Key Turning Points: Egypt: June 6th 2010 Khaled Said Tunisia: December 17th 2010 Mohamed Bouazizi Usage of Facebook and Youtube skyrocketed. By end of 2009 more than 800,000 Tunisians used Facebook. By 2011 1.97 Million users in Tunisia “We didn’t think about Facebook in the beginning because [to us] it was very new,” ~ Ahmed Maher (Leader of “April 6th Movement”)

Facebook and the Arab Revolutions Facebook Meets the Streets Protestors used Facebook, Mumble, Twitter, Youtube, and Foursquare to: Meet Organize protests Upload picture and videos Inform about future demonstrations Facebook became “the GPS for this revolution” “Without the street there’s no revolution” “Add Facebook to the street and you get real potential” “We were online every day, and on the streets pretty much every day, collecting information, collecting videos, organizing protests, getting into protests.” ~ Foetus

Facebook and the Arab Revolutions What was the Role of Facebook Two roles could have been played: Main Instigator of Revolution Tool of Reform Facts: Facebook is where people saw and shared horrifying videos and photographs of state brutality that inspired them to rebel. Social Media enabled people to find the basic logistics of the protests. Where to go? When to show up?

Facebook and the Arab Revolutions Role of Facebook “Facebook is what guided the protests, but the true vehicle for change was the protests themselves.” ~ Foetus “Before this social-media revolution, everyone was very individual, very single, very isolated and oppressed in islands. But social media has created bridges to speak out, to know that there are other men who think like me. We can work together, we can make something together.” ~ Hassan Mostafa (Egyptian Activist)

Facebook and the Arab Revolutions Discussion How significant a role did Social Media play in the Arab Revolutions? How does the diffusion of Technology assist Revolution? How does Poverty impede Revolution?

Facebook and the Arab Revolutions Sources http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/09/so-was-facebook-responsible-for-the-arab-spring-after-all/244314/ http://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/designprocess/files/2012/08/TheNational_FacebookandTwitterKeytoArabSpringUprising.pdf http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/425137/streetbook/ http://dayan.org/sites/default/files/SILSBEE_BEN_SOCIAL_MEDIA_TANOTES_260812.pdf http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14747731.2011.621287 http://facultyfiles.deanza.edu/gems/kaufmancynthia/Saletan.pdf