#arabspring — Public Fediverse posts

"Fifteen years since the #ArabUprisings, what have been the greatest successes and obstacles in organizing around socioeconomic demands in the #MENA region? How are workers, unions, and civil society groups organizing under increasingly restrictive conditions and what lessons can be drawn?"

w/ Nada Nashat, Joseph Daher, and Sahar Mechmech. Moderated by Timothy E. Kaldas

https://timep.org/2026/05/14/bread-freedom-and-dignity-socioeconomic-rights-15-years-on/
#ArabSpring #ArabPolitics #Lebanon #Egypt #Syria #Tunisia #MiddleEast #socialMovements

"Fifteen years since the #ArabUprisings, what have been the greatest successes and obstacles in organizing around socioeconomic demands in the #MENA region? How are workers, unions, and civil society groups organizing under increasingly restrictive conditions and what lessons can be drawn?"

w/ Nada Nashat, Joseph Daher, and Sahar Mechmech. Moderated by Timothy E. Kaldas

https://timep.org/2026/05/14/bread-freedom-and-dignity-socioeconomic-rights-15-years-on/
#ArabSpring #ArabPolitics #Lebanon #Egypt #Syria #Tunisia #MiddleEast #socialMovements

"Fifteen years since the #ArabUprisings, what have been the greatest successes and obstacles in organizing around socioeconomic demands in the #MENA region? How are workers, unions, and civil society groups organizing under increasingly restrictive conditions and what lessons can be drawn?"

w/ Nada Nashat, Joseph Daher, and Sahar Mechmech. Moderated by Timothy E. Kaldas

https://timep.org/2026/05/14/bread-freedom-and-dignity-socioeconomic-rights-15-years-on/
#ArabSpring #ArabPolitics #Lebanon #Egypt #Syria #Tunisia #MiddleEast #socialMovements

"Fifteen years since the #ArabUprisings, what have been the greatest successes and obstacles in organizing around socioeconomic demands in the #MENA region? How are workers, unions, and civil society groups organizing under increasingly restrictive conditions and what lessons can be drawn?"

w/ Nada Nashat, Joseph Daher, and Sahar Mechmech. Moderated by Timothy E. Kaldas

https://timep.org/2026/05/14/bread-freedom-and-dignity-socioeconomic-rights-15-years-on/
#ArabSpring #ArabPolitics #Lebanon #Egypt #Syria #Tunisia #MiddleEast #socialMovements

"Fifteen years since the #ArabUprisings, what have been the greatest successes and obstacles in organizing around socioeconomic demands in the #MENA region? How are workers, unions, and civil society groups organizing under increasingly restrictive conditions and what lessons can be drawn?"

w/ Nada Nashat, Joseph Daher, and Sahar Mechmech. Moderated by Timothy E. Kaldas

https://timep.org/2026/05/14/bread-freedom-and-dignity-socioeconomic-rights-15-years-on/
#ArabSpring #ArabPolitics #Lebanon #Egypt #Syria #Tunisia #MiddleEast #socialMovements

Revolutionary Lessons and Internationalism from Below (with The Peoples Want)

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2026/05/17/revolutionary-lessons-and-internationalism-from-below-with-the-peoples-want/

Revolutionary Lessons and Internationalism from Below (with The Peoples Want)

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2026/05/17/revolutionary-lessons-and-internationalism-from-below-with-the-peoples-want/

Revolutionary Lessons and Internationalism from Below (with The Peoples Want)

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2026/05/17/revolutionary-lessons-and-internationalism-from-below-with-the-peoples-want/

Revolutionary Lessons and Internationalism from Below (with The Peoples Want)

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2026/05/17/revolutionary-lessons-and-internationalism-from-below-with-the-peoples-want/

Digital Hopes, Real Power: How the #ArabSpring Fueled a Global #Surveillance Boom
When people remember the 2011 uprisings, they picture crowded squares, raised phones, and the feeling that the internet had finally shifted the balance of power toward ordinary people. But the past decade and a half is also a story about how governments, companies, and platforms turned those same tools into the backbone of a powerful state surveillance apparatus.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/digital-hopes-real-power-how-arab-spring-fueled-global-surveillance-boom

https://www.europesays.com/iran/92638/ Syria arrests Assad-era general accused of involvement in chemical massacre #AdnanAbboudHilweh #ArabSpring #Arrests #ChemicalMassacre #CivilWar #Corruption #crimes #InteriorMinisterAnasKhattab #Syria

Dopo il petrolio, il pane. Hormuz e la crisi silenziosa dell'agricoltura mondiale
https://www.metallirari.com/dopo-petrolio-pane-hormuz-crisi-silenziosa-agricoltura-mondiale/
Il blocco dello Stretto di Hormuz ha innescato una crisi dei fertilizzanti che minaccia di trasformarsi in una carestia globale.
#Hormuz #CrisiFertilizzanti #SicurezzaAlimentare #InflazioneAlimentare #Geopolitica #Fertilizzanti2026 #CrisiAlimentare #MetalliRari #Guerra #Urea #AmmoniakaPrezzi #FameNelMondo #ArabSpring #Agricoltura #FilieraAlimentare #Petrolio #GasNaturale #ONU #Carestia

So much for #Twitter and the #ArabSpring https://www.dw.com/en/middle-east-using-ai-to-stop-dissent-before-it-even-starts/a-76095344 #ai #tech #autocracy #politics #technology

@Sherifazuhur

Are things getting like before the #ArabSpring in Tunisia?

Digital Hopes, Real Power: How the #ArabSpring Fueled a Global #Surveillance Boom

For #activists , #journalists , & everyday users, that means now living with a constant threat: the phone in your pocket, the platforms you organize on, and the systems you rely on for safety and connection can be #weaponized at the flip of a switch. A global surveillance industry has treated repression by many #MENA governments as a growth opportunity, …now shape digital authoritarianism

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/digital-hopes-real-power-how-arab-spring-fueled-global-surveillance-boom

Digital Hopes, Real Power: How the #ArabSpring Fueled a Global #Surveillance Boom

For #activists , #journalists , & everyday users, that means now living with a constant threat: the phone in your pocket, the platforms you organize on, and the systems you rely on for safety and connection can be #weaponized at the flip of a switch. A global surveillance industry has treated repression by many #MENA governments as a growth opportunity, …now shape digital authoritarianism

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/digital-hopes-real-power-how-arab-spring-fueled-global-surveillance-boom

Digital Hopes, Real Power: How the #ArabSpring Fueled a Global #Surveillance Boom

For #activists , #journalists , & everyday users, that means now living with a constant threat: the phone in your pocket, the platforms you organize on, and the systems you rely on for safety and connection can be #weaponized at the flip of a switch. A global surveillance industry has treated repression by many #MENA governments as a growth opportunity, …now shape digital authoritarianism

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/digital-hopes-real-power-how-arab-spring-fueled-global-surveillance-boom

Digital Hopes, Real Power: How the #ArabSpring Fueled a Global #Surveillance Boom

For #activists , #journalists , & everyday users, that means now living with a constant threat: the phone in your pocket, the platforms you organize on, and the systems you rely on for safety and connection can be #weaponized at the flip of a switch. A global surveillance industry has treated repression by many #MENA governments as a growth opportunity, …now shape digital authoritarianism

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/digital-hopes-real-power-how-arab-spring-fueled-global-surveillance-boom

Digital Hopes, Real Power: How the #ArabSpring Fueled a Global #Surveillance Boom

For #activists , #journalists , & everyday users, that means now living with a constant threat: the phone in your pocket, the platforms you organize on, and the systems you rely on for safety and connection can be #weaponized at the flip of a switch. A global surveillance industry has treated repression by many #MENA governments as a growth opportunity, …now shape digital authoritarianism

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/digital-hopes-real-power-how-arab-spring-fueled-global-surveillance-boom

Digital Hopes, Real Power: How the #ArabSpring Fueled a Global #Surveillance Boom

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/digital-hopes-real-power-how-arab-spring-fueled-global-surveillance-boom

#politics #privacy

The @eff has an epic writeup about how the Arab spring was a catalyst for authoritarian information gathering and then there changes to digital life. Three part series.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/digital-hopes-real-power-how-arab-spring-fueled-global-surveillance-boom

#arabspring #surveillance

https://www.europesays.com/africa/176594/ France’s ex-president Sarkozy challenges conviction over alleged Libya funding #AbdullahAlSenoussi #ArabSpring #CarlaBruniSarkozy #CourtOfCassation #france #french #Gaddafi #Libya #Lockerbie #MuammarGaddafi #NicolasSarkozy #niger #Paris #Sherpa #UTAFlight

France ex-president Sarkozy challenges conviction over alleged Libya funding

French former president Nicolas Sarkozy maintained his innocence on Tuesday, telling an appeal hearing in Paris that not…
#France #FR #Europe #EU #Abdullahal-Senoussi #ArabSpring #CarlaBruni-Sarkozy #CourtofCassation #French #Gaddafi #Libya #Lockerbie #MuammarGaddafi #NicolasSarkozy #Niger #Paris #Sherpa #UTAflight
https://www.europesays.com/france/3300/

France ex-president Sarkozy challenges conviction over alleged Libya funding

French former president Nicolas Sarkozy maintained his innocence on Tuesday, telling an appeal hearing in Paris that not…
#France #FR #Europe #EU #Abdullahal-Senoussi #ArabSpring #CarlaBruni-Sarkozy #CourtofCassation #French #Gaddafi #Libya #Lockerbie #MuammarGaddafi #NicolasSarkozy #Niger #Paris #Sherpa #UTAflight
https://www.europesays.com/france/3299/

RE: https://social.coop/@scottjenson/116352522288234148

Oh. so this is the thread people have been talking about.

jfc.

look, i only know of Dare from Twitter & the tech scene. so that’s almost 20 years now (i joined there in 2007). Dare is like the Black unicorn of techbrolandia. he was never the guy to bring visibility to what’s newsworthy. he’s always been around to amplify techbros.

you know who was followed for what was newsworthy?

ME.

i was in the top 5 of most influential accounts during the #ArabSpring & #OccupyWallStreet

🧵…

Angry protests erupted after the tortured body of Muhammad Al-Moussawi was returned to his family.

Bahrain, a majority Shia kingdom is ruled by a brutal king backed by Saudi Arabia who put him back in the thrown after crushing the Arab spring uprisings.

"Sayyid Muhammad Al-Moussawi, one of the oppressed Bahraini youth, was martyred in the Al Khalifa family's prisons due to severe brutal torture, which has led to a wave of public anger"

#Bahrain #Torture #SaudiArabia #ArabSpring #PersianGulf

https://www.europesays.com/ie/376561/ Oil has hit $100 a barrel again – when has that happened before? – The Journal #ArabSpring #Business #Éire #FinancialCrisis #IE #Iran #Ireland #LiquidGold #NotAGoodSign #Oil #OilPrices #Russia #Ukraine

https://www.europesays.com/africa/96311/ How the Cairo Fire of 1952 tested young India’s cautious foreign policy #1952CairoFire #ArabSpring #BlackSaturday #CultureAndLifestyle #Egypt #IndiaEgyptRelations #IndiansEvacuation #IndiansInEygpt #Shepheard’sHotel #TahrirSquare

https://www.europesays.com/africa/93837/ South Africa, the African Union and the end of diplomatic illusion – The Mail & Guardian #Africa #AfricanUnionPeaceAndSecurityCouncil #ArabSpring #DemocraticRepublicOfCongo #GlobalSouth #Islamophobia #multilateralism #opinion #Post9/11 #SAHEL #SouthAfrica #ThaboMbeki #WestAfrica

"When Twitter was still the “town square” and Facebook a humble “social network”, progressives had an advantage: from the #ArabSpring to #Occupy, voices excluded from mainstream media and politics could leverage online social networks and turn them into real-life ones, which at their most potent became protests that toppled regimes and held capitalism to account. The scattered masses became a networked collective, empowered to rise up against the powerful."

#Politics

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/ng-interactive/2026/feb/01/digital-politics-progressives-internet-the-left-online-world

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the beginning of the Egyptian revolution, in 2011.

Those were the years when Facebook was trying to fool people posing as the good platform empowering oppressed populations.

Look at where we are, now. Platforms showing their real despicable nature.

I truly hope another revolution comes soon, everywhere. This time, we will all be using mesh networks, decentralized protocols, encrypted communication.

Transparency for the powerful, encryption for the masses. (paraphrasing Julian Assange)

#ArabSpring #Egypt #EgyptRevolution #Facebook #Meta #encryption #protest #protests #revolution #meshNetworks #Assange

@subzeroblue.bsky.social, 15 years ago today: "Ok Arabs you've seen how it's done in Tunisia; Tag you're it!" #arabspring

Anyone else fascinated and absorbed with the unexpected conflict between Saudi’s MBS and MBZ in Abu Dhabi? The backstory speaks to the entire power structure in the #MiddleEast - After the Jamal Khashoggi murder in Turkey, carried out in the Saudi embassy, MBS turned to the #UAE for support. MBZ paid for the public relations needed to rehabilitate the Saudi prince’s image; and the UAE lobbied in support of the Kingdom & the young prince. But then, the Emirates made a deal with Israel; & began building militias of successionist proxies in Sudan, Libya & Yemen. Their goal? To confront political #Islam - whether it was the will of the people (the Ummah) or not. After the #ArabSpring political Islam became a monarch or dictator’s greatest threat. But the UAE has underestimated Bin Salman’s resolve when red lines are crossed - so 10 years of their investments in #Yemen have been undone in 5 days. Breathtaking. This may realign the region, w/Saudis aligning w/Türkiye & Doha to isolate the UAE. #KSA #AbuDhabi

The life of Bahrainian opposition figure Professor Hassan Mushaima is in danger.

Unofficial reports from Bahrain, report that the police and security forces refuse to allow him to receive proper care and stopped all communication with his family.

There are almost 0 news coverage of his case, except for opposition sources in Arabic and Farsi.

#Bahrain #Freedom #PoliticalPrisone #Politics #PersianGulf #HumanRights #ArabSpring

#Catchoftheday
#OpenAccess on
#MENAdoc:

"Is Iran immune from the Arab spring?" by Nazanine Metghalchi

[Madrid: Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior, 2011]

http://dx.doi.org/10.25673/106042

#iran #arabspring

Grand Egyptian Museum introduces time slots due to constant crowds https://www.byteseu.com/1547339/ #AlMasryAlYoum #ArabSpring #Beijing #Cheops #CoronavirusPandemic #Egypt #Egyptian #egyptians #GizaPyramids #GrandEgyptianMuseum #KingKhufu #louvre #NationalMuseumOfChina #paris #Tutankhamun

#Catchoftheday
#OpenAccess on
#MENAdoc:

"People’s power: the Arab world in revolt " by Layla al-Zubaidi

[Berlin: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, 2011]

http://dx.doi.org/10.25673/108091

#arabworld #revolt #revolution #arabspring #media

#Catchoftheday
#OpenAccess on
#MENAdoc:

"People’s power: the Arab world in revolt " by Layla al-Zubaidi

[Berlin: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, 2011]

http://dx.doi.org/10.25673/108091

#arabworld #revolt #revolution #arabspring #media

TWITTER EMBRACED OEMBED EARLY BUT NOT COMPLETELY. i think that by 2009-2010 we were already seeing embedded videos and thumbnails of articles but, curiously, not tweets.

i spent the whole year of 2011 ―the year of #ArabSpring #Syntagma #Acampadas #Walkerville #Bloombergville and #OccupyWallStreet― writing many a QT on tweets where i was translating quotes from many EU sources still somewhat geoblocked in USA, especially BBC News, El País, L’Express and Al-Jazeera… 🧵

TWITTER EMBRACED OEMBED EARLY BUT NOT COMPLETELY. i think that by 2009-2010 we were already seeing embedded videos and thumbnails of articles but, curiously, not tweets.

i spent the whole year of 2011 ―the year of #ArabSpring #Syntagma #Acampadas #Walkerville #Bloombergville and #OccupyWallStreet― writing many a QT on tweets where i was translating quotes from many EU sources still somewhat geoblocked in USA, especially BBC News, El País, L’Express and Al-Jazeera… 🧵

TWITTER EMBRACED OEMBED EARLY BUT NOT COMPLETELY. i think that by 2009-2010 we were already seeing embedded videos and thumbnails of articles but, curiously, not tweets.

i spent the whole year of 2011 ―the year of #ArabSpring #Syntagma #Acampadas #Walkerville #Bloombergville and #OccupyWallStreet― writing many a QT on tweets where i was translating quotes from many EU sources still somewhat geoblocked in USA, especially BBC News, El País, L’Express and Al-Jazeera… 🧵

TWITTER EMBRACED OEMBED EARLY BUT NOT COMPLETELY. i think that by 2009-2010 we were already seeing embedded videos and thumbnails of articles but, curiously, not tweets.

i spent the whole year of 2011 ―the year of #ArabSpring #Syntagma #Acampadas #Walkerville #Bloombergville and #OccupyWallStreet― writing many a QT on tweets where i was translating quotes from many EU sources still somewhat geoblocked in USA, especially BBC News, El País, L’Express and Al-Jazeera… 🧵

TWITTER EMBRACED OEMBED EARLY BUT NOT COMPLETELY. i think that by 2009-2010 we were already seeing embedded videos and thumbnails of articles but, curiously, not tweets.

i spent the whole year of 2011 ―the year of #ArabSpring #Syntagma #Acampadas #Walkerville #Bloombergville and #OccupyWallStreet― writing many a QT on tweets where i was translating quotes from many EU sources still somewhat geoblocked in USA, especially BBC News, El País, L’Express and Al-Jazeera… 🧵

Political Prisoner Alaa Abd El-Fattah Is Free – But Still “Doesn’t Have Justice”

https://murica.website/2025/09/political-prisoner-alaa-abd-el-fattah-is-free-but-still-doesnt-have-justice/

What #Authoritarians May Learn About #Censorship From #Nepal’s #Protests

by Charlie Campbell
Updated: Sep 10, 2025 10:07 AM ET

Excerpt: "An eerie calm returned to Nepal on Wednesday after an army-enforced curfew paused two days of anti-government protests that had convulsed the capital Kathmandu and other cities, with predominantly young demonstrators burning tires, ransacking ministries, and invading politicians’ homes so that the occupants had to be airlifted to safety.

"At least 22 people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured by security forces in the carnage, which was ostensibly sparked by state attempts to block access to social media but in truth reflect an explosion of long bottled-up rage against political corruption and widespread inequality in the Himalayan nation of 30 million.

"The banning of 26 social-media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and X was officially due to the companies’ failure to register and submit to government oversight, though protesters attributed the move as an attempt to block the crescendo of online complaints from young people furious at the #LuxuriousLifestyles enjoyed by children of the #PoliticalElite, so-called '#NepoKids.'

"The disparity between what ordinary Nepalis experience and what they saw flaunted online prompted calls last week for #MassProtests — calls which only mushroomed following the hamfisted social-media ban. Even after that prohibition was lifted on Tuesday, and the resignations of Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, the unrest escalated.

" 'The government in Nepal was trying to use those new social-media regulations to prevent the very thing that happened,;' says Michael Kugelman, a D.C.-based South Asia analyst. 'So it completely backfired.'

"The power of social media to foment popular protest is no stranger to Asia, where the internet has been a key driver of popular uprisings that toppled governments in Sri Lanka in 2022 and Bangladesh in 2024, and continue to roil Indonesia today. But it’s a phenomenon that first came to light in the 2010 Arab Spring, when a series of anti-government protests swept the Middle East and North Africa that were predominately organized online.

"Most notably, and in a clear augury of Nepal today, efforts during the #ArabSpring to block social-media access simply cut a head of the hydra: highlighting the state’s blatant disregard for freedom of speech and assembly, vindicating the protesters’ complaints, and widening sympathy for their demands.

"Little wonder authoritarian states were spurred by the Arab Spring into enacting draconian internet controls. Across Nepal’s northern frontier, #China’s Great Firewall became the poster child for tightly regulated online space. Not only does the #GreatFirewall block undesirable external information but also weeds out and proscribes politically sensitive domestic content."

Read more:
https://time.com/7315858/nepal-protests-social-media-ban-authoritarian-censorship-internet-freedom-analysis/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

#Censorship #IncomeDisparity #YeetTheRich

What #Authoritarians May Learn About #Censorship From #Nepal’s #Protests

by Charlie Campbell
Updated: Sep 10, 2025 10:07 AM ET

Excerpt: "An eerie calm returned to Nepal on Wednesday after an army-enforced curfew paused two days of anti-government protests that had convulsed the capital Kathmandu and other cities, with predominantly young demonstrators burning tires, ransacking ministries, and invading politicians’ homes so that the occupants had to be airlifted to safety.

"At least 22 people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured by security forces in the carnage, which was ostensibly sparked by state attempts to block access to social media but in truth reflect an explosion of long bottled-up rage against political corruption and widespread inequality in the Himalayan nation of 30 million.

"The banning of 26 social-media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and X was officially due to the companies’ failure to register and submit to government oversight, though protesters attributed the move as an attempt to block the crescendo of online complaints from young people furious at the #LuxuriousLifestyles enjoyed by children of the #PoliticalElite, so-called '#NepoKids.'

"The disparity between what ordinary Nepalis experience and what they saw flaunted online prompted calls last week for #MassProtests — calls which only mushroomed following the hamfisted social-media ban. Even after that prohibition was lifted on Tuesday, and the resignations of Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, the unrest escalated.

" 'The government in Nepal was trying to use those new social-media regulations to prevent the very thing that happened,;' says Michael Kugelman, a D.C.-based South Asia analyst. 'So it completely backfired.'

"The power of social media to foment popular protest is no stranger to Asia, where the internet has been a key driver of popular uprisings that toppled governments in Sri Lanka in 2022 and Bangladesh in 2024, and continue to roil Indonesia today. But it’s a phenomenon that first came to light in the 2010 Arab Spring, when a series of anti-government protests swept the Middle East and North Africa that were predominately organized online.

"Most notably, and in a clear augury of Nepal today, efforts during the #ArabSpring to block social-media access simply cut a head of the hydra: highlighting the state’s blatant disregard for freedom of speech and assembly, vindicating the protesters’ complaints, and widening sympathy for their demands.

"Little wonder authoritarian states were spurred by the Arab Spring into enacting draconian internet controls. Across Nepal’s northern frontier, #China’s Great Firewall became the poster child for tightly regulated online space. Not only does the #GreatFirewall block undesirable external information but also weeds out and proscribes politically sensitive domestic content."

Read more:
https://time.com/7315858/nepal-protests-social-media-ban-authoritarian-censorship-internet-freedom-analysis/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

#Censorship #IncomeDisparity #YeetTheRich

What #Authoritarians May Learn About #Censorship From #Nepal’s #Protests

by Charlie Campbell
Updated: Sep 10, 2025 10:07 AM ET

Excerpt: "An eerie calm returned to Nepal on Wednesday after an army-enforced curfew paused two days of anti-government protests that had convulsed the capital Kathmandu and other cities, with predominantly young demonstrators burning tires, ransacking ministries, and invading politicians’ homes so that the occupants had to be airlifted to safety.

"At least 22 people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured by security forces in the carnage, which was ostensibly sparked by state attempts to block access to social media but in truth reflect an explosion of long bottled-up rage against political corruption and widespread inequality in the Himalayan nation of 30 million.

"The banning of 26 social-media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and X was officially due to the companies’ failure to register and submit to government oversight, though protesters attributed the move as an attempt to block the crescendo of online complaints from young people furious at the #LuxuriousLifestyles enjoyed by children of the #PoliticalElite, so-called '#NepoKids.'

"The disparity between what ordinary Nepalis experience and what they saw flaunted online prompted calls last week for #MassProtests — calls which only mushroomed following the hamfisted social-media ban. Even after that prohibition was lifted on Tuesday, and the resignations of Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, the unrest escalated.

" 'The government in Nepal was trying to use those new social-media regulations to prevent the very thing that happened,;' says Michael Kugelman, a D.C.-based South Asia analyst. 'So it completely backfired.'

"The power of social media to foment popular protest is no stranger to Asia, where the internet has been a key driver of popular uprisings that toppled governments in Sri Lanka in 2022 and Bangladesh in 2024, and continue to roil Indonesia today. But it’s a phenomenon that first came to light in the 2010 Arab Spring, when a series of anti-government protests swept the Middle East and North Africa that were predominately organized online.

"Most notably, and in a clear augury of Nepal today, efforts during the #ArabSpring to block social-media access simply cut a head of the hydra: highlighting the state’s blatant disregard for freedom of speech and assembly, vindicating the protesters’ complaints, and widening sympathy for their demands.

"Little wonder authoritarian states were spurred by the Arab Spring into enacting draconian internet controls. Across Nepal’s northern frontier, #China’s Great Firewall became the poster child for tightly regulated online space. Not only does the #GreatFirewall block undesirable external information but also weeds out and proscribes politically sensitive domestic content."

Read more:
https://time.com/7315858/nepal-protests-social-media-ban-authoritarian-censorship-internet-freedom-analysis/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

#Censorship #IncomeDisparity #YeetTheRich