The Arab Spring, Social Media and the Chaos it caused

In December 2010, a Tunisian street vendor Mohammad Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest of the seizing of his vegetable stall by the police because he did not have a permit. This acted as a catalyst in the already brewing Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia and the outrage spread all over the Arab countries; Morocco, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arab, Kuwait, UAE, and Bahrain because of social media. Leaders and dictators were deposited and held accountable for their actions all at the hands of the public power. This movement came to be dubbed as the ‘Arab Spring’

Social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube highly influenced the endeavors of the far-spread movement. Pages were made, events were scheduled for protests, videos of every incident would be uploaded, and people would share their side of the story. It was even said that “social media made the Arab Spring” and that it was a “Facebook revolution”

The Libyan Revolution started on February 15th, 2011. Facebook was an important platform in igniting the fire in Libya as a page in late January “The Uprising of the 17th of February, a Day for rage in Libya,” was created. The makers of the page urged the followers to follow the footsteps of the Tunisians and Egyptians to come out on the streets and protest and told the people that Gaddafi was a cruel and unjust ruler who was abusing his power and should be deposited. Following the notion of the page, young Libyans took to protest in the city of Albyeda.

As this occurred, Muammar learned the true extent of the threat that social media posed to his rule. By February 17th, 2011 thousand of protestors took to the streets of Benghazi. The demonstrators and forces clashed, killing hundreds of people in the process. Those who survived captured videos and uploaded them on Facebook, Youtube, and then on Al Jazeera and this way, the world learned about the ongoing brutality.

Young Internet users acted as journalists and reporters for the events on the ground. Stories, funerals, footage of injured persons, and waves of human masses chanting freedom slogans were constantly posted on social platforms right after the specific event would unfold.

As a last resort, Gaddafi’s forces started to bomb Misrata and the eastern coast of Libya. The videos captured and uploaded on Facebook and Youtube were gruesome and the people became freedom fighters, help was granted from the US and other countries. And the people were successful in making Gaddafi flee from Tripoli to Sirt where he was captured and assassinated.

The triumph of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions inspired the people in Syria to start their own. Slowly, individuals and groups started to voice their opinions on Facebook and other social media. Unlike Tunisia and Egypt, the role of social media was originally limited due to fears of the government scanning or keeping tabs on Facebook and Twitter. A 21-year-old activist who faked her name as Rana in fear told Reuters that there are groups who publicize the time and location of a demonstration just before or when the protest has already begun.

The people mainly used videos to get their word out to the world and their main weapon of retaliation was Youtube. On 30th May 2011 a video was uploaded showing the brutally battered body of a thirteen-year-old boy Hamzeh Alkhateeb. This video sparked international turmoil and a Facebook page “We are all Hamzeh Alkhateeb” was created. Youtube highlighted the brutality of Bashar Al-Assad and his rule. Syrian channels would broadcast shows and operas as if nothing was happening in the country meanwhile Youtube showed a bloody and tragic state of the country.

Internet and mobile phone services were banned and SIM cards were smuggled from Turkey and Jordan by those living close to the borders. Facebook was the second most important social media platform that the activists relied upon to get their information across. Syrian activists were using the power of Facebook to recruit and coordinate information with locals and spread the word internationally. Aside from ‘We are all Hamzeh Al-Khateeb’, the ‘Syrian revolution 2011’ and ‘Euphrates Revolution Network became the most extensive pages on the platform.
Sadly, although the Syrian people had tried to end the regime, what emerged from the social media battle was a civil war that continues to this day and Bashar Al-Assad is still in power.