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Firas Al-Atraqchi
Assoc. Professor of Practice in Journalism at
January 14, 2011
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/firas-alatraqchi/tunisias-revolution-was-t_b_809131.html
In what could be a sign of how social media is
reshaping politics in the Middle East and
Tunisian protesters turned to Twitter to broadcast
information on their popular revolt against the
government's economic and media policies.
Videos of street clashes in Tunisian towns were
broadcast on YouTube before some were taken down,
minute-by-minute updates on the number of casualties
were retweeted, and reports on the political situation
as it unraveled kept Arab audiences mesmerized.
Bechir Blagui, who runs the Free Tunisia website, says
that people have tossed around different names for this "revolution."
"They called it the jasmine revolt, Sidi Bouzid revolt,
Tunisian revolt... but there is only one name that does
justice to what is happening in the homeland
media revolution, or back home, better called the
Facebook revolution," Blagui said.
He says that in the absence of traditional media -
government bans on reporting and the jailing of
independent journalists like Fahem Boukaddous -
Tunisians resorted to their cell phones and going
online to document the history of their nation in the
past four weeks.
"Combined with Twitter, this helped on the ground
organization of massive crowds from around small towns
in remote areas. It was crucial for the organizing
effort," Blagui added.
Nasser Weddady, a civil rights outreach director for
the American Islamic Congress who has been closely
monitoring events in
social media didn't cause the popular uprising, its
most important role was to inform the outside world of
the protests, the number killed in clashes with police, etc.
"At least for the first two weeks, Al Jazeera, and
France24 footage on the events was exclusively provided
by Tunisian social media users and aggregators like
Nawaat [a Tunisian dissident group]. Twitter was more
crucial in informing foreign observers and
journalists," said Weddady, who is also an anti-slavery
activist and Twitter user.
"But the bulk of the action took place on Facebook with
the government aggressively harvesting users passwords
through phishing attacks and shutting down user
accounts with video and info about the events," he said.
Other media analysts say social media filled the gap
left empty by most mainstream media in the West, which
they say were too slow to report on the situation.
Nir Rosen, a Fellow at the
on Law and University, tweeted
ignoring uprising in
crackdown. If it was in
the Tunisian Neda."
On January 14, Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben
Ali dissolved his government, called for legislative
elections in six months and promised not to run in
2014. But this did not quiet public anger and the
president fled
Houeida Anouar, a young Tunisian woman, tweeted
have never been so proud of being Tunisian!"
In the hours leading up to Ben Ali's flight from the
country, there was a flurry of activity on social media networks.
Sami ben Gharbia, a Tunisian living in Germany,
tweeted
UNESCO has resigned and announced his resignation on
local French radio in
He later tweeted - and posted a video link - that
police snipers had been shooting at protesters in the
capital
Other Arab civil rights activists have been monitoring
both the momentum and the impact of the Tunisian
experience with some hoping for similar reforms in
their countries.
Mona El Tahawy, a columnist and public speaker on Arab
affairs, tweeted that "Every Arab leader is watching
in hope and solidarity."
Aalmasri, a Jordanian Twitter user, tweeted
will be more blood. Stay strong Tunisian brothers and sisters!"
Jihan Ibrahim, an activist for media and political
reform in
tweeted "This revolution was Twitterized."
On December 31, I wrote that social media will become a
serious threat to governments which stifle freedom of
expression and pursue flawed economic - often corrupt - policies.
By publishing online -- and dissenting in 140
characters or less -- journalists in the
and
This is likely to grow in the next decade as more in
the
much-needed makeover.
The Tunisian experience indicates that the
and
of war between media reformists and the public on the
one front and repressive policy-makers and
authoritarian figures on the other.
Weddady, believes that such power in social media could
push other Arab governments to "step up their
restrictions in light of what is happening in
a country that was a model in terms of efficient
repression online and offline."
But tonight there is a state of euphoria in
Blagui says the road will still be tough and there will
be mistakes but Tunisians are ready for it.
"We will build it and we will do it on our own. I see a
progression of civil society meetings, adjustment of
the constitution to limit powers of the president and
give absolute freedom to political parties and to
people's rights to associate and gather," he said.
"I see fresh elections that will reflect the will of
the people and I see a peaceful process that will
reflect people's acute awareness of democracy and how
it works."
Follow Firas Al-Atraqchi on Twitter
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