Social Media Soldiers, the Arab Uprising

Harmony Tapper | September 13th

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With the introduction of social media through MySpace society has drastically changed.  Although MySpace has died a slow and painful death, Facebook has become the new dominant social media outlet with the help of Twitter propelling internet-based communication outside of the stratosphere.  How far is social media reaching?  It’s not only shaping relationships and elections, it’s shaping the course of entire nations, giving those looking for a voice of their own an outlet of expression and bringing together people with similar ideas and visions.
The Arab Spring, as it’s now known, was the start of a cataclysmic shift in the shape of the Middle East.  While the political demarcation lines between states remain the same, it is what is inside that has largely changed – for the better or worse we have yet to truly see.  Now it’s time for a quick time out to explain something very important, yet often overlooked:
Uprisings are not solely due to social media.  It would be impossible for Facebook or Twitter to ignite a nation to rise against their leaders.  Before social media helped bring together like-minded people, the citizens of Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, and Libya were already deeply oppressed, although each in different ways and with different types of governments.  High unemployment of young adults in Tunisia and Egypt helped to drive those uprisings, while deeply imbedded repressions of freedom by the leaders of Libya and Syria helped to drive the people to stand up against their leadership – with deadly consequences.

Protesters at Tahrir Square in Egypt stand near graffiti celebrating Facebook. Photo by Reuters/Steve Crisp

The news media, in 2009, was quick to label the budding Iranian protests a “Twitter revolution,” which Nancy Scola of The American Prospect believes is what has resulted with commentators holding back that title with Tunisia: “emphasizing that the uprising is a product of passions and convictions of Tunisia’s people, not a 140-character status update.”
James Buck and Melissa Bell of The Washington Post wrote about the various incidents that led to the uprising; WikiLeaks had opened the door to the “lavish lifestyle of the ruling party members, while unemployment, rising food prices and corruption took their toll on the country.”  Some say it was the story of Mohamed Bouazizi, a  26 year old computer science graduate who couldn’t find a job, who in reaction to being beaten by the police for selling vegetables without a permit set himself on fire as a form of protest.  The story of Mohamed spread like wildfire across the Twitter-sphere drawing attention to the issues facing the people.  Similarly to those in Tunisia, Egypt would soon find it’s imminent ruler – Hosni Mubarak – unfavorable among the people no longer afraid to speak with their voices.  Regardless, “For the first time in history, a social movement could be observed in real-time as it spread, coalesced around ideas, and grew exponentially in size and scale across the Internet.”
While the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia were relatively quick, and while somewhat violent the term “civil war” was never uttered the same cannot be said for Libya and Syria.  It took American intervention to put an end to the civil war in Libya and to remove (and kill) long-standing despot leader, Muammar el-Qaddafi.  Twitter streamed in real-time the events as they actually unfolded, while Al-Jamahiriya, “the Libyan state-owned television channel, was broadcasting nonstop patriotic songs, poetry recitations and rowdy rallies supporting the Libyan leader.”  One particularly well-travelled tweet reads, “#Qaddafi is at war with #Libya as we speak, helicopters, troops, thugs, security & foreign mercenaries all against unarmed protestors #Feb17,” from ShababLibya.
Perhaps it is ironic that the nation most indebted to social media and their uprising against their leader is also the one that has suffered the longest for their uprising.  Syria has slipped into a civil war that has led to tens of thousands of people fleeing its borders for the perceived safety of Jordan, Turkey, Iran and Iraq.
“A few miles from the advancing tanks of President Bashar al-Assad’s army, a young Syrian pledged to leave the safety of a Turkish border town and make a perilous return to his homeland.  This twenty-something dissident, his eyes blazing with courage, was preparing to join the struggle against an obdurate and pitiless dictator.”   When asked how he was going to speed the downfall of the ruthless Assad regime? “He would tweet, text, blog and Skype, to ensure that the outside world knew the terrible reality of Assad’s rule.”
The world has witnessed through these social media soldiers the brutality and the extreme lengths that the Assad regime will go to destroy the uprising, blindly killing anyone who happens to be having the sour luck to be in the way.  “The Syrian uprising should be the kind of story that takes social media by storm.  It has extraordinary acts of resistance, ordinary citizens fighting for freedom, and the Internet’s power to break through a government’s wall of silence.”  Emily Parker, of Slate, puts if bluntly, “the Bashar Assad regime has been violently cracking down on its opponents.  The fallout has ben tweeted, Skyped, photographed, and filmed.  But it has not captured the collective social media imagination the same way as uprisings past.”  Why is it now that images of babies maimed and the lined up bodies of dead children ignored so easily? The world has stood quietly by, choose not to intervene for whatever reason allows them to sleep at night while innocent children die, and yet these dissidents continue to risk life and limb by posting the truth for all to see.  Or, have we seen so much of the bloody uprising that it no longer means anything to us, much like car accidents or murder scenes from movies.
Yet, unlike Tunisia, Egypt, and even Libya, Syria’s fight still continues, and the regime, while having a few shaky moments last month, is still concretely in power while also having the most number of social media soldiers showing the world what is happening everyday.  It all boils down to one question: “Does Syria’s uprising need more technologically savvy multimedia activists? Or – to be blunt – does it require more people inside the country blowing things up?”