Arab Spring and Social Media: Specific Syrian Case

Occupation: Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Oriental Studies RAS
Affiliation: Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

Journal name

Asia and Africa Today

Edition

Issue 12

Pages

30-33

Abstract

This article contains analysis of the role of Internet and Social Media during the Arab Spring. Although widely described in public literature and analytical papers, some aspects of this phenomenon still have to be expressed more definitely. Social Media, precisely Facebook and Twitter provided great advantage to protesters in means of political communication in comparison with official power that was basing on its monopoly of Traditional Media in such countries as Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. That also provided advantage to opposition in effectiveness and speed of political mobilization that guaranteed its success in uprising.

In this aspect the picture was completely different in Syria. National authorities and President Bashar Assad personally played leading role in developing Internet in the country since 1994 when B. Assad headed Syrian Computer Society. That provided the power its role in operating Social Media and preparedness for oppositional activity in Internet including Social Media. When the turmoil started in 2011 there happened an immediate reply from pro-government side by creating a group acting mainly in Facebook under the name of “Syrian Electronic Army”. The activity of this group provided pro-government forces not only by a possibility of constructing counter content in Internet but also by similar to oppositional means of political mobilization. It resulted in organizing no less sized pro-government demonstrations in Damascus in the summer, 2011 than oppositional ones. That is one of the explanations why the course of the conflict developed in Syria differently from those in other Arab republican regimes.

Keywords

Internet, Facebook, Twitter, Arab Spring, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Bashar Assad, Syrian Electronic Army

Publication date

13.12.2019

Number of characters

13989

Cite

GOST	Truevtsev K. Arab Spring and Social Media: Specific Syrian Case // Asia and Africa Today – 2019. – Issue 12 C. 30-33 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://asaf-today.ru/S032150750007654-1-1 (circulation date: 19.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S032150750007654-1
MLA	Truevtsev, Konstantin "Arab Spring and Social Media: Specific Syrian Case." Asia and Africa Today 12 (2019):30-33. DOI: 10.31857/S032150750007654-1
APA	Truevtsev K. (2019). Arab Spring and Social Media: Specific Syrian Case. Asia and Africa Today (12), pp.30-33 DOI: 10.31857/S032150750007654-1

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