The Arab Spring: The "Social Media Revolution"?

-- By AliAbid - 07 Dec 2024

Introduction

In 2011, as I sat through my world history class learning about the various revolutions of the past, I never thought I would be watching one happen with my own eyes. I remember logging onto Facebook and Twitter and seeing hundreds of posts showcasing a wave of Egyptian citizens gathered to protest their government. Thousands of miles away, I was seeing a resistance movement develop through the dissemination of the internet. At the time, I did not fully understand their cause but from what my world history class taught, revolutions usually spurred from oppression.

The Egyptian Revolution was not an isolated occurrence. It was part of a greater series of uprisings and protests across North Africa and the Middle East known as the Arab Spring. These uprisings sought justice and freedom from the authoritarian regimes so common to the Arab world. Often referred to as the “social media revolution”, the internet was a unifying force for the Arab Spring movement. It was a space where resistance flourished. The internet amplified voices from the streets of Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria and echoed them across the world. While there were positive aspects of the internet’s role in the movement, it also exposed the inequalities of access and the fragility of online activism. This is precisely why some criticize the labeling of the Arab Spring as a “social media revolution”. It was a revolution by the people, that was amplified and sometimes constrained by the internet.

The Digital Spark

The story of the Arab Spring starts with Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor who sold fruits and vegetables in Tunisia. The local police confiscated his weight scales and gave him the reason of not being properly licensed to sell his goods. While this seems like a reasonable justification in western countries, this was just another common act of corruption to try and get bribes out of people. This is further supported by Bouazizi going to the provincial government building in Tunis to try and rectify the issue but getting denied without even a chance to explain his issue. Feeling humiliated and seeing no way to combat the corruption in his country, he decided to commit one final act of defiance. In December 2010, he went in front of the same provincial government building that denied him entrance and set himself on fire. The internet became the force that carried the weight of his story. Facebook and Twitter posts shared his final moments, spurring a collective realization for millions facing their own struggles with dignity and survival in the Arab world. In this way, the internet became a vital tool to unveil the dissatisfaction shared by people across the region. In Tunisia, thousands gathered in the center of Tunis to demand the resignation of President Ben Ali. This mass mobilization resulted in Ben Ali resigning and fleeing to Saudi Arabia in January 2011.

In Egypt, another tragedy sparked an uprising. In June 2010, a young man Khaled Said, was arrested in an internet café in Alexandria. The detectives that arrested him proceeded to heinously beat Said to death, even continuing to beat him after the point of his death. Said’s brother posted a picture of the brutal state of Khaled’s body online and the public outcry was immense. A Facebook page memorializing his life called “We Are All Khaled Said”, went viral. This page became a hub for Egyptians to share their negative experiences and sentiments of the government and its officials. Similarly, the internet and social media became a digital forum to organize protests. On Twitter, the hashtag #Jan25 became a rallying cry to coordinate protests at Cairo’s gathering central, Tahrir Square. Tens of thousands of people gathered there protesting the autocratic regime and demanded change. In February 2011, after almost thirty years in power, President Hosni Mubarak stepped down.

The Digital Limits

As these movements spread online, the limitations of the internet as a revolutionary force were exposed. The internet in the Arab Spring, was not a perfect equalizer. It amplified some voices but left others unheard. Digital access mirrored existing inequalities in the region. In rural areas where internet infrastructure was limited and among women in more conservative areas with strict limitations over public participation, access to the platforms that drove these uprisings was often constrained.

Digital spaces are also not free from state control. While they were tools of liberation for those seeking change, they were also tools of oppression for those in power. The Egyptian government used the very same social media platforms protesters used to mobilize, to monitor and arrest activists. In Syria, the Assad regime spread disinformation online and sought to hack dissidents to spread fear and uncertainty. The ramifications of the parasite and the God’s eye were used here to quell and limit online revolutions. The actions of the oppressive regimes and the hopeful protesters showcase an interesting paradox. The internet for one side could be viewed as a liberating force but could also be used as a tool of oppression for the authoritarian regimes.

As the uprisings progressed, it became clear that the internet’s ability to spark movements did not guarantee their success. In countries like Libya and Syria, the movement for change gave way to civil war. In Egypt, the military reasserted its control after Mubarak’s resignation, and the country entered another era of political repression. This trajectory raises questions about the limits of modern revolutions, digital or otherwise.

Conclusion

The Arab Spring was driven by ordinary people demanding dignity and change. The internet played a critical role, but it cannot be considered the cause or the solution here. It amplified voices and connected people but reflected the same inequalities and contradictions reflected in the Arab world.

The legacy of the Arab Spring is both inspiring and cautionary. It showed the internet’s power to challenge entrenched regimes and unite marginalized voices. But it also revealed the fragility of movements that rely too heavily on online platforms.

Works Cited

https://www.internetjustsociety.org/internet-arab-spring

https://journalistsresource.org/economics/research-arab-spring-internet-key-studies/

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/12/17/remembering-mohamed-bouazizi-his-death-triggered-the-arab

https://www.washington.edu/news/2011/09/12/new-study-quantifies-use-of-social-media-in-arab-spring/

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2021/1/27/the-social-media-myth-about-the-arab-spring

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1940161212471716

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