POMED Notes: “How to Ignite, or Quash a Revolution in 140 Characters”

On Wednesday the New America Foundation hosted an event entitled “How to Ignite, or Quash a Revolution in 140 Characters or Less.” The event featured eight panels throughout the day, including: Reflecting on the Tunisian Hair Trigger by Sami Ben Gharbia, co-founder of www.nawaat.org, moderated by Steve Coll, President, New America Foundation; Internet Freedom and Human Rights: The Obama Administration’s Perspective by Michael H. Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, moderated by Jacob Weisberg, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Slate Group; Friending Revolutions: Social Media and Political Change in Egypt and Beyond by Merlyna Lim, Professor, Consortium of Science, Policy and Outcomes and the School of Social Transformation – Justice and Social Inquiry Program, Arizona State University; How the Arab Spring Begat a Deadly Summer, by Oula Alrifai, Syrian Youth Activist, Ahmed al-Omran, blogger at saudijeans.org, and Andrew Tabler, Next Generation Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, moderated by Katherine Zoepf, Schwartz Fellow, New America Foundation; Myths, Realities, and Inconvenient Truths of the Internet, by Rebecca MacKinnon, Senior Schwartz Fellow, New America Foundation; The View from Havana, by Yoani Sanchez, blogger at desdecuba.com; Internet Freedom’s Next Frontiers, by Omid Memarian, Journalist, Mary Jo Porter, English Translator for Yoani Sanchez and other Cuban bloggers, Marcus Noland, Deputy Director, Peterson Institute for International Economics, moderated by Andres Martinez, co-director, Future Tense Initiative; and Bypassing the Master Switch, by Sascha Meinrath, Director, Open Technology Initiative, New America Foundation, Ian Schuler, Senior Program Manager, Internet Freedoms Program, U.S. Department of State, moderated by Robert Wright, Future Tense Fellow, New America Foundation.

Notes on the event are located below the break, or can be accessed in PDF form here.

On Wednesday the New America Foundation hosted an event entitled “How to Ignite, or Quash a Revolution in 140 Characters or Less.” The event featured eight panels throughout the day, including: Reflecting on the Tunisian Hair Trigger by Sami Ben Gharbia, co-founder of www.nawaat.org, moderated by Steve Coll, President, New America Foundation; Internet Freedom and Human Rights: The Obama Administration’s Perspective by Michael H. Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, moderated by Jacob Weisberg, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Slate Group; Friending Revolutions: Social Media and Political Change in Egypt and Beyond by Merlyna Lim, Professor, Consortium of Science, Policy and Outcomes and the School of Social Transformation – Justice and Social Inquiry Program, Arizona State University; How the Arab Spring Begat a Deadly Summer, by Oula Alrifai, Syrian Youth Activist, Ahmed al-Omran, blogger at saudijeans.org, and Andrew Tabler, Next Generation Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, moderated by Katherine Zoepf, Schwartz Fellow, New America Foundation; Myths, Realities, and Inconvenient Truths of the Internet, by Rebecca MacKinnon, Senior Schwartz Fellow, New America Foundation; The View from Havana, by Yoani Sanchez, blogger at desdecuba.com; Internet Freedom’s Next Frontiers, by Omid Memarian, Journalist, Mary Jo Porter, English Translator for Yoani Sanchez and other Cuban bloggers, Marcus Noland, Deputy Director, Peterson Institute for International Economics, moderated by Andres Martinez, co-director, Future Tense Initiative; and Bypassing the Master Switch, by Sascha Meinrath, Director, Open Technology Initiative, New America Foundation, Ian Schuler, Senior Program Manager, Internet Freedoms Program, U.S. Department of State, moderated by Robert Wright, Future Tense Fellow, New America Foundation.

In the first panel, Reflecting on the Tunisian Hair Trigger, Sami Ben Gharia discussed the origins of Tunisian opposition activism and blogging. He detailed the censorship of blogs that occurred in 2003-05 and the 2007 blocking of Daily Motion, YouTube, and Facebook, which were all later unblocked. In 2010 however, the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali blocked all video sharing websites, but not Facebook. Ben Ali reportedly was nervous about again blocking Facebook for fear that it would cause more unrest. Because of these blocks, Facebook became the main avenue for mobilization during the Tunisian revolution.

Ben Gharia also noted the current state of online revolutionary communities. He noted the continued threat from military courts who have censored some Facebook sites and pornography. He also criticized the centralized nature of media in Tunisia because it leaves many in the outskirts and rural areas voiceless. Ben Gharia also disagreed with any contention that the Tunisian revolution was leaderless. He noted that in every community there were physical leaders who were moderating and leading the calls for change. The leadership was more on a local level, and less on a national level.

The second panelist, Michael Posner, discussed internet freedom as one of the game changing issues of our time. He noted approximately 12 circumvention programs currently funded by the U.S. State Department including a cell phone panic butting, a “slingshot” program, and training to help activists operating in repressive areas. Posner described the internet and Facebook as critical tools assisting the revolutions, he said “Facebook does not foment dissent, people do.”

Posner answered questions about the U.S. government’s varying approaches to the conflicts in the Middle East. He noted that each country is unique and that a one-sized-fits-all approach does not work. He also noted that the U.S. can not force change from the outside but that the U.S. can amplify internal voices and can create an international environment within which these issues can be intelligently discussed. Poser noted that the internet has changed a lot in regards to revolutions across the region, but that in realty the internet has been a tool to amplify old values like human rights principles, free speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of association.

He also noted the U.S. role in ensuring internet freedom is to keep pushing for an open internet that crosses borders. Posner also noted the necessary discussions about internet censorship relating to obscene topics and security threats. He also discussed the role of large technology companies like Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Yahoo in maintaining an open internet.

The next panelist, Merlyna Lim, discussed the origins of anti-Mubarak protests in Egypt. The first protest began in 2004 organized by Kefaya. Kefaya brought together formerly traditionally clustered groups of opposition into a unified movement. It was the first movement that had no physical headquarters or meeting site. The April 6 movement later used the same communications techniques to increase the reach of the opposition movement. The death of Khaled Said on June 6, 2010 added emotion to the protests and helped to break the fear factor. The “Tahrir moment” was facilitated by cabs, signs, cell phones, and word of mouth, while social media provided the organizing platform.

The next panel convened Oula Alrifai, Ahmed al-Omran, and Andrew Tabler to discuss the protests and violence in Syria and political and social issues in the Gulf and Saudi Arabia. Alrifai discussed the origins of the Syrian protests and expressed the widespread belief that there is no trust or legitimacy left in the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Al-Omran discussed the excitement that many felt across the Gulf, he said “people were drinking the revolution kool-aid,” but the financial dynamics differ in the Gulf which have allowed the regimes to buy off much of the population. He also noted the role of social media as a gathering space because protesting on the street is illegal. According to al-Omran, the octogenarian government and the youth aren’t even speaking the same language. What the government thinks is reform does not come close to matching the aspirations of the people.

Tabler then discussed the lasting impacts of the protests. He noted that the region is unstable now, but that this is because of long term systemic failure. The previous convention where international powers placed faith in undemocratic regimes in the name of stability has been undermined because we now see that undemocratic regimes are not stable.

During this panels Q&A al-Omran noted that the U.S. government needs to insure that its policies are in line with the principles that it advocates. He however cautioned that the U.S. needs to understand when leading officials make comments that local activists must deal with the aftermath. He cited Hillary Clinton’s support for the women driver’s protests as an instance where Clinton’s support resulted in some women being harassed.  Tabler concurred noting that it is important that U.S. announcements do not inadvertently assist the repressive regimes. Al-Omran also described the history of the women driving protests, which first occurred in 1990. Alrifai was pleased with Ambassador Robert Ford and the French ambassador’s visit to Hama last week. She called for a peaceful transition and the prosecution of Assad regime members.

Rebecca MacKinnon then took the stage discussing the limits of technology and how its use can be manipulated to assist repressive regimes. She discussed various Facebook-like programs in use in different countries, many sanctioned by the government, that play a critical role in maintaining social control by the government. She also discussed a huge cache of email, text, and instant messaging records of many Egyptian citizens in the Egyptian State Security headquarters. This, she noted, proves how regimes are able to collect and store electronic information that many users believe to be private.

During the Internet Freedoms Next Frontier panel, Omid Memarian discussed the role of the internet and communications in Iran. He criticized an apparent lack of commitment by the U.S. to disseminating information to the Iranian masses. He noted the Iranian government’s huge propaganda machine which consumes considerable resources while in comparison the U.S. only dedicated $2 million for internet freedom. He also described increased efforts by the Iranian government to implement internet infrastructure that would restrain information, similar to the Chinese program. He called on the U.S. to increase its funding to challenge the Iranian propaganda machine, because this propaganda has misinformed many Iranians about the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, and elsewhere.

The final panel, Bypassing the Master Switch, discussed the “Internet in a Box” program funded by the U.S. State Department and operated by the New America Foundation. Sascha Meinrath noted the program is not really a box, but rather is open source technology that can be implemented anywhere to create local area networks of free communication. If a connection to the outside world is available within this network, then the network could become an avenue for external communication. He noted some limitations of the program, namely that there is no way to make it secure from regime interference. Ian Schuler described this program as a tool, which can be manipulated by a regime, but is designed to be used in a manner consistent with the programs intentions.