The Social Media Revolution of Egypt

The first ever use of social media to induce a political movement in Egypt was the call made in 2008 for a public strike on the 6th of April. The Facebook-instigated strike was to protest against the rise in the cost of bread, amongst other basic commodities. The Facebook group of April 6 Youth Movement attracted around 70,000 members from across the nation and calls were supported through Twitter, SMS’s, blogs and word-of-mouth. Police forces managed to disperse protestors in a matter of hours, and the episode failed to achieve any results other than the detaining of its organisers and central supporters.

In the years to follow, Egyptians resorted to the freedom that digital media provided to compensate for the civil freedoms they lacked under the totalitarian regime that subjugated every liberty to be had. The Egyptian state had diminished freedoms and civil rights by means of censorship, oppression and the unprecedented use of brutal force under the unending Emergency Law. Though closely monitored by the state, the internet still grew to be the sole medium Egyptians used to practice their freedom of expression.

The Young Egyptian Butterflies

In early 2010 internet penetration in Egypt was a little more than 21%. Facebook, Twitter and Youtube had become a part of many of the Egyptian youth’s lives – though predominantly used as a means of social networking and entertainment. No one could foresee that these Egyptian Butterflies – the active and nonchalant youngsters who uploaded and boasted last night’s party photos on Facebook, tweeted about the dreadful traffic on their way home from work and shared humorous home-made videos on YouTube – would stir up a revolution to end Mubarak’s 30-year tyrannous rule.

The significance of social media and its role in rousing public political opinion was unforeseen before the 25th of January, 2011. Two weeks earlier, calls for a mass protest on National Police Day were all over social media tools, namely Facebook and Twitter. They were overlooked and decried by the majority who believed that virtual activism was just another trend that would peter out well before accomplishing any of its goals.

Local VS. International Media

Al Jazeera, Al Arabia and the BBC news stations supported the uprising and aired hour-by-hour updates on the situation. Meanwhile, state-owned media refused to admit there was an uprising in the making; they reported no news about the incident and continued to air their normal programmes as scheduled. They showed images of peaceful streets nearby Liberation Square and suggested the diminutive protests were backed up by private or foreign agendas; people were even commissioned by the government to call and report implausible incidents happening at the Square.

The protests continued the next day and calls were made for a million-man demonstration on Friday the 28th – following the Friday Prayers and marching from every Mosque in Cairo and Giza to Liberation Square; comparable meeting points were announced in other governorates across the nation. The Muslim Brotherhood promised to join the protests and perhaps it was this that caused the regime to panic the most. The Brotherhood was famous for its social services in poverty-stricken areas and had acquired a lot of popularity over the past decades when it was politically banned. They were powerful enough to overthrow the regime.

Total Shutdown

Arrests began almost immediately and the nation woke up on Friday to discover they were disconnected from the world and each other. The internet was shut down and mobile operators were ordered to suspend their services.  The regime thought that this would put an end to the ‘digital uprising.’ They were mistaken. This injudicious move made Egyptians realise their true strength and how terrified the regime was from the internet.

Friday of Rage, as it was named by the revolutionaries, was an unprecedented event in the history of Egypt. More than a million people took to the streets and Liberation Square and its environs turned into a war zone. Police forces were ruthlessly dispersing protestors with tear gas and rubber bullets, and the number of casualties was rising by the minute. But the will and force of the people grew stronger and within 4 hours all police forces had collapsed and retreated. The government announced that all security forces would withdraw and the Egyptian army would be deployed.

For two days, and until army forces were fully deployed, chaos struck every neighbourhood in Egypt. Egyptian prisons were attacked and prisoners were released. Raging protestors set out to burn every edifice affiliated to the regime and its ruling National Democratic Party. Thugs were attacking shops and homes, forcing people to set up local neighbourhood committees to protect their own homes and families. The army allowed the use of illegal and unlicensed arms against thugs and promised no charges would be pressed for killing them.

Meanwhile, peaceful protests continued at Liberation Square during the daytime, and camping tents were set up by those who decided to defy the 4 p.m. curfew and stay in the Square until the regime would leave. Nearby, a field hospital was set up by volunteering doctors to provide first-aid for those injured in the attacks carried out by thugs and police members dressed in civilian clothing.

Mobile services resumed a few days later, although text messages were still disabled. On the 30th of January, the Al Jazeera bureau in Cairo was shut down by the government and its license suspended. Moreover, the station’s frequency was distorted on Egyptian-owned satellite, NileSat. Al Jazeera had cameras feeding 24/7 live images from Liberation Square and reporters in almost every governorate. Egyptians were encouraged to call in and speak about their personal accounts and updates.

With the internet still shut down and national media being biased, people resorted to international news stations to find out the truth about the situation down at Liberation Square. Nevertheless, social media continued to play a role in the revolution, and the service of speak2tweet was immediately created by Twitter and Google. International news stations were quickly spreading news of the service and explaining to viewers how to use it. People would simply dial a specified international number, leave a voicemail message, and the service would instantly tweet the message using the hashtag #Egypt. People could also listen to recent tweets from Egypt by dialling that same number.

A Brand New Digital Media Scene

Five days later internet services were back and social media platforms were functioning at full-force in favour of the revolution. R.N.N., a Facebook-based news page, was created and every Egyptian turned into a reporter by contacting the page with relevant information and photos from across the country. 750,000 Egyptians signed up for Facebook during the 18 days between the start of the revolution and Mubarak stepping down from his 30-year presidential post.

The success of the revolution and fall of the regime unfolded a new truth. Egyptians discovered that despite the coercion they lived under, their unity was strong enough to end the rule of a tyrant leader and unveil a Machiavellian government and scores of corrupt politicians and businessmen who were controlling the country. Social media helped connect Egyptians and made social organisation and planning easier. More importantly, it forced transparency between the government and the people.

Perhaps one of the most interesting outcomes of this digital revolution was the adoption of social media platforms by military and government entities. The Egyptian Armed Forces created its own Facebook page where it released official statements and interacted with its citizens, despite the fact that it controlled all existing traditional media. In fact, news about the resignation of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq was first announced by the army on their Facebook page. One of the first things the new government did was also create its own Facebook page – before even being sworn in. Today all political activists and parties have their own pages to promote their ideologies and campaigns.

The social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google became heroes of the Egyptian Revolution. Virtual political activism became the trend in a medium that was once used by Egyptian Butterflies for mere social interaction and entertainment. The product of the revolution is not only a people free of an autocratic and corrupt regime; it is, essentially, the creation of a new society that acknowledges the power of social media and respects freedom of expression more than ever. Egypt has changed forever, and its future has changed through social media.