BOOK EXCERPT | Online Activism in the Middle East: Political Power and Authoritarian Governments from Egypt to Kuwait

Abstract

25 January—Tahrir Square Freedom—Facebook Does the Internet facilitate social and political change, or even democratization, in the Middle East? The subject of this inquiry is the use of online platforms among activists in the Middle East, and the importance of such platforms in effecting change. The topic has received wide attention over the past few years, not least following the so-called ‘Arab Spring.’ The story of a generation of young, tech-savvy activists utilizing Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms to bring Egypt’s dictator of 30 years to his knees is a powerful narrative, and one which to varying degrees has been embraced by the news media and others. As illustrated in the statement above, taken from a T-shirt sold in Cairo, the part played by social media has been celebrated in Egypt as well. Yet this view also has its critics. The Egyptian revolution had manifold causes, including corruption, police brutality, unemployment, low salaries, and poor prospects: realities faced by all Egyptians regardless of whether or not they had a Facebook account. Moreover, as Egyptian blogger Tarek Shalaby pointed out, ‘it all comes down to taking streets,’ and the over 800 people killed during the revolution did not die online. The use of various online platforms was highly visible during the 18 days of the Egyptian revolution, but visibility does not equal impact. Rather, it raises several crucial questions: Did people use social media, when available, during and before the revolution? If so, what did they do online? Was it online platforms that tilted the balance in favor of the revolution? And what about the other, less dramatic but still highly influential, campaigns that activists have led in the Middle East over the past few years in which the use of online platforms was also a very visible factor: How important were blogs to the successful campaign for electoral reform in Kuwait in 2006? Could police torture have been exposed as convincingly in Egypt without YouTube? Was the Iranian uprising in 2009 a ‘Twitter-revolution,” or rather a revolution for Twitter? In short, what can and what cannot be attributed to the Internet, and what has the Internet introduced into the relationship between people and democratization in the Middle East?