The media and the new logic of repression in Latin America faces The regime of President Hosni Mubarak muted everything I could smell opposition in Egypt, but now faces a virtual Internet dissidents demanding democracy and freedom, especially in the social network Facebook.
The potential of the network were evident on 6 April when a general strike to protest rising food prices and against Mubarak management was convened for the first time through Facebook and the network Twitter communication. Facebook group, "April 6, the day of rage", which called for a day of strike and peaceful protests, once had 70,000 members, which means that your message could reach 400,000 people. Their ideologue, Israa Abdel Fatah, was was arrested and held for more than two weeks without charges and another 500 people who participated in some form in the strike, many bloggers, according to the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Despite the repression, a few days later there was another group on Facebook that called a second general strike on 4 May, coinciding with the 80th birthday of Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981.
Its author, Ahmed Maher Ibrahim, was also arrested and tortured by Egyptian security forces, according to a report at several web pages in which he has hung pictures of her with obvious signs of abuse. Neither calls strike earned a large following but for the first time the new technologies and young people were the protagonists. "In Egypt there is no political activity of citizens and young people have sought a tool to express themselves and act beyond the traditional political parties," Efe said political analyst Diaa Rashwan.
Rashwan believes that the movement born in the Internet is more social than political, reflecting widespread discontent, but does not believe that could lead to changes in the short term, but will help awareness.
authorities themselves have assumed that the critical voices on the Internet are a threat to the regime, despite In Egypt, only 6 million people have access to the network less than ten percent of the population. control and repression in the network has intensified in the past two years, in an attempt to prevent known abroad the less pleasant side of Mubarak. Since 2006, Egypt is among the 15 countries that control the network in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders, and since that year the authorities have the power to block, censor or close web pages that violate "national security."
The best known case is that of blogger Abdel Karyme Nabil Soliman, sentenced in February 2007 to three years in prison for "Insulting the president" and another year for "inciting hatred of Islam."
However, to control the hundreds of websites and blogs in which demand democratic changes and respect for human rights is a complicated task and many inside and outside the system who believe that this has only begun. "The Internet is an essential tool to start changing things," said Tarek Shalaby, 23 year old web designer. "Through the network of people realize they are not alone, that there are others who share your opinion, and it is beginning to mobilize," said Shalaby, which corresponds to the profile of young Egyptians, class medium and high, with a university education, who are making the Internet a political weapon.
is this elite that has begun to express in the virtual space, clearly and in English, so nobody can say in Egypt in the street, making the Internet becomes the new target of the regime's security forces.
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