‘Double-edged sword’
THE social media is not just a way to find your classmates in high school 20 years ago or to share summer holiday or graduation pictures; it is also a tool for staging revolutions to demand changes in regimes and public policies.
The recent revolutions throughout the world were organized by the youths through various social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).
In an unprecedented manner, the social media has become a tool for monitoring events and organizing demonstrations in several countries around the world, such as Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom and Israel.
For instance, the recent riots in London were carried out by the youths, who coordinated their efforts through BBM. They used this advanced communication media to arrange the time and location for the protests, as well as exchange opinions on how to carry out the protest action.
Regulating the social networking sites has become a necessity due to these incidents. However, it remains hotly debated because the youths are more active and advanced than the state security and intelligence agents, so they can easily evade arrest.
Actually, this is a double-edged sword. We cannot deny the fact that the protesters have the right to overthrow the barbaric and corrupt regimes like those of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, Zine El-Abidine bin Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.
On the other hand, in cases like that of Norway, regulating the social media is a must because the murders and bombing were unjustified for the Labor Party members. This happened due to lenient immigration rules and the killings were considered, after debating on blogs and Facebook, a different manner of opposition and protesting.
Email: Labeed.abdal@gmail.com
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By: Labeed Abdal
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/NewsDetails/tabid/96/smid/414/ArticleID/172883/reftab/73/t/Social-media-between-regulation-freedom/Default.aspx
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