Monday, January 24, 2011

Tunisia's Revolution Was Twitterized

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Tunisia's Revolution Was Twitterized

 

Firas Al-Atraqchi

Assoc. Professor of Practice in Journalism at American University in Cairo

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 North Africa,

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: Social

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 Tunisia, believes that while

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 New York University Center

on Law and University, tweeted: "Sh**ty western media

ignoring uprising in Tunisia and regime's brutal

crackdown. If it was in Iran? We'll never hear about

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 Tunis later that evening.

 

Houeida Anouar, a young Tunisian woman, tweeted: "I

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: "It is confirmed. Tunisia's Ambassador to

UNESCO has resigned and announced his resignation on

local French radio in Paris."

 

He later tweeted - and posted a video link - that

police snipers had been shooting at protesters in the

capital Tunis. This has not been independently verified.

 

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

Tunisia in fear. Every Arab citizen is watching Tunisia

in hope and solidarity."

 

Aalmasri, a Jordanian Twitter user, tweeted: "There

will be more blood. Stay strong Tunisian brothers and sisters!"

 

Jihan Ibrahim, an activist for media and political

reform in Egypt, has been avidly following events in

Tunisia. A proponent of social media and activism, she

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 Middle East

and North Africa are challenging dominant state institutions.

 

This is likely to grow in the next decade as more in

the Middle East log on and give the media landscape a

much-needed makeover.

 

The Tunisian experience indicates that the Middle East

and North Africa are likely to witness a constant tug

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 Tunisia,

a country that was a model in terms of efficient

repression online and offline."

 

But tonight there is a state of euphoria in Tunisia.

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:

www.twitter.com/firas_atraqchi

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