The Internet is off in Egypt. Last week, President Mubarak decided that his citizens were getting a bit too uppity with their politics – Egyptians are protesting in the streets against a dictatorship that has oppressed them for the last 30 years.
To say they’re upset is a bit of an understatement. Of course, that’s all beside the point. The point is that the Internet is off in Egypt. President Mubarak turned it off so that all his angry people would be angry by themselves instead of telling all their friends on Facebook or Twitter.
This isn’t the first time an oppressive regime has used censorship to quiet opposition. Just a few weeks ago, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali blocked access to thousands of political websites in Tunisia as the country moved closer and closer to revolution. In 2009, Iran turned off the internet and cellular service for several hours during the elections and throttled the bandwidth to social networking sites where political opponents were gaining followers.
The Evils of Censorship
Here in the U.S., we get upset when a school bans a book or the FCC makes a band change their lyrics to get on the radio. Rightly so, I say – censorship of the truth, of reality, is never for the good of the people. But those are small potatoes compared to what’s happening right now in Egypt. This is a case of an administration attempting to quell a popular revolution.
I try to stay away from thinking in absolutes – it tends to steel my mind to foolish consistencies – but I find state-sponsored censorship to be one of the worst evils that a government can inflict on a society. Murder, torture, and detainment always come to mind as the most atrocious and, certainly, they deserve their spot on the list. The problem is that these are only the evils that we can see.
Censorship, when executed with skill, hides the truth from people in a way that prevents them from knowing it ever existed. When you listen to the radio and hear a curse word bleeped out of a song, you’re aware of exactly what’s going on. This type of masking is pointless because your mind is instantly aware of the censorship, and it fills in the blanks on it’s own as if it weren’t there in the first place. It’s more of a formality imposed to uphold “public decency” (don’t get me started).
True, oppressive censorship is applied totally. Rather than listening to a song with the curse words bleeped out, you’d never know that the song existed at all, or even the band for that matter. Take North Korea for instance. If you live there, there’s a good chance that you don’t even know what rock and roll is.
Whether or not you know about the latest band is mostly inconsequential to developing a just society, but when this type of censorship is applied systematically to completely silence the opposition to human suffering, it is the evilest of all acts. Censorship is what enables the murder, torture, and detainment to go mostly undetected.
The People, United
Oscar Olivera, famous for organizing Bolivians to take back their water rights from a foreign corporation, Bechtel, liked to say, “The people, united, will never be defeated.” In my opinion, few truer words have ever been spoken.
I have a feeling that President Mubarak knows this, and turning off the Internet is an attempt to remove “united” from the equation. What I think he may not know, though, is that turning off the Internet cannot stop the inevitable uprising of a repressed people.
The Internet is not what connects and unites us; our will, our spirit, and our common interest is. The Internet is but one tool, revolutionary as it may be, that helps facilitate that. You can take it away and buy yourself some time, but a few breaths is all you’ll get before a determined people come again for what they want.
The Internet is not who we are. Quite the opposite, in fact. We are the Internet, and we can’t be turned off.
Today, I, and hopefully you too, stand in solidarity with Egyptians to send a message to President Mubarak and other world leaders that we cannot be turned off. We cannot be put down. If you take away one of our tools, we will use another – there are a lot of them. You do not have a gun big enough or a weapon powerful enough to stop the will of the people.
The Nearness of a Far-Off Land
The protests taking place in Egypt right now probably feel very far away to most of us, but I urge you to look at them in the context of your own life. This really is a small world, and as long as the internet stays on, it’s getting smaller daily.
If you believe in something, then go after it with everything you can. If you lose one of your tools, do not be discouraged. Your will to succeed cannot be stopped by a mere inconvenience.
On the other side of the coin, if you find yourself in a leadership role, practice humility. You have a responsibility to your followers. This is why I hold surveys on AR (we’ll be having another one soon), and regularly check in with readers. The voice of your people cannot be extinguished. Ignore that truth for too long and it’ll be your head they’re calling for.
Good luck, Egypt.
~~~~~
Image by: Mike Licht
Great post! I’ve been following the protests pretty closely. Egypt is on the top of my places to travel too. I want to try to get there as soon as possible after things are settled to hear some first hand accounts. When Mubarak is removed (which I think will happen) the Egyptians are going to feel extremely connected to one another. The country will be abuzz, and I want to feel that too.
~Scott
I’m excited to see the Egyptians take their country back, but as we’ve seen many times before, putting a new government together can be quite a messy time.
Of course, Mubarak is refusing to leave office before the end of his “term,” so we’ll see how things develop.
Here’s to hoping for a clean, peaceful switch.
Yes, not having the internet will definitely hurt the flow of information, but as the Egyptians are demonstrating they won’t let it stop their voices from being heard.
There is a sea change happening right now in Egyptian politics (perhaps not unlike the changes occurring in other parts of the world) and it is wise for everyone to stay aware of this event as a global community. We have a lot to learn about fixing faulty democracies.
Great, great thoughts Tyler.
Innaharda, ehna kullina Misryeen. That’s Arabic, meaning: Today we’re all Egyptians.
“Today, we’re all Egyptians.”
I like that!
I was just speaking with a friend of mine about this 24 minutes ago.
The first site I started was a review site for mobile broadband to help people get online whenever and wherever they pleased. As I type, I’ve got a little black box that works anywhere in the country on 4G or 3G. Nifty at first sight, essential if you ponder and stare for more than a second.
Like you said Tyler, turning off the internet will not turn off the will of the people. Amazing revolutions were organized and executed well before the existence of the internet throughout history.
Martin Luther King anyone?
That aside, the internet is no longer a luxury but now a utility much like cell phones. Most respectable businesses won’t be caught dead without a website. For those of us who write entirely online, this quirky invention has revolutionized our entire lives.
I love the internet. When I first went to college, I set out to make my first major purchase a laptop so I could get online. Once I did that, I knew the door was wide open. Through the ‘net’, I learned how to DJ, cook foods I never ate before, taught myself graphical design, building a website, researched discount travel and subsequently traveled to many cities I’d never heard about.
It continues to change my life to this day.
To shut off the internet isn’t just blocking people from Facebook, it’s an attempt to control the flow of communication and in turn people’s thoughts ala 1984 George Orwell style.
Sad.
Thought provoking article. When I learned of Egypt’s internet being turned off, I was quite surprised as it seems to me that this only served to reveal Mubarak’s weakness and further incite his people and galvanize them against him.
I am sure you have heard of our own recent bill re “internet kill switch” (http://www.fastcompany.com/1721753/egypt-internet-kill-switch).
Does the safety gained by increased “cybersecurity” justify potential censorship? From what I understand the president’s power would be rather broad — but I’m sure it would only be used for “our own protection”…right?
Great post Tyler. I’ve enjoyed reading your blog for a few months now and I have to say this is one of the best yet. Well written!
Great post. People restrained and trampled for too long will break out. Internet or no internet. In more recent time the people of East Germany (the Berlin Wall), Iran, Burma, Tunisia, and countries in the west are taking heed otherwise people’s spontaneous actions can explode.
Well said!! Our own Revolution happened before any of the gadgets we have today. The recipe for upheaval is as old as time and is all throughout history. Mubarak took away a means of communication but he could never take away the passion of the people.
Is it just me or is Egypt inspiring? I know there have been other uprisings, but somehow this one has captured my attention and admiration more than others.
Yes, a great post. And I’d like to add that I really appreciate what Griffin had to say about the ‘Internet Kill Switch’. Is it possible we live in less of a free society than we’ve been conditioned to believe?
Nice post, definitely relevant to what’s going on in the world.
I really liked what @Luinae said “Today we are all Egyptians”.
I wish them the best of luck and that their country get better.
The criminals in power in Egypt are too afraid of what the world is seeing; that is to say, the truth about how horrid they’ve been to their people.
May the Egyptian people emerge from this victorious, and may it soon be settled that switching off the Internet for political purposes is a human rights violations and therefore a crime.
Tyler, this message could be used in so many different facets. I loved that you said “If you believe in something, then go after it with everything you can. If you lose one of your tools, do not be discouraged. Your will to succeed cannot be stopped by a mere inconvenience.” plus you stressed leading with humility! Thanks for provoking our thoughts and hearts to carpe diem!
I love how they try to squash dissent by removing the option to exercise dissent from one’s computer chair, and making it so anybody who wants to keep abreast of things has to go out and physically help make things happen.
I think it may have backfired on them. One can only wonder how many people are out on the streets who would have been keeping an eye on things from their computers had that option been available. Turning off the internet was an escalation of conflict, not a dampener, and I do not think it’s going Mubarak’s way at all.
So much the better.
I’m reminded here of the poem “Opportunity,” by Edward Rowland Sill, in which a coward thinks he would be a great warrior if only he had a fine sword like the prince has, and breaks his own inferior one and throws it away and leaves, and then the prince comes by, having lost his sword, and finds the broken discarded one, and picks it up and attacks the enemy with it, and leads his army to victory. It’s not the tools, at all—it’s what you do with them.
More power to the people of Egypt, internet or no internet.
Tyler, THANK YOU for a great post, one that is personally significant to me.
I’m a devoted Egyptian AR fan living in Alexandria, Egypt, witnessing what started out as an innocent, what was expected to be a short-lived protest turning into a revolution against oppression, humiliation, brainwashing, hunger, poverty (56% of population live with less than 250 Egyptian pounds a month–about $45).
You were so right “We cannot be put down. If you take away one of our tools, we will use another” When the internet and telecommunications were turned off, people resorted to the old-fashioned way of communication-knocking at each other other’s doors, asking to join the protest & make a change.
There came a point in my life no too long ago where I, a naturally optimistic positive person, almost gave up on my country and it’s people. I felt like we’ve become so weak, there was no way we will ever make a change we desperately needed. I wanted to escape abroad, immigrate maybe, and leave behind me the sunken ship that Egypt was.
Today, I’ve never been prouder of Egyptians, of the teenagers who stood watch at night in the cold to guard our homes from saboteurs, of the women who suppled protesters with food and water, of the men who preferred to die in honor while protesting, instead of ultimately committing suicide due to chronic depression from the ever-building stresses.
Tyler: Thank you again for not only being aware on what’s going in a country far,far away from you, but doing a little protest of your own. For what it’s worth, you could be standing at Tahrir Square right here with us.
Luinae: We’re all Egyptians-love that.
Shawn: “The criminals in power in Egypt are too afraid of what the world is seeing; that is to say, the truth about how horrid they’ve been to their people.” Sooooo true.
Kyra: “I love how they try to squash dissent by removing the option to exercise dissent from one’s computer chair, and making it so anybody who wants to keep abreast of things has to go out and physically help make things happen.” That definitely backfired on them!!!
Yes, today it is the Internet and 30 plus years ago it was the simple technology of cassette tapes that brought the voice of Khomeini to Iran and the subsequent revolution, for better or for worse. That was called technology at that time believe it or not! But above it all, you are absolutely right Taylor, it is the will of the people that rules.
Nazee
You forgot the biggest censor of all; China. China blocks at least 18,000 websites, shuts down social networks (such as Facebook) and blogs during times of unrest, requires ID to visit an internet cafe, and employees over 50,000 “internet police” to surf local blogs (such as Sohu and Sina) and erase politically critical comments within minutes.
When I was in China, I used to experiment a bit with Google. If you use Google too much, browse more than two pages after an image search, or search for something sensitive like “Falun Gong”, Google will stop working for 20-30 minutes.