EGYPT:
Virtually, Some Real Freedom
Cam McGrath
CAIRO, Oct 2 (IPS) - Egyptians critical of their government are using new media and the Internet to
expose its improprieties and press for social change.
Twitter users in Egypt have provided minute-by-minute coverage of labour
strikes, while Facebook groups are rallying opposition against the ruling
party and its policies. But perhaps the most striking example of new media
activism are the dozens of videos of police brutality - many filmed using
mobile phone cameras - that have been uploaded to blogs and YouTube.
"The Internet has created a new type of activism," says blogger Sherif Abdel
Aziz. "It took the political voice from activists and gave it to the average
citizen."
Internet use is growing rapidly in Egypt as connection costs fall. More than 12
million Egyptians, about 15 percent of the population, are logging on
regularly. And in doing so, they are being exposed to a flood of news and
views outside the sphere of the state-dominated press.
At the same time, says rights lawyer Ahmed Seif, executive director of the
Hisham Mubarak Law Centre, blogs, online forums and social networking
sites are allowing many opposition voices to be heard for the first time.
"Previously, it was very difficult to have dissenting views published in Egypt,"
Seif told IPS. "Now it is the decision of every person to publish, and nobody
needs to wait for an editor to give them the green light - it's all
instantaneous. As a result, during the last five years we've seen more (critical)
material published than ever before."
A report released last year by the government-run Information and Decision
Support Centre (IDSC) put the number of bloggers in Egypt at 160,000. Social
networking site Facebook claims to have over 800,000 members in Egypt,
while Twitter use among Arabs jumped more than 260 percent last quarter.
Activists in particular have been quick to adopt these Internet-based
applications, and often employ multiple platforms.
"I'm a big Twitter fan because it's a very fast medium to disseminate
information," says Hossam El-Hamalawy, a journalist and labour activist. "If I
receive breaking news, I usually Twitter it. And then when I have the time, I'll
sit down and write a proper post for my blog and upload photos to my Flikr
group."
Noha Atef, founder of the human rights blog Torture in Egypt, says the speed
and scale of the Internet make it an effective tool for activism and citizen
journalism.
"It has become impossible for the government to suppress our reports," she
says. "With Twitter, for instance, you can send a message from your mobile
phone in seconds, and they cannot stop it."
In fact, the government could stop it, but appears to have recognised that if it
blocks certain websites, activists will quickly migrate to other sites. At the
same time, engaging in this cat and mouse game would risk aggravating the
millions of Egyptians who are not using these sites for political purposes.
"The Egyptian government has no intention of imposing restrictions on the
political use of the Internet or blocking sites simply because it is aware that
to do so would be futile," says Adel Abdel Sadek, head of Internet and IT
Studies at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. "Besides, many
of these same sites can also be used to support the government's position."
Political analysts point to the role that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube played
in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, with campaigns employing new media
to court younger voters. They argue that in a country like Egypt, where over
half the population is under 25, the ruling party must take a similar approach
or risk alienating the younger segment of society.
The President's son and presumed successor, Gamal Mubarak, recently used
Facebook to engage the Egyptian public in an open discussion. His unofficial
fan club on the social network has 1,300 members, but is overshadowed by
dozens of anti-government groups. The largest of these, the 6th of April
Youth Movement, claims over 70,000 members.
Egyptian authorities have permitted the Internet to operate relatively free of
censorship, but there are other informal methods that establish red lines.
State security officials monitor Internet usage, and take note of those whose
online writings are critical of the regime or its values.
In 2007, blogger Kareem Amer was sentenced to four years in prison for
insulting Islam and the President on his blog. Dozens of other bloggers have
been threatened, arrested, and in some cases, tortured.
Karim El-Beheiry, a prominent blogger and labour activist, says the sheer
number of Egyptians criticising the government online makes it impractical to
arrest all of them. Instead, the state targets dissidents who attempt to
transform their virtual activism into a physical movement.
"It's not dangerous to criticise the government online," he says. "It's
dangerous to write, then go down into the street (to join a demonstration).
That's when they arrest you."
Despite risks, many Egyptian activists - both online and off - say they are
driven to continue their struggle by the knowledge that news of their
movement is reaching the outside world. In many cases, says El-Beheiry, this
would not have been possible without new media and the Internet.
(END/2009)
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