From Egypt to Iran: How Social Media is Significant (Eltahawy, Siavashi, Fartashphoto)

Over the last 48 hours, I have encountered three articles --- courtesy of Twitter --- that bring out the significance of social media over the last 18 months. Dave Siavashi of Iran News Now revisits the story of Iran since June 2009 to conclude, "The Twitter Revolution is a revolution in the way information is shared and consumed....It has the power to make people take action. And in this way, it is already changing the world."

Fartashphoto asserts passionately, "We believe Twitter is Internet’s Soul which is more awake and dynamic than anytime helping peaceful people all around the world . That’s why dictators hate Twitter."

And Mona Eltahawy writes for The Washington Post, "Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are the New Tools of Protest in the Arab World":

Iran: A Protest in Washington (Shahryar)

Khaled Said is not the first Egyptian whom police allegedly beat to death. But his death has sparked a virtual revolution that is affecting Egypt's tightly controlled society.

Said, a 28-year-old Egyptian businessman, was brutally beaten, his family and activists say, by two plainclothes police officers on June 6. An Interior Ministry autopsy claimed that Said suffocated after swallowing a bag of drugs he tried to hide from police. But a photograph of a shattered body that his family confirmed was his started circulating online. Teeth missing, lip torn, jaw broken and blood pouring from his head: It was difficult to square such trauma with suffocation. His family said he was targeted after he posted a video online allegedly showing police sharing profits of a drug bust.

If social media in the Arab world were merely outlets for venting or "stress relief" -- as detractors claim -- then Said's fate would have ended with some angry comments on Facebook and a tweet or two railing at the Egyptian regime.

Instead, thanks to social media's increasing popularity and ability to connect activists with ordinary people, Egyptians are protesting police brutality in unprecedented numbers. On July 27, the two police officers connected to his death stood trial on charges of illegal arrest and excessive use of force. If convicted, they face three to 15 years' imprisonment.

While social media didn't invent courage -- activists have long protested the tactics of President Hosni Mubarak, a U.S. ally who has maintained a state of emergency in Egypt since assuming office in 1981 -- the Internet has in recent months connected Egyptians and amplified their voices as never before. There's an anti-torture Web site with a hotline to report incidents. The independent advocacy group El Nadim Centre for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence publishes an online diary that has documented 200 allegations of abuse since February. On another site Egyptians post pictures of abusive police officers.

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