Taking power through technology in the Arab Spring

The Internet can make that which is on the opposite end of the world seem very local. Yet this can both distort or amplify reality. For example, while the recent “Innocence of Muslims” video served as a catalyst for the dissatisfaction felt toward the lack of Western support toward the Arab world, the protests and riots would not have occurred without YouTube and Vimeo. The ways by which newer and older media come together can turn slander into reality, changing what counts as truth in today’s world.

This raises a key question: Have the revolutions of the Arab Spring done more for social media than vice versa? After two years of fieldwork in Egypt, I have learned the ‘digital war’ is here to stay in Egypt. From 70+ year old military generals’ use of Facebook to release announcement, to the Muslim Brotherhood’s use of hackers, leaders from the entire range of Egypt’s political factions are striving for the upper hand in this fight.

We may forever debate the importance of social media in the uprisings of 2011 in the Arab world’s most populous nation. Some argue that social media empowered activists to coordinate and communicate the actions that sparked the revolt. Others, in contrast, argue that social media was a double-edged sword, and in some cases prevented activists from directly confronting the old regime. Skeptics point out that regimes are effective at using technologies to spy and subvert, citing Iran’s Green Revolution of 2009. Further, they argue that less than 5% of Egyptians use Facebook and/or Twitter. ‘Hiding behind one’s laptop’ or ‘being an IPad activist’ are the types of pejorative statements I hear in my interviews with activists and organizers over the past two years. I have also noted that a reliance on social media technologies often makes ‘real’ that which may not exist for most or any, as was the case with the “Innocence of Muslims” video. Those popular on Twitter to speak about Egypt for example may not even be in Egypt, yet are often widely re-tweeted and used as sources by some journalists, given the 24 hour news-cycle. Scholars and critics understand that revolutions happen in waves, and that at certain early stages social media technologies play a more salient role.