Erika Mann

Young Egyptians are flocking to Facebook to mobilize and venture their frustrations with the Gaza-Israeli conflict. 

This showing of “Facebook Activism” can be expected to occur with a government that limits their right to assemble and their freedom of speech. Accessing Facebook through private homes or Internet cafes, Egyptian youths have found an outlet for their angst and anxiety over Gaza through the online social networking site. 

An article in the New York Times reporting on the Egyptian Facebook revolution says, “The fact that tens of thousands of disaffected young Egyptians unhappy with their government meet online to debate and plan events is remarkable, given the context of political repression in which it is occurring.” 

Facebook is ranked as the third most-visited web site in Egypt and has 800,000 Egyptian members who are creating the typical Facebook groups you would find anywhere else in the world, ” I bet I could find 1,000,000 people who…” but the stakes are much higher for Egyptians Facebook users. An estimated 18,000 Egyptians have been imprisoned under a law that deliniates the government’s ability to ban political organizations and makes it illegal for more than five people to gather without a license from the government. 

Although social networking sites can be used as a platform for dissent, anger and outrage, Facebook can have a positive role in the Gaza-Islraeli conflict as an educational online tool to promote social discourse.

“Revolution, Facebook-Style“, by Samantha M. Shapiro, published January 22, 2009, New York Times