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Posted on 01/29/2011 3:30:42 PM PST by JerseyHighlander
Almost 500 bloggers were arrested in 2008 because of their online activity. Gamal Eid, Director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights in Cairo said, “It was the worst year since 1952”, the date on which Egypt theoretically became a democracy. To find out more, read the article.
Download the article in PDF
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The Internet has been a background cla- mour in Egyptian political life since the 2005 legislative elections. It’s a buzz that is attrac- ting more and more Egyptians. The reputa- tion of the local blogopshere is growing at the same speed as the numbers of its enthu- siastic users. Today the country has the highest Internet penetration rate on the African continent (20% of the population regularly goes online). In 2006, the blogger Kareem Amer was imprisoned over articles he posted on his blog. The vast majority of the country’s pri- soners of opinion are bloggers or activists imprisoned for posting political messages. All were arrested under the emergency law. According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the level of repression against Internet users has grown dangerously since 2007.
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THE 6 APRIL: A CRISIS THAT STARTED ON FACEBOOK? A strike broke out on 6 April 2008 in Mahalla (123 kilometers north of Cairo), site of the country’s largest textile factory.The same day, members of a group on the social networking site Facebook were arrested for having pas- sed on information about the strike.
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Short history of a contested viral strike Since that date, young Internet users with an average age of 23 have continued to commu- nicate with one another about what they are calling a “revolution”.A call went out in 2009 for 6 April to become a day of “anger”. Every means of communication has since been pres- sed into service to spread the message far and wide, including slogans scrawled on bank notes and thousands of text messages sent to random phone numbers.The young Facebook users have no political experience and their real numbers are unknown. But that is their strength. Since any type of meeting is banned under the state of emergency law which the country has been under for nearly 28 years, the Internet allows meetings to be held through a computer.
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If you can’t control the Internet, intimidate its users
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Lots more background info there, also more in RSF.org under the MIddle East/Egypt section.
(With the required footnote about the various agendas that RSF groups have that conflict with various other peoples agendas)
And Obama fashions himself as the one to flip our switch if and when he feels the need... let him try, just let him try...
Not to mention the information the people can access about the world around them and what is now possible for them when they can think for themselves rather than being told by state what to think and how to live the way the state wants them to live. Akin to Fox News, talk radio, and the internet have changed America. This is their culture war, and its just beginning.
This is why Soetor0 needs an Egypt internet switch /s
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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