Networking Rebellion: Digital Policing and Revolt in the Arab Uprisings | The Abolitionist - 0 views
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Because Egyptian television and radio were state-controlled, the internet became a means to publicize the demonstrations and evade state censorship. As a result, the Egyptian and other Arab uprisings have largely been described as a series of “Twitter” or “Facebook” revolutions.
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global democracy, allowing repressed peoples to find each other and network in ways which were previously impossible or too dangerous under authoritarian regimes.
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The disruption of cellphone [sic] coverage and Internet on the 28th exacerbated the unrest in at least three major ways. It implicated many apolitical citizens unaware of or uninterested in the unrest; it forced more face-to-face communication, i.e., more physical presence in streets; and finally it effectively decentralized the rebellion on the 28th through new hybrid communication tactics, producing a quagmire much harder to control and repress than one massive gathering in Tahrir
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While the Egyptian government attempted to use digital technologies as a way to repress the uprisings, networks of activists from around the world quickly mobilized in solidarity with the pro-democracy movement.
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Telecomix, a decentralized organization of Internet activists, quickly organized to provide free fax numbers and dial-up internet access to activists in Egypt so they could publicize the events and demonstrations occurring across the country.
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echnologies still remain an important tool in transmitting information and spreading news of repression.
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The Tor Project, a free piece of software that allows users to anonymously connect to the internet and evade state surveillance, has been critically important in allowing activists to avoid identification and repression.
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digital-information technologies both provide activists with opportunities to communicate and network while also enabling new modes of repression, censorship, and surveillance.
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