Skip to main contentdfsdf

Patrick Munson's List: Assignment 3.6- Digital Citizenship

  • News articles on Egyptian Revolution 2011 and Technology

  • Feb 22, 13

    "A warning in Cairo." The International Herald Tribune. (January 28, 2011 Friday ): 396 words.LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/02/22.

    The International Herald Tribune
    January 28, 2011 Friday

    January 28, 2011 Friday
    A warning in Cairo
    SECTION: EDIT; Pg. 8
    LENGTH: 396 words

    ABSTRACT
    Egypt's leaders are deluding themselves about the causes of unrest. It's easy to understand why

    Egyptians are fed up.

    "...tens of thousands of Egyptians into the streets of Cairo and other cities this week, the country's largest demonstrations in years."

    "Citizens of one of the Arab world's great nations, they struggle with poverty - 40 percent live on less than $2 a day - rising food prices, unemployment and political repression."

    "Inspired by Tunisia's so-called Jasmine Revolution, they are demanding a government that respects its citizens' voices and is truly committed to improving their lives."

    "Mr. Mubarak, 82 and in ill health, has been in power for three decades and is believed to be trying to fix it so his son Gamal can succeed him in elections expected later this year. Government projects that were supposed to benefit the poor only end up enriching the elite. Parliamentary elections in November were seen as fraudulent. Security forces, which beat and arrested hundreds of protesters, are widely seen as corrupt."

  • Feb 22, 13

    Sheridan, Mary Beth. "Social media curbs pose hurdle for U.S.." The Washington Post. (January 29, 2011 Saturday ): 935 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/02/22.

    The Washington Post
    January 29, 2011 Saturday
    Suburban Edition
    BYLINE: Mary Beth Sheridan
    SECTION: A-SECTION; Pg. A09
    LENGTH: 935 words

    Social media curbs pose hurdle for U.S.

    "Egypt's five main service providers halted Internet access early Friday, and cellphone service was disrupted."

    "U.S. officials concede that Twitter does not a revolution make. But they acknowledge that such platforms accelerate the formation of protest movements. Social media were used to organize the demonstrations that toppled Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali this month, and to spread word on the Egyptian protests this week."

    "From now on, any and all dissent movements will have technology as a core component," said Alec Ross, Clinton's senior adviser for innovation."

    "The Obama administration has elevated Internet freedom in U.S. diplomacy, with Clinton declaring in a major speech last year that it was "critical" that Internet users "are assured certain basic freedoms." The State Department is planning $30 million in Internet freedom projects worldwide."

    "Social media and hand-held communication devices are spreading so quickly that U.S. officials are struggling to keep up. In the past two years, the number of cellphones worldwide grew by about one-fifth, to more than 5 billion."

    "Internet use in Egypt went from less than 1 percent to 21 percent of the population in the past decade, according to U.N. statistics. Usage is particularly high among the young, educated urban residents who have formed the core of the protests."

    "Cowie said the Egyptian shutdown was far more dramatic than the Tunisian government's recent attacks on Internet sites, or the Iranian government's effort to slow down Internet connectivity during protests in 2009."

    "This month, the State Department laid out plans to spend $30 million on such programs as training activists on how to avoid being censored, and providing Web-based technology to break through government firewalls. The money, appropriated in 2010, is a 600 percent increase from the previous year."

    "What happens when you disconnect a modern economy and 80,000,000 people from the Internet?" Cowie wrote. "This has never happened before, and the unknowns are piling up."

  • Feb 22, 13


    "Technological revolutionary." The Irish Times. (October 18, 2012 Thursday ): 815 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/02/22.

    The Irish Times
    October 18, 2012 Thursday
    Technological revolutionary
    BYLINE: MARK DEMPSEY
    SECTION: FINANCE; Technology; Pg. 6
    LENGTH: 815 words

    "Wael Ghonim used social media as a weapon in the uprising in Egypt. He believes his country now must use such technology not as a medium but to automate business ONE OF the star attractions at the Dublin Web Summit today is the Egyptian revolutionary Wael Ghonim who rose to global prominence following his role in the Egyptian revolution that resulted in Hosni Mubarak stepping down after a 30-year reign."

    "Speaking to The Irish Times last night on the eve of his appearance at the Web Summit, he reflected on the technology eco-system in Egypt and his hopes for Egypt going forward, politically and with reference to its ever-growing technology and entrepreneurship sectors."

    "Ghonim has been partially credited with demonstrating to the world the power of social media in pursuing social and political change in an environment where no hope in government existed. In the

    case of Tunisia and then Egypt, tools such as Twitter and Facebook played an invaluable role in bringing down repressive dictatorships."

    "In 2010, Ghonim was one of the founders of the FB page, We are All Khalid Said , named after the death of a young Egyptian following a brutal beating by police in Alexandria."

    "On January 14th, 2011, Ghonim suggested people take to the streets of Egypt, like in Tunisia, on January 25th. Two hours later he published an event entitled: Revolution against Torture, Corruption, Unemployment and Injustice . This sparked other initiatives and campaigns."

    "Ghonim came to Egypt, having persuaded his employers at Google to allow him to go home, citing personal problems , but his main aim was to partake in the protests and continue mobilising with other activists.On January 27th, Ghonim was kidnapped by Egyptian security and detained for 11 days until February 7th when, following calls from groups such as Amnesty International, he was released after stating: We will not abandon our demand and that is the departure of the regime."

    "However it was not until he gave an interview with local broadcaster Dream TV and broke down after seeing picture of fellow activists who had been killed by regime forces that local Egyptians en masse started to feel that enough is enough and join the others on Tahrir Square in central Cairo."

    "On February 9th, Ghonim addressed the crowds in Tahrir: This is not the time for individuals or parties or movements. It s a time for all of us to say just one thing Egypt above all . Ghonims experience proved a major catalyst in the ultimate forcing out of Mubarak."

    "Ghonim s life has since changed beyond recognition. In April 2011 he began a leave of absence from his position as Middle East and North Africa head of marketing for Google to start a technology-focused NGO to help fight poverty and foster education in Egypt."

    "In Egypt, the government has not been helping the tech industry enough in the past, especially since Egypt has huge potential to be a silicon valley in the region and huge resources, prefect location, educated and talented Egyptians and a huge population so you have a large pool of qualified engineers."

    "He see himself, along with others, as having a role in advising the government in this area. However he still sees the public sector s use of technology as superficial in that they see it as a media tool as supposed to technology that can be used to automate . They need to be able to see technology less as a way to create a media platform and more as an enabler for industry. Egypt has a lot of entrepreneurs but not a lot of start-ups ."

  • Feb 22, 13

    "#Rev@lution; HOW SOCIAL NETWORKS TRIGGER POLITICAL DOWNFALL." The Sun (England). (January 27, 2011 Thursday ): 547 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/02/22.

    The Sun (England)
    January 27, 2011 Thursday
    Edition 1; National Edition

    #Rev@lution;
    HOW SOCIAL NETWORKS TRIGGER POLITICAL DOWNFALL
    BYLINE: MARK ALMOND
    SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 8
    LENGTH: 547 words

    "RIOT cops have been deployed in Cairo after thousands of protesters demanded an end to nearly 30 years of authoritarian rule under president Hosni Mubarak."

    " Egyptian opposition group April 6 Youth Movement used their Facebook page to call for a "day of anger" on Tuesday."

    "The protesters' actions echo those of fellow Arabs in Tunisia, who are angry about spiralling food costs, unemployment and autocratic rule. On Tuesday, Twitter announced their Egyptian service had been blocked by authorities there."

    "Professor Mark Almond tells why networking sites are triggering revolution in North Africa."

    "Most Egyptians are aged under 25, but Hosni Mubarak has been their president since 1981. Even his son, Gamal - who many Egyptians fear was slated to step into his 82-yearold father's shoes - is elderly by Egyptian standards at 48."

    "Young Egyptians are frustrated by poor job prospects and soaring prices.But what has threatened their president's hold on power is the way protesters have harnessed new technologies such as mobile phones and Twitter to spread discontent.

    "The cheapness of new digital media cuts across old class barriers. Only rich Egyptians can afford a car but huge numbers have mobiles."

    "The young in countries such as Egypt increasingly have the education to expect more from life than their forebears.And access to cheaper digital age tools makes life under a dictator harder to bear. It is also easier to spread the word."

    "Facebook can call people to protest. But they must risk violence on the streets to turn "virtual" anger into revolution.Then old-fashioned numbers and courage count for more than technology if the revolutionaries are to succeed."

  • Feb 22, 13

    "'This is a revolution'." The New Zealand Herald. (January 29, 2011 Saturday ): 493 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/02/22.

    The New Zealand Herald
    January 29, 2011 Saturday

    'This is a revolution'
    SECTION: NEWS; World
    LENGTH: 493 words

    "A page on social networking site Facebook had listed more than 30 mosques and churches where protesters were expected to gather."Egypt's Muslims and Christians will go out to fight against corruption, unemployment and oppression and absence of freedom," the page said, adding more than 70,000 had signed up online."

    "Regional TV stations reported clashes between thousands of demonstrators and police in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria and in Minya, south of Cairo."

    "At the upscale Mohandiseen district, at least 10,000 of people were marching towards the city centre chanting "Down, down with Mubarak." The crowd later swelled to about 20,000 as they made their way through residential areas."

    "At Ramsis Square in the heart of the city, thousands of protesters clashed with police as they left the al-Nur mosque after prayers. Police used tear gas and rubber bullets and some of the tear gas was fired inside the mosque where women were taking refuge."

    "Near the city's main Tahrir Square downtown, hundreds of riot police were gathered, anticipating the arrival of a large crowd of protesters."

    "A short while later, thousands of protesters marched across a bridge over the Nile and moved towards the square, where police began firing tear gas into the crowds."

    "Internet and cellphone services were disrupted across Egypt as authorities used extreme measures to hamper protesters from organising the mass rallies."

  • Feb 22, 13

    HAUSER, By CHRISTINE. "New Service Lets Voices From Egypt Be Heard." The New York Times. (February 2, 2011 Wednesday ): 681 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/02/22.

    New Service Lets Voices From Egypt Be Heard

    The New York Times
    February 2, 2011 Wednesday
    Late Edition - Final

    BYLINE: By CHRISTINE HAUSER
    SECTION: Section A; Column 0; Foreign Desk; Pg. 14
    LENGTH: 681 words

    "With the unruly sounds of protests in the background, the Egyptian man declared there were 50,000 demonstrators in the streets of Cairo."

    "Unedited, raw, anonymous and emotional, Egyptian voices are trickling out through a new service that evades attempts by the authorities to suppress them by cutting Internet services."

    "There is still some cellphone service, so a new social-media link that marries Google, Twitter and SayNow, a voice-based social media platform, gives Egyptians three phone numbers to call and leave a message, which is then posted on the Internet as a recorded Twitter message. The messages are at twitter.com/speak2tweet and can also be heard by telephone."

    "Sometimes speaking for just several seconds, other times for more than a minute, the disembodied voices convey highly charged moments of excitement or calm declarations of what life is like in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, as it seeks to remove its leader."

    "Protesters have sought to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to muster momentum for attendance at demonstrations, even as the Egyptian authorities have shut off Internet access."

    "Urgent news," one caller to speak2tweet said."The police have changed to serve the people. We are very happy."

    "As of Tuesday afternoon, the account had more than 8,000 followers. On Tuesday, the service started to identify the country from which each recorded message came. While most were from Egypt, they included calls from Germany and the United States in Arabic and English, and messages from Arabic speakers in the Netherlands and Turkey."

    "But no Internet connection is needed for speak2tweet, and in Egypt there was some phone service. Vodafone was working for text and voice on Tuesday, while AT&T BlackBerry users said MobiNil was working. Callers in Egypt had three numbers to leave recorded messages, based in the United States at 1-650-419-4196, in Italy at (39-06) 6220-7294 and in Bahrain at (973) 1619-9855."

    "Then the service will instantly send the recorded call as a Twitter message using the hashtag #egypt. They are subject to international calling charges, but Google and SayNow, which announced last month that it had been acquired by Google, are also exploring the possibility of setting up a local phone number in Egypt, a person close to the project said Tuesday."

    "Over the weekend, we came up with the idea of a speak-to-tweet service -- the ability for anyone to tweet using just a voice connection,"the statement said."We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time. Our thoughts are with everyone there."

  • Feb 22, 13

    "Google boss was behind Facebook revolution." The Times (London). (February 8, 2011 Tuesday ): 412 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/02/22.


    The Times (London)
    February 8, 2011 Tuesday
    Edition 2;
    National Edition

    BYLINE: James Hider;Laura Pitel
    SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 13
    LENGTH: 412 words

    "A Google executive who had been detained for nearly two weeks by the Egyptian authorities has revealed that he was behind the group that started the country's fortnight of protests."

    "In an emotional television interview Wael Ghonim, 30, who had been freed earlier in the day, identified himself as the mystery administrator of "We are all Khaled Said", a Facebook group named after a victim of police brutality who has become the figurehead of the country's pro-democracy movement."

    "This is the revolution of the youth of the internet, and now the revolution of all Egyptians," he said. "This country is ours, not yours, it is ours," he added, addressing the regime. "We have to restore dignity to all Egyptians. We have to end corruption and put an end to theft."

    "At the end of the interview Mr Ghonim broke down as the presenter, Mona el-Shazly, narrated a series of photographs of the victims. "I want to say to every mother and father who lost a child that this is not our fault," he sobbed. "This is the fault of those who are clinging to power."

    "The dramatic interview caused a storm on Egypt's thriving Twitter network. "In my humble opinion, the regime in Egypt was just demolished live on TV by a 30-year-old man's tears," wrote Weddady."

  • Feb 22, 13

    "Net hero free to continue fight Google man released as Egypt tackles unrest." Hobart Mercury (Australia). (February 9, 2011 Wednesday ): 344 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed:

    2013/02/22.
    Hobart Mercury (Australia)
    February 9, 2011 Wednesday
    1 - Edition

    Net hero free to continue fight Google man released as Egypt tackles unrest

    "THE young Google executive detained for 12 days for protesting against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says he was behind the Facebook page that helped spark what he called "the revolution of the youth of the internet"."

    "This is the revolution of the youth of the internet and now the revolution of all Egyptians," he said."

    "He confirmed reports by protesters he was the administrator of the Facebook Page "We are all Khaled Said" that was one of the main tools for organising the demonstration. Khaled Said was a 28-year-old businessman who died in June at the hands of undercover police, which sparked months of protests against the police."

  • Feb 22, 13

    "Coordinator of Egyptian opposition youth movement on current protests." BBC Monitoring Middle East - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring. (February 9, 2011 Wednesday ): 1003 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/02/22.

    BBC Monitoring Middle East - Political
    Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
    February 9, 2011 Wednesday
    Coordinator of Egyptian opposition youth movement on current protests
    LENGTH: 1003 words

    "He is activist Muhammad Awwad, 27, coordinator of the Movement of Youths for Justice and Freedom, one of the Egyptian movements that called for protests on 25 January."

    "[Awwad] When we began to publish the call for protests on the Internet and distributed statements to citizens in poor neighbourhoods and districts, we sought to organize a protest against the currently deteriorating situation in all spheres. Primarily, however, we protested citizens' continuation to burn themselves while the government paid no attention to them."

    "[Awwad] In my wildest dreams, I expected 50,000 people to participate in the protest, because only hundreds took part in the demonstrations that we used to organize in the past. Of course, the Tunisian revolution was in our minds when we distributed the call, and it served as a great inspiration. However, I did not expect the move to turn into a popular revolution. I can say that 90 per cent of the Egyptian revolution was spontaneous, and it was carried out by the masses that went out in rage after they lived and suffered nearly 30 years under the rule of the emergency law."

    "[Awwad] We received several calls and sent our demands with some activists of the opposition who took part in the dialogue. We asserted our adherence to our stand that there will be no dialogue until Mubarak leaves."

  • Feb 23, 13

    "High tech and the despot; The use of modern communication technology and the social media helped topple Mubarak. Who's next?." National Post's Financial Post & FP Investing (Canada). (February 12, 2011 Saturday ): 578 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/02/22


    National Post's Financial Post & FP Investing (Canada)
    February 12, 2011 Saturday
    National Edition

    High tech and the despot; The use of modern communication technology and the social media helped

    topple Mubarak. Who's next?
    BYLINE: Diane Francis, Financial Post
    SECTION: FINANCIAL POST; Diane Francis; Pg. FP2
    LENGTH: 578 words



    "Technology can swiftly destroy governance models, as well as business ones, as Tunisia and then
    Egypt have demonstrated. Tweets, SMS messages and cell swarms can undermine and bypass military
    power and mass mindsets, the miracle of gadgets that has always been around but never with such
    accelerated effectiveness.The technology of the printing press, and Gutenberg Bible, gradually
    felled a medieval superpower, the Roman Catholic hierarchy. The television in August 1989 broadcast
    behind the Iron Curtain the fact that the Soviet "king" had no clothes when the Hungarian border
    opened wide and people fled without obstruction. Within days, street protests sprang up and within
    weeks, by Nov. 2, regimes collapsed and the Berlin Wall was dismantled.Now this. In 18 days, the
    most influential Arab country has overthrown a dictatorship through a combination of technology and
    Gandhi-like nonviolence. It's clear that China, Iran and other dictatorships are simply revolutions
    waiting to happen because Egypt's Revolution 2.0 will bring more transformative outcomes:"

1 - 11 of 11
20 items/page
List Comments (0)