Facebook and Middle Eastern politics
Issandr El AmraniPerhaps it's common in other parts of the world, but I am struck to what extent Facebook has become an integral part of Arab politics — a place where people organize, debate and even government officials weigh in. There is of course the ElBaradei for President Facebook group in Egypt, which from 65,000 members the day ElBaradei returned to Cairo to 176,000 this morning. It had been preceded by the 6 April strike group. And they have a plan for more:
The ElBaradei Facebook group plan for world domination.
In Morocco, a campaign started in defense of a Facebook user who had set up a mock fan page for the king's brother, Moulay Rachid.
I just came across this news item from Saudi Arabia about how its minister of culture used Facebook to squash rumors of book bans at the Riyadh book fair. It seems Facebook is more convincing medium for PR than the ministry's pres release:
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- Just hours after the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Media denied rumours that Abdo Khal’s novel ‘Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles’ was withdrawn from the Riyadh International Book Fair, Minister of Culture and Information Abdulaziz Khoja also dismissed other rumours about the fair via his personal Facebook page.There are rumours that books by the prominent Saudi intellect Turki al Hamad have been banned at the fair and that the Al Jamal publishing house has been shut, which was denied by Khoja who said, “Al Jamal publishing house has not been shut, and I have just returned from visiting it. It has also been rumoured that Dr. Turki al Hamad’s books have all been banned, but the truth of the matter is that the publishing house that publishes his work did not bring his books to the fair. Therefore, this rumour is false.”Despite that the Ministry immediately reacted by denying the successive rumours about the fair, they continued to spread. There are two possible sources of the rumours; the owners of publishing houses who use rumours to market a specific book, and internet websites that contribute to spreading false news about the book fair.Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- Just hours after the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Media denied rumours that Abdo Khal’s novel ‘Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles’ was withdrawn from the Riyadh International Book Fair, Minister of Culture and Information Abdulaziz Khoja also dismissed other rumours about the fair via his personal Facebook page.
There are rumours that books by the prominent Saudi intellect Turki al Hamad have been banned at the fair and that the Al Jamal publishing house has been shut, which was denied by Khoja who said, “Al Jamal publishing house has not been shut, and I have just returned from visiting it. It has also been rumoured that Dr. Turki al Hamad’s books have all been banned, but the truth of the matter is that the publishing house that publishes his work did not bring his books to the fair. Therefore, this rumour is false.”
Despite that the Ministry immediately reacted by denying the successive rumours about the fair, they continued to spread. There are two possible sources of the rumours; the owners of publishing houses who use rumours to market a specific book, and internet websites that contribute to spreading false news about the book fair.
Can anyone think of more examples of Facebook playing a role in official politics or opposition movements in the region?
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Reader Comments (5)
My question is - how does Facebook campaigning translate? 176,000 people may have joined a group in support of Baradei (a couple of clicks), but how many of them would actually turn out on the street in support of him?
And then there's the "Prevent Ethnic Cleansing!!" facebook group that considers efforts to shut down the settlements in the West Bank to be an example of ethnic cleansing. Most ironic line: "nowhere else in the world would these calls for a removal of people because of their nationality be tolerated."
This group is not going to guarantee any results but at least will give an idea about how many do think the same and would even encourage a lot to go and vote .
I haven\t been voting before because of the hassle , effort and red tapes I'll have to go through to get a voting ID .and was always thinking that 1 vote won't make any difference since the government succeeded in eliminating all people's hope already by eliminating candidates .but after I saw this group I became more positive.
There are lots of great examples, but problematically, Facebook doesn't always play nice. Last year, during the attacks on Gaza, Facebook deleted news articles from my profile, and didn't allow me to post certain others. They disproportionately cave to certain user groups who mass-report certain profiles and groups. More alarmingly, they've recently been deleting the profiles of Moroccan users and groups that contain the word "atheist" (I should have something up on GV Advox in the next few hours). Facebook's system is such that if enough users report a group, it is removed without alerting the group's creator and without recourse.
As much as try to be sympathetic (I live in the UK), I think that the internet must be a free place to everyone. As described above, Facebook has become an important factor in the Arab world, and to keep it this way it should stay open to all.
I found this website that Unblock Facebook and thus help us keep it free.