Nowhere can the potential applications and uses of social media be seen more clearly than in the Syrian revolution. As we discussed in class, the Syrian government has heavily restricted the international press’s access to the conflict. This has led to the rise of citizen journalists who rely on social media to inform the world about events in the country. Dishad Othman is a Syrian IT engineer and activist who has been forced into exile. From his home in Ireland, he provides secure connections for revolutionaries in Syria so that the government cannot see what they are doing. In this video, he talks about the importance of the Internet to the revolutionary cause. He says, “Free and open Internet is the most powerful tool in combating human rights abuses.” He also mentions the thousands of activists that have had to become educated in digital security as a safety precaution, since their lives depend on their ability to hide their activities from the government.
One Response to “Exiled Syrians provide online protection for revolutionaries”
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November 9th, 2012 at 11:53 am
As the article we discussed in class about the Arab Spring and this post on Syria show, Social Media and the internet have greatly altered who can share information, news, and photos. The “civilian journalism” that has been a major part of the Arab Spring is amazing in how it manages to circumvent dictatorial regimes and connect thousands of people in the midst of a national civil war. I would be thrilled to learn more about the role social media is still playing in the Syrian conflict as this post definitely hits on many of the points we discussed in class and the evolving world of journalism and information in the digital age.