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Facebook Support for Egyptian Regime Change Helps, But Isn't the Only Option

by Matthew Zuras on May 19, 2010 at 08:45 AM

Dr. Mohamed ElBaradeiEgyptian president Hosni Mubarak, who's been in power since Anwar El-Sadat's assassination in 1981, is up for re-election next year. Opposition groups in Egypt have been unable to gain any real political power over the past thirty years, but there may be hope for executive change in Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and Facebook may turn out to be the ace up his sleeve.

According to Reuters, over 200,000 Egyptians have taken to Facebook to support ElBaradei. After his return to the country in February, ElBaradei created the National Association for Change, a coalition that advocates democratic reforms in the political system and the Egyptian constitution. Existing laws (specifically Article 76 of the Constitution) make it difficult, if not impossible, for ElBaradei to run for president, but that's not stopping his supporters -- yet.

Only last week, the Egyptian Parliament approved a two-year extension on a state-of-emergency law that allows the government to arrest and detain people without charge, and to restrict both protest and speech. Although leaders have explained that the law will only apply to cases of terrorism and drug trafficking, the definition of "terrorism" is so broad that it could be applied to both a potential run by ElBaradei or to rallies by his supporters.

As we saw with the contentious and violent presidential election in Iran last year, the Internet can be a powerful weapon against restrictive regimes (even if it didn't result in a win for Mir-Hossein Mousavi). But the Internet is not as readily available to Egyptians as it is to Iranians, and advocates of change may be reticent to voice opposition whether online or in the streets. Rabab el Mahdi, a professor at the American University of Cairo, told Reuters, "What bloggers did was expose the power of Iran's opposition... Egypt does not have this grassroots audience." At the same time, the Internet is more within the purview of the country's elite than the majority of Egyptians (as it requires both literacy and paid access), so it seems unlikely that the government would step in to block Facebook rather than concentrate on the rabble in the streets. And, with the openness of Facebook, the existing government can keep a watchful eye on the opposition.

Since protests in Egypt are frequently met with violent police confrontations, opposition groups are wary of having a public presence at all. But ElBaradei supporters have been circulating petitions for his election even with the looming threat of police beatings, and the Facebook group supporting ElBaradei is a way for those petitioners to connect. Both online and offline activism are necessary for any kind of change in the political structure in Egypt, and we'll continue to update as the movement grows. [From: Reuters]

Tags: blogs, egypt, election, facebook, HosniMubarak, iran, IranElection, Mir-hosseinMousavi, MohamedElbaradei, NationalAssociationForChange, OnlineActivism, politics, SocialNetworking, top, Web

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