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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
