The Double-Edged Sword of Social Media

Social media is key to the uprisings in Syria, but activists who use it risk their lives.

THE MARK: In recent news articles, many young Syrian activists are quoted as saying that they are too nervous to use social-media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Can you explain the use of social media in Syria?

RADWAN ZIADEH: If we call the Egyptian revolution “the revolution of Facebook,” we can say that the Syrian revolution is “the revolution of YouTube.” The social-media networks have played crucial roles in showing the world what is going on in Syria. Since Day 1, the Syrian government has banned any media presence and kicked out all the reporters. This is how every Syrian citizen became an activist, and, at the same time, a journalist. This is the perfect model of citizen journalism. It has empowered more young activists, and has made many young leaders interested in journalism. Every day, I receive emails from young activists saying, “Radwan, look at that video on Al Jazeera – I did that!” And then these stories go on to be used in international media.

THE MARK: Do these young activists have reason to fear the government?

ZIADEH: Yes, they have much to fear. This is the reason the government has not completely banned Facebook: It has started intimidating and interfering within Facebook. It hijacks Facebook usernames and sends messages to the opposition figures inside and outside the country.

THE MARK: How does the government get the surveillance technology that is needed to be able to do this?

ZIADEH: Before the uprising started, the government depended on many experts, and all the expertise actually came from the Iranians. Iran has been expert in controlling the internet since the Green Revolution in 2009. Now, Iranians are trying to transfer this expertise to the Syrian government because it is so far away from learning the new technology. This is why the Syrian government needs to get its experts from outside. But a lot of activists have been overcoming obstacles and are much smarter than the government when it comes to using social media, even though there are still risks. The number of YouTube videos that are posted every day gives you a great example of that.

THE MARK: Why is it so risky to use social media to organize demonstrations in Syria, when so much of the revolution in Egypt was organized through Facebook?

ZIADEH: Because the number of Facebook users in Syria is a lot smaller. We only have about half a million users. This number is not significant. But, at the same time, Facebook came to be the main platform by which to pass information and post it online, and the people are following it. I admire everyone protesting against the regime, but, in the case of Syria, demonstrators know that if they are participating in anti-government protests, they are putting their lives at risk, because they can easily be looked up on Facebook.