Mubarak Shuts Down Social Media: Big Mistake

Helle Dale / February 04, 2011

The decision of the Egyptian authorities to turn on the Internet yesterday after a week of interruption reversed a massive, shortsighted mistake. While controlling the Internet may have seemed like an obvious solution to a situation rapidly spiraling out of control, the Internet actually provided an outlet for the pent-up rage of young Arabs. That rage quickly found expression on the streets instead.

In the attempt to control the growing unrest, the Egyptian government played catch-up on the Internet front. Protestors demanding the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak relied heavily on Facebook and Twitter. Social media had become the primary way for protests to be organized. On January 25, Twitter was shut down; the following day Facebook, Gmail and YouTube were pulled. Yet these measures were far from complete. (more…)