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The eRevolution

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The eRevolution

Call it The Egyptian Revolution,  The eRovolution, iRevolution or Revolution 2.0. In any case, I believe we are watching a revolution that was not only written in Egyptian history, but world history. It will be a case study that I believe will be soon taught in many political science and business schools. On Jan 25th, 2011, the world for the first time has witnessed a revolution that brilliantly leveraged the power of social networking tools to overthrow a corrupt regime. Facebook, twitter and blogs were all used to mobilize people all over Egypt. The 30-year dictatorship regime of Mubarak was overthrown in 18 days of peaceful demonstrations.

On Feb 11th, 2011, US president Barak Obama said:

“There are very few moments in our lives where we have the privilege to witness history taking place. This is one of those moments. This is one of those times. The people of Egypt have spoken, their voices have been heard, and Egypt will never be the same”. Source:  Remarks on the Egyptian Revolution

The Spark of The eRevolution

The eRevolution was sparked by a group of young activists on Facebook calling for nationwide demonstrations to restore people’s dignity and ask for reform, freedom and social justice. Through the initiation of different Facebook groups, but mainly the “We are all Khalid Saed” Facebook group that attracted about 80,000 participants, citizens coordinated their ideas and demonstration logistics via group posts, and comments, while communicating heavily on twitter and sometimes cell phone SMS services. Khaled Saed is a young Egyptian who is widely believed to have been murdered by police.

A young protestor
A young protestor

Other Facebook groups were initiated before, during, and after Jan 25th, 2011 to support the logistics and the massive demonstrations that erupted all over Egypt. The “Rasd News Network (R.N.N)” Facebook group was one of the main contributors to the revolution, sending protest updates, news updates and politicians and media reaction.

Any Facebook user whose been part of any of these Facebook Egyptian activist groups or even a Facebook friend of someone who has been part of these groups could see that the revolution started virtually on Facebook a few days prior to the actual physical start of Jan 25th Revolution. The large number of the group posts, user comments, message exchanges, and clear human mobilization were more than enough to indicate the kind and size of protests that would take place later on the 25th.

The Generation Gap

The Generation Gab
Young protestors During the early Egyptian demonstrations

The members of the Egyptian regime had a serious generation gap with the young generation of social networkers. While the average age of the Egyptian Facebook activists was in the 20s, the regime members were in their 60s and 70s and ruled by an 83 years old president. The regime, therefore, was seriously under-qualified to fight a battle it didn’t even comprehend or to even form proper decisions in handling the situation. The government IT workers were mainly hired based on “loyalty” and nepotism, not based on qualifications. Accordingly, the regime with a limited mindset thought that blocking twitter, SMS services and later Facebook access, would cut the communication lines between protestors and the movement organizers.

Getting Around The Internet Filters

Using third party proxies, the young organizers didn’t take long to figure out ways to bypass the Egyptian Internet filters and to be able to once again access Facebook, twitter, YouTube and other Internet sites. The regime did not know what to do next. On the afternoon of Jan 28th, local officials extended their tactics to include cutting all cell phone communication in major cities in Egypt, thinking that this would curb the growing support and flooding of people into the streets of Egypt.

Mubarak, step down!
Mubarak, step down!

By late evening of Friday Jan 28th, and in another desperate move to stop the massive flood of people into the streets, the Egyptian regime shutdown all Internet access in Egypt; the first Internet blackout of such magnitude in the history of Internet. Unfortunately for the regime however, protesters were already in the streets, flyers were already printed and being handed over to people, and the revolution was forming rapidly. There was not a big need for the Internet for the revolution to gain any more momentum. People in the streets were already aware of where to go and how. The Tahrir Square (or Liberation Square) became the central gathering point for protestors in Cairo. The Al Qaed Ibrahim Mosque was a central point in Alexandria (the second largest city in Egypt), and many other spots around the different Egyptian cities were also recognized as other central gathering points.

Despite the Internet blackout, landline communication was never blocked; Egyptians found another way to access the Internet through old school landlines dial-up Internet services and fax services. Egyptians living outside Egypt would receive faxes through regular landline phones, use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technologies to convert the fax image into text contents, and post the contents, news and updates into Facebook, twitter and different blogs.

Google in the meantime launched a new service called “speak2tweet”, which allowed Egyptians to call a regular landline number in Cairo and speak their tweet to an IVR/Voice recognition system. The speak2tweet system would then convert the caller voice message into a text tweet.

Protestors continued to gain momentum day after day in Egypt
Protestors continued to gain momentum day after day in Egypt

The Role of TV Media

Satellite channels like Al-Jazeera, BBC, CNN and others played a major role in the revolution by broadcasting live images from Tahrir square, sending live updates and clear messages to protestors on the critical gathering points. That drove the regime into a more desperate situation. The regime started banning journalists from entering the square through the use of thugs and secret police that chased, attacked, and banned journalists from entering the Square or staying in any nearby hotel that could have a camera view to the crowd in Tahrir Square. Little by little, police, with the help of thugs, were able to stop all live feeds from Tahrir Square for a period of time until Al-Jazeera TV channel managed later to sneak a camera to broadcast another feed showing the Square; the regime responded by shutting down all of Al-Jazeera broadcasts from Nilesat (The Egyptian Satellite) and attempting to jam Al-Jazeera signal on other satellites with a footprint coverage in Egypt.

Protestors continued to gain momentum day after day by insisting that they would not leave the Square until the entire Egyptian regime resigns. Close to five million people were in the streets of Egypt (and some other news sources estimate the protestors number closer to eight million), three million protestors were in Cairo alone.

Three million protesters were in Cairo alone
Three million protestors were in Cairo alone

Due to the continuous pressure of protestors, the regime yielded to some of the demands of the crowd, although many believed that the regime was only playing delay tactics and only portrayed a reform. A vice president was appointed, and a new government took over and restored cell phone communication and Internet access as an indication of goodwill.

Restoring back the Internet, however, seemed to have backfired. Egyptians now were able to upload on Facebook and Youtube some of the pictures and video clips showing the massacres conducted by the central police forces and thugs on civilians during the early days of protests; live bullets, snipers, people run by cars, others beaten to death, thugs with machetes, Molotov cocktails thrown on protestors and many other indescribable atrocities.

The Collapse of the Regime

The Collapse of the Regime
The Collapse of the Regime

After a few more days of the increasing number of protestors, high national and international pressures, and a total of 18 days of protesting, Omar Suleiman (the recently appointed Egyptian vice president) at 16:02 GMT of Friday Feb 11, 2011 in a 28 seconds statement on state TV said:

“My fellow citizens, in this difficult time that the country is going through, President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak has decided to relieve himself of his position as president and the Supreme Military Council has taken control of the state’s affairs. May God protect us”.

Egypt has spoken; no more tyranny, no more autocracy, no more injustice and no more oppression. The history has been written not only in Egypt, but in the world of social networking as well; the first revolution sparked, managed and orchestrated by social networking, by Facebook, twitter, blogs and YouTube. For the first time in history the eRevolution was born, and for the first time in history the eRevolution became a reality.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win” – Gandhi

A Two-Edge Sword?

The January 25th Egyptian revolution and the resignation of Mubarak on Feb 11 created a new revolution model; an eRevolution. This eRevolution poses a few important questions that could take awhile to answer.

Will this new eRevolution model become a tool for other people to revolt against their dictatorship regimes? Could social networking become a two-edge sword? Or, has it already been one? What if social networking is used by the wrong people or for the wrong reasons? What would constitute a wrong reason or the wrong people? Should there be a line drawn between what should and should not be said or done through social networking or would this by itself constitute a violation to the freedom of speech rights the Egyptian revolution called for?

About

A network engineer and a security specialist with a BSc degree in Computer Engineering, MS in Computer Networks, MBA in International Business and MS in Global Management. A member of the National Political Science Honor Society and The International Honor Society for Collegiate Schools of Business. Seinfeld, That '70s Show, Monk and Lost are my favorite TV shows, and Back to the Future, 12 Monkeys and Crash are my favorite movies. I however enjoy activities like biking, golfing and reading, but I spend most of my time behind a computer screen.

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{ 53 Responses }

  1. grayspirit says:
    Funny, but after nearly a decade of war, it appears that a new generation has found a more successful approach to change than anything than what the West or terrorist groups have offered.
  2. Yass says:
    The first time social network has been used for a revolution is in Tunisia NOT in Egypt. Just a correction for the history. The Egyptians youth were inspired by what the Tunisian has done during their revolution and how they communicated efficiently and spread pictures and video using facebook and Twitter. There are even several documentaries about this phenomenon in several European channels (France2, Tf1, ARTE…) before even the Egyptian revolution started. It doesn't hurt to state facts as they are...
  3. Allison Cooper says:
    Hello I am a student at UNT and am involved in a group documentary project that is researching the media freeze that happened in Egypt earlier this year. We were wondering if you would be willing to communicate with us about the subject. Sorry about the tweet, I'm not very familiar with the website! Look forward to hearing from you, Allison
  4. TJ McDowell says:
    Wow - I didn't realize what a role technology played in this whole event. As far as limiting the types of communication that would take place online, it would seem to make sense to me that it would just be the same rules that we have for any other type of communication. What are your thoughts?
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      TJ, Blocking the Internet was one the worse decisions the overthrown regime took, first, it indicated to protestors that the regime is in real trouble and that the protestors’ plan is really working; second, it sent a very strong signal to people all over the world (including Egyptians sitting at home) that the regime is now in a state of chaos and forming decisions haphazardly. For me personally realized that its game over for the regime the minute the Internet got blocked.
  5. Alex says:
    Of course this can be a new model, internet is one of the most unrestricted communication environment out there, at this time I don't think that someone can trully stop others to access the internet. Of course, like you said, the revolution started with Facebook groups and twitter messages but the fact is that they anger was there for a long time. People need their freedom and when they have the internet to taste it, they can't go back. Like you said, internet can be a double edged sword, people can help each other and escape the censure but also, some of them can instigate to violence for no good reason.
  6. Dave from HootSuite says:
    Enjoyed your article - at HootSuite we make a social media dashboard to access Twitter and Facebook. When these services were blocked, we noticed a massive spike in usage and sign-ups to our service form Egypt. We were fascinated by the resourcefulness shown by the people to gain access to get messages out. We produced an infographic to show the patterns from our vantage point which you may find interesting: http://blog.hootsuite.com/egypt Best wishes to all the people in Egypt.
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      Amazing report Dave. Thanks for sharing. The graph clearly matches the events listed above. I love it. I just shared it among my Facebook friends. Thanks for sharing :)
  7. Mostafa Mansour says:
    Hi Mohamed, Excellent analysis about the role of social networks in the egyptian revolution. I enjoyed the blog a lot, and I will try to answer one of your questions "who is really behind it". In my opinion it is "the power of people" from now on. The world started with dictators who plan everything (i.e., alexander the great, Hitler, Mubarak, etc..). Then the world moved to the organizations and systems model (i.e., Oil companies in u.s.a can lead the country to invade iraq). And finally, we move to the people model, and they are the real motivation behind all decisions in the current era. You can see individuals all over the world forming a new culture based on what they think. For example, you have wikipedia, facebook applications, firefox extensions, and most of the open source applications. These are all examples of people contribution to the world. Same goes to twitter, people now raising their voice, and layout new rules.
  8. ronika says:
    Really interesting post on a fascinating series of events. It is absolutely amazing that this was for the most part a peaceful revolution (Gandhi would be proud) and that change, on a such a large scale, was effected. Very interested to see how it all plays out.
  9. Olin Hyde says:
    Themathematics of social change that swept over Egypt (and now the rest of the Arab world) show that if the status quo (dictators, etc) resist technology -- then they will almost certainly fall. This is not about social media. It is about an outlook on the world.
  10. Bryan Hollis says:
    Dear Mohamed, I received your post feed from Hesham through our StumbleUpon connection (and newsletter). Of course the events in Egypt have been unavoidable if you are a living and breathing person. I have followed the news of this closely. What I find interesting is that, like you, I spend about 10 - 12 hours per day behind a computer screen and NEVER realized that social media played any sort of role what-so-ever in the liberation of the Egyptian people. Ironic to say the least. Very well written, my friend. Bryan
  11. Lennart Heleander says:
    Hi Mohamed, I do not know if we are going to discuss politics or the internet in that article, but it is right that the Internet was one of the absolute most important reasons behind the change of regime in Egyptian. We will see similar things happen in Iran, Algeria, Yemen and Libya in the first round; these countries have a well built phone and internet systems that governments do not have control over.
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      Looks like it has already started there :) I am reading many reports right now over Facebook on massive demonstrations on both countries, I am pretty sure other countries will follow suit. Dictatorship governments will fall apart sooner or later, they are kind of left between a rock and a hard place, either completely block the Internet and hence regress many years behind, or open Internet access and face the inevitable, which is move gradually towards democracy.
      • Lennart Heleander says:
        Hi Mohamed, Since I wrote my first comment has a lot happened and before you answer this has even more happened. This is further evidence of how effective and strong eRevolution is.
  12. Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach says:
    Utterly incredible! Did you see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-son3EJTrU ? It gives some more insights into what made the revolution possible - very compelling.
    • Hesham says:
      Thanks for the video Barbara , I just want to play it here:
  13. Darren Scott Monroe says:
    Simply amazing. It is not only a testament to the change of our media's ability to tool up a revolution. But also the endless possibilities of a social movement. The REAL revolution begins when the elections and the constitution is changed. You can't stop a movement from moving no more than you can the sun from shining....even if you block it.
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      We yet to see how social media is going to play-out during the incoming Egyptian elections in September. Remember the US 2008 elections? Big part of Obama’s win is his brilliant use of Facebook, twitter and YouTube. Obama understood the technology way better than his opponent; due to the generation gap may be?
  14. Vijayraj Reddy says:
    this is inspiring post, when i see this post first i was amazed to see the pics which tell the story, in future social media will play important role in a revolution...
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      Absolutely; I truly believe Facebook and twitter what sparked the revolution, and YouTube, Facebook and a few blogs are what sustained it and maintained its momentum.
  15. Nathan Reed says:
    Wow! For some time now all of the blogs I've read have been about building a blog site, and make money from it. It's refreshing and eye opening to see the internet as a global social link, not just how can I make money off of it. I have to say though, when your online we are all kind of faceless. You don't really know the intentions of some people. If it's a scheme or something we want to be a part of is something we all have to answer. Thanks for the article and showing us a bigger picture.
  16. Evan says:
    The change hasn't happened yet. We'll see if the regime changes and if the revolution comes about. It could have been crushed by the army (remember Tiananmen Square) and not amount of Facebook friending would have stopped this. Will the new regime implement democracy? We'll see. The role of the US in initially supporting Mubarak is far from praise worthy. There needs to be an eRevolution in western democracies too. These increasingly resemble security states - secret police having the powers to arrest and question without trial and laws prohibiting those arrested from discussing the interrogation. The availability of facebook in these countries has not brought this about. I really hope that some kind of system comes to Egypt that allows people to control their lives and participate in shaping their country. (What system and what it is called I don't really care. I suspect it is most likely to be some form of liberal democracy - my own preference is for Westminster rather than presidential. If so I think a free press is vital.)
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      No the change did not happen yet IMO, and sure there are many challenges ahead, what’s sure though is as the US president said, Egypt after Jan 25th is not the same as what it was before, and it “ is not going to go back to what it was”. And yes, it is very likely that Mubarak as a dictator running out of all other options, wanted to sing Sack of Ilium the same way Nero did during Magnum Incendium Romae (The Great Fire of Rome) watching another Tiananmen Square incident or Hama massacre (the one the former Syrian president did in 1982) before Mubarak's eyes, but the Egyptian case is different, carrying-out such plan would have caused a major instability in Egypt and the region, especially the American interests in the region, the army knew very well that it will fight a lost cause, a battle it will never win. Remember, Tahrir square was being broadcasted live 24x7 allover the world, Tiananmen Sqr. and Hama case were different.
  17. Natalie says:
    Fantastic article and very good questions to ask. @justcase. I too wonder if there was anybody behind the scenes. Maybe I have a suspicious nature, who knows but I also believe that this is not the end of it. Back to the article - The reason the E-revolution happened was because the powers that be took their eyes off the ball for many years. Even as it was happening, they were attempting to cut internet access instead of looking to the root of the problem. Governments need to get used to the fact that the internet is here to stay and is going nowhere. What used to be the saying "money makes the world go round" You can now replace money with the words "the internet." Social media has already been used for wrong doings and if anyone says, this proves its evils they could not be further from the mark. Everything in life has its downsides as well as bringing benefits. People have asked me if I think the youth of Turkey will riot and I ask them why would they do that? Turkey is not a dictatorship but it seems that many people are feared for the power that social media has. Instead of being fearful, embrace it and educate people to think for themselves as to whether that use is being carried out in the name of good or evil.
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      Natalie, spot on! There is no need for any government or regime to “freak-out” from social media, unless of course they practice or promote oppression and dictatorship. We have a saying in Egypt that says “إمشي عدل يحتار عدوك فيك” that loosely translates to, “By staying just, your opponent would stay confused”; i.e. promote transparency and justice and there won’t be anything you should be scared of. Those who have special agendas or try to unstabilize the country would not have any support from the people whatsoever, why would they? To comment on one of the questions I posed in the article, “Could social networking become a two-edge sword?”, I believe it won’t. It could only become an eRevolution tool only when people are governed by dictators, autocrats, oppression, fear or tyranny, only then social media could be effective in mobilizing people, and Turkey as you stated IMO is not governed by any of those. I was there when protests started on the 25th of Jan, and I could tell that those protests were not like any other demonstrations I have ever witnessed, but still thought that the regime would handle the situation and people will end going back to their homes. The minute Facebook and cell phones were blocked, I realized then that this is the end of that regime; sure enough 15 days later, the entire regime collapsed and Mubrak stepped down. IMO, if there is someone to thank for the Egyptian revolution, I think it would be first, the social media; second, the regime itself and the way they handled the situation. Thanks for your comment :)
  18. The Bad Blogger says:
    Although, I do not know what's going on in this country, but I believe social network will be written in history .... well, if I'm not wrong last year, there is a group created by someone call "The Mohammad Day" which I'm actually not sure what is it, but I heard is an insult to the Muslim and one of the Muslim country actually cut the line in connecting to facebook, and the person that created the group was protected by the agent of the country which I do not want to speak of... Some people do it for good of justice but some do it for the fun and worst some people do it for the evil... although our live was change by the technologies that was given to us... but we should always remember those technologies was created for the good of human and not evil scheme...
  19. JustinCase says:
    Hey Mohamed, This is a very nice recap of the happenings in Egypt. I wonder if anyone is going much thought as to why all of this really happened and who is really behind it and how far and wide this going to go. I seriously doubt if those involved really knew or know they are pawns in a much larger chess game. Yes, it is a moment in history. How big of moment is yet to be seen I think. Good job.
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      Hi Justin, I don’t believe the organizers were driven by any political force, their main goal was to restore dignity and build transparency among Egyptians, that was all they wanted, and due to the severe corruption and the deteriorating economic situation Egypt has been suffering from during the past years, people responded spontaneously. Taking down the regime was not part of people request at first, but due the strong oppression and savage use of force on protestors that left 300-400 people killed and thousands injured, people later had no choice but to ask the entire regime to resign and for Mubarak to step down. There are many details I left out in the article, as I have commented earlier, my main focus was to address the technological and social media part of the revolution rather, not the political side of it. Having said that, I believe you ask a very valid the question, with this new eRevolution blueprint, what if outside groups in the region use the Egyptian approach to trigger other revolutions elsewhere to promote their own agendas (for good or bad)? I have no doubt that this has already started.
  20. Rob says:
    Great use for social media. Finally they masses can communicate w/o the government regulating every aspect of it.
  21. Tia Peterson says:
    What an excellent post. You did a great job on re-capping the entire thing. You raise some good questions at the end. What if social media power falls into the hands of the wrong people? It some cases, it may already have. Let us all remember that the real power resides with people, and it is up to us to use tools in the appropriate ways, for good. Great job on this. Cheers, Tia
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      True, at some point, those who stand behind a computer screen or a Facebook account will have to get out into the street and march with the rest of the people. Social media may stir people, but the desire for change has to exist in the first place.
  22. Delena Silverfox says:
    This is fascinating. When events are in motion, it's always difficult to track what exactly is going on. But after events calm down, retrospect is always just as interesting as the events them\selves Delena
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      Yes Delena, you are right, my focus though was not to address the political side of the revolution or the force, oppression and political tactics used by the regime; that might have taken a 10 times longer blog; rather, I tried to list the sequence of events from the “eRevolution” perspective, how social networking played a fundamental role in the entire revolution, hence the “e” prefix of eRevolution (“e” for “electronic” and “e” for Egypt).
  23. Robert Dempsey says:
    The ability of people to communicate and rise up over oppression is truly one of the halmarks of the positive effects and uses of social media. It is proof positive that people have a voice and that voice will be heard. This is a very interesting time we live in where the ability of people to communicate and get together is growing. It will be even more interesting to see other's reactions to these events.
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      Yes Robert, looks like Iran, Yemen, Algeria and Bahrain have already started following suit, only time will tell which one of these countries will follow the Egyptian model.
  24. Wael Sayed says:
    Great job Ya Mohamed. Reading your blog post was like watching a re-run of your favorite movie. Long Live EGYPT free and democratic. Cheers, Wael.
  25. Ben Lang says:
    Hey Mohamed, Incredible lessons, this truly was a moment of history. Also, hope everything went well for you Hesham during these momentous events. :)
    • Mohamed Osam says:
      Thanks Ben. It was a great coincident for me to be there when all this happened, but I am back to the US safe and sound. :)
    • Hesham says:
      Hey Ben, I can not hide the truth that I was not getting any rest or enough sleep since the revolution started, I was so worried about my country and family, and I was about to take a decision to fly to Egypt! I wanted to see it with my own eyes instead of TV and following the news on social media! Now, it feels much better :)