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  • Essay / The Arab Spring and the role of new media in this crisis

    The unstoppable progress of the Internet and social media entered society like an explosion in the early 2000s. In Arab countries, these new developments were the triggering event that forced people to take to the streets to protest against the many factors that hinder people's daily lives, such as; significant social differences, political corruption and abuse of power, lack of freedom, continued repression and restriction of basic civil rights and significant privileges for government employees. The article “The role of the Internet and social networks in the Arab uprisings – An alternative to official press censorship” by Xose Soengas and the article “The role of new media in the Arab Spring” by Habibul Khondker both describe that although the media was only one of the factors of the social revolution among others, like the social and political factors of the region, it nevertheless played a crucial role, especially in the absence of media open and civil society, in shaping social and political factors. of certain companies. Although the rise of new technologies has played an important role in political and social changes in Arab countries, it cannot be attributed to a single event. According to the articles, the changes are the result of many factors such as: an inevitable accelerated social evolution thanks to regular contacts with the outside world, widespread discontent due to their precarious economic conditions and the obtaining of a greater share of freedoms. With or without new media, these countries were already ready for revolutionary movements due to various political-economic conditions; the rise of new media has only served as a catalyst in the process. These articles explain the importance of globalization to media advancements, its negative effects and risks, and the role it played in the Arab Spring protests and social revolution in the Middle East and North Africa. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The advancements and developments in new technologies are very popular and have made a grand entrance in many societies. According to Khondker in his article: “In the MENA region, nothing appears to be stopping the growth of cyber-activism, the act of using the Internet to advance a political cause that is difficult to advance offline, in this region. » This shows that the use of the Internet has helped disseminate information about many causes much faster and more effectively than the use of conventional media in the past. Soengas supports Khondker's statement regarding the dissemination of information on this new medium in his article by stating: "The support base for these new developments grew rapidly from the start because there was a mimetic effect important, emerging from the beginning. international declarations of solidarity, which have transformed into a massive phenomenon thanks to the appeal power of the Internet and its word of mouth effect. These two statements demonstrate the effectiveness of the Internet when it comes to distributing information to large numbers of people. New technologies seem to be the greatest thing to discover, but the reality is that they have many disadvantages and a lack of effectiveness in certain situations associated with them. According to Soengas in his article, one of the disadvantages of the period of protests with the Internet is that journalists did not have access to.