Overcoming the Digital Divide: The Internet and Political Mobilization in Egypt and Tunisia

摘要

ThepotentialoftheInternetasapoliticaltoolintriguesscientistsandpoliticiansalike.ParticularlyintheMiddleEast,themostfrequentnarrativeisthatthemereavailabilityofalternativesourcesofinformationwillempowerpoliticalactorsthataremarginalizedbythetraditionalmediacontrolledbyauthoritarianregimes.Indeed,theprotestmovementsinauthoritariancountriesinteractcreativelywiththisnewmediumtogettheirmessageacrossinanenvironmentmarkedbycensorshipandrepression.ComparingthepatternsofInternetuseforpoliticalmobilizationinEgyptandinTunisia,thisarticleshowshowtheInternetasarelativefreespacecanbeavitalfactorinopeningwindowsandexpandingtherealmofwhatcanbesaidinpublic.However,theInternetassuchappearsnottobesufficienttoradicallytransformthesocietyasawhole.Instead,thecaseofEgyptshowshowtraditionalmediasuchasthepresscanserveasabridgetothegeneralpublicsphere,helpingtooperateresultsofdiscussionsonlineandtotransformthenewlyacquiredspaceofdiscussionintoactualpoweronthestreet.