Movement for Democratic Change in Egypt

Case Study:

Movement for Democratic Change in EgyptUses of Social Media and Public Diplomacy

Kirsi Yli-Kaitala

Public Diplomacy

• The ways by which public opinion overseas is

influenced by foreign actors

• Links to increasingly symbiotic relationship between politics and methods of communication

• Aims to reach directly into the hearts and minds of foreign audiences

‘Democracy Promotion’

• Emerged following the dissolution of Soviet Power in

Central and Eastern Europe

• Aided opposition groups with successes in:

• Serbia

• Georgia

• Ukraine

Democracy Promotion and Protests in Egypt

Social Media and Political

Empowerment

Enabling Collective Action

• Communications landscape increasingly

complex and participatory

• Led to increased ability to undertake collective action

Independent Journalism Threatens Dictatorships by Challenging Official Narratives

• Control of journalism and communication in

dictatorships challenged by the emergence of social media

• Increase of ‘shared awareness’

• Removed barriers to political engagement

Reorganising Power in Dictatorships

• Allows opposition to adopt new strategies and play by different rules than incumbents by enabling greater degrees of freedom of speech

• Resulted in one of the most important transformations in power through political communication in decades

Democracy Promotion, Social Media and

Opportunities in the Middle East

U.S. Initiatives in the Middle East

• U.S. keen to promote democracy in the Middle East

to guard its strategic interests in the region

• Offered assistance to local grassroots movements

U.S. Initiatives in the Middle East

U.S. Initiatives in the Middle East

Democracy Promotion in the Middle East

U.S. Initiatives in the Middle East

• Alliance for Youth Movements (AYM)

• Democracy promotion by means of information technology

• Mission to effect social change through the use of new technologies

AYM Inaugural Meeting in 2008

Building up to the ‘Day of Rage’

Kifaya Movement

Kifaya Movement

• Emerged from activism ahead of

Egypt’s 2005 election

Kifaya Movement

Building up to the ‘Day of Rage’

Bloggers Create a Direct Link to the “Street”

Bloggers Opening up Public Sphere

• In 2007, Wael Abbas placed a mobile phone video on his blog showing police torturing a detainee

Spread across blogosphere, newspapers took up the story

Led to conviction of police officers

Bloggers Opening up Public Sphere

Brought to light evidence of police brutality

New relationship between bloggers and traditional media

Made visible violent political practices, routine injustices and consequences of poverty

Building up to the ‘Day of Rage’

April 6 Movement and Rise of ‘El Face’

Generation

April 6th Movement

April 6th Movement

April 6th Movement

April 6th Movement

Mark Zuckerberg: “Facebook could be a tool to fight extremism”

Building up to the ‘Day of Rage’

We Are All Khaled Said

‘We are all Khaled Said’

Facebook page ‘We Are All Khaled Said’ set up by Google Executive Wael Ghonim

Egyptians of All Classes Joined in

Call for a Day of Rage on January 25, 2011

Protests against regime gain momentum

Catalysed by digitally literate urban professionals

“Mubarak Has to Go”

Message resonated with the digitally illiterate masses

The role of social media changed to one of many tools of organising protest

World to Witness Dissent

Left Mubarak in a difficult bargaining position

Democracy Promotion Through Supporting

the Use of New Media – Lessons from Egypt

How Did it Work in Egypt?

Why Did it Work in Egypt?

However, Not Always Successful

Belarus 2006

Iran 2009

Reversing effect on steps towards freedom of expression and democratic change

So No Guaranteed Outcome

Risks involved:

Operational dangers

Difficult for outsiders to understand local conditions of dissent

External support runs the risk of tainting ‘organic’ local opposition

What Has Egypt Taught Us? Increased freedom to communicate can lead to

increased political freedom

Success more likely if the uses of social media are allowed to rise from within

Supporting Internet freedom and associated human rights a long term goal

Key Sources Used • Cofman Wittes, Tamara. (2004). The New U.S. Proposal for a

Greater Middle East Initiative: An Evaluation.

• Gersham, Carl. (2006). Democracy promotion in the Middle East: Time for a Plan B? National Endowment for Democracy.

• Gladwell, M., and Shirky, C. (2011). From Innovation to Revolution. Do Social Media Make Protests Possible. Foreign Affairs.

• Heaven, Will. (2011). Egypt and Facebook: Time to Update its Status. NATO Review.

• Herrera, Linda. (2011). Egypt’s Revolution 2.0: The Facebook Factor.

• Hirschind, Charles. (2010). New Media and Political Dissent in Egypt. Revista de Dialectología y Tradiciones Populares

• Howard, Philip. (2010). The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Information Technology and Political Islam.

• Rosenberg, Tina. (2011). Revolution U. What Egypt Learned from the Students Who Overthrew Milosevic. Foreign Policy.

• Sharp, Jeremy M. (2005). The Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative: An Overview. CRS Report for Congress.

• Shapiro, Samantha. (2009). ‘Revolution, Facebook-Style’. New York Times.

• Shehata, Dina. (2011). The Fall of The Pharaoh. How Hosni Mubarak’s Reign Came to an End. Foreign Affairs.

• Shirky, Clay. (2011). The Political Power of Social Media. Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change. Foreign Affairs.

• Sussman, Gerald, and Sascha Krader. (2008). Template Revolutions: Marketing U.S. Regime Change in Eastern Europe. Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture.

Key Sources Used

Thank you

Kirsi Yli-Kaitala: kirsi.yli-kaitala@itoiresearch.com