Slashdot Mirror
Social Networking Spurs Activism Against Repression
The New York Times Magazine is running a story about the rise in political activism in Egypt through sites like Facebook, which allow citizens to gather and share ideas in ways they otherwise aren't allowed. A state-of-emergency law has been active in Egypt since 1981, which, among other things, "allows the government to ban political organizations and makes it illegal for more than five people to gather without a license from the government." As affordable internet access has spread throughout the country, the government is having a much harder time keeping wraps on the ideas of dissidents. Blocking access to the sites isn't a good solution for the government, because many non-dissidents use it for mundane communications. As Harvard's Ethan Zuckerman puts it, "...doing so would alert a large group of people who they can't afford to radicalize."
Unfortunately, the internet is also a splendid tool for radical groups to communicate and share techniques for murdering people. The Islamist terror sites are a case in point. MEMRI monitors a lot of these sites and provides translations of some of their materials. The ideas they espouse are disgusting, and yet they manage to obtain web hosting services in the United States.
If political activism is allowed in Egypt, it may unfortunately mean a conversion from a relatively secular government to an Islamic government which will be even less tolerant toward the Coptic Christian minority. Already, they are not allowed to build new churches and are kept out of government positions. Many in Egypt fear that if free elections were allowed, the Muslim Brotherhood would quickly achieve a dominant position in their legislature. The MB is opposed to the peace treaty with Israel and their rise would probably lead to a major new war or, at minimum, new Egyptian support for Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas, which is an offshoot of the MB.
No, I fear that freedom of expression on the internet is a luxury that only the stable Western democracies and a few non-Islamic dictatorships can afford. Places like China and most of the Muslim world have very low tolerance for online organizing. Probably China could survive a democratic revolution and would emerge as an ally of the West if it did, but the Muslim world appears unready to put such power in the hands of the people.
it's = "it is"; its = possessive. E.g., it's flapping its wings.
Of course, let's just apply muslim values, after all they're "just". Know any gays that I can kill ?
Do you have a sister perhaps ? I feel my stone throwing arm needs some practice.
Are you against that ? Why do you impose your values on me ?
Ow cool, you've risked your life for the freedom of America in other ways than the military.
You must truly be a great individual ... are you a christian missionary to somalia, perhaps ? Did you go and live 10 years amongst the Zimbabweans ?
You must truly be a grand person to have risked your life for your freedom in better ways than the military. Sorry to have doubted you.