Egypt: Bloggers on the Frontline
Dec 2nd, 2009 by Imane Drissi El-Bouzaidi
Information on Wael Abbas:
The speaker in the video is Wael Abbas. He is an Egyptian blogger who actively promotes human rights in Egypt by exposing citizen media from around the world in the form of blogs, facebook sites, youtube videos, etc. He gained international acclaim when his online videos exposed the torture of prisoners and demonstrators, inflicted by Egyptian police officers. Abbas has also chosen to use his real name when blogging as opposed to an anonymous name, regardless of the risks involved. He claims that he does this as a way to inspire others to speak out as well. He received the “Egyptian Against Corruption Award” in 2005/2006; BBC named him the “Most Influential Person” in 2006; he received the “ICFJ /knight International Journalism Award” in 2007; CNN named him the “Middle East Person” of the year 2007; and he was awarded the Human Rights Watch’s “Hellman/Hammett Award” in 2008. Abbas has received worldwide recognition by working towards freedom of speech and press and he has participated in dialogues about media diversity in places, such as Canada, Germany, and London, etc.. His blog is Misr Digital, meaning “Egyptian Awareness” and it is found at: http://misrdigital.blogspirit.com/.
Wael Abbas says: “The bloggers in Egypt are the last independent voice. If we are silenced, no protests will be heard in Egypt, not only now, but for the coming quarter- or even half-century. And so the choice to blog is not only serious, but necessary.”
Video Summary:
In this video, Abbas addresses the new emerging blogosphere in Egypt and how this is affecting social movements, creating digital media diversity, and raising awareness about suppression in authoritarian regimes. In Egypt, oppression is evident because the “emergency law” makes demonstrations and strikes illegal and the Egyptian press is censored and completely controlled by the government. Blogs have been used to provide an alternative media source and another view to social issues. Egypt has the best developed blogosphere in the Arab world because since 2005, there have been no censorship of blogs. However, this is not to say that bloggers have freedom of expression because instead the government goes after the bloggers themselves by arresting or harassing them as opposed to trying to shut down the internet sites. Blogs are able to provide a more unbiased coverage of events, such as parliamentary elections, and police brutality. This is a way that people are using blogs as a tool or technology to give themselves a voice as well as to give others a voice who are not able to speak out against the government. Blogs in Egypt have been able to cover stories that do not receive enough coverage by traditional media, such as political rigging in Egyptian elections as well as police brutality against prisoners and protesters. He also covers stories in other countries, such as the video of corruption in Morocco, which is referred to in the video. This was the image of the policemen collecting money from passing cars. Wael Abbas talks about how he is fighting against these injustices by providing an alternative media source and digital evidence of these actions.
Video Commentary:
Wael Abbas uses his blog to speak for the subaltern who are those that are marginalized and oppressed in his videos. These vary from prisoners, demonstrators, or anyone that is being oppressed by authoritative regimes. His blog enables people to speak and be heard because they are able to send him their video footage for him to post without fear of being arrested by the government. At the same time, it can be argued that Abbas is subaltern himself because although the videos do not show an image of him being marginalized, he too is being persecuted and harassed by the Egyptian government because of his blog, which is critical of the government. The government tapped his phones, harassed his family, and tried to tarnish his reputation with lies. Authorities regularly detain bloggers and most report being maltreated or tortured. In 2008, local press freedom groups documented that there were more than 100 bloggers detained. An example is Abdel Kareem Suleiman who was sentenced to four years in jail because he insulted the president and Islam on his blog. Abbas has never been arrested; however, a reason for this could be that the government is hesitant to arrest Abbas because of his international recognition, which may create a worldwide response. This is a way that he is using priviledge to help others. Through the use of his blog, Abbas uses strategic essentialism to speak for other people in the world that are in the same situation that he is, who are trying to establish a voice, and are being harassed by authoritarian governments.
Egyptian bloggers are also affecting social movements. An example of how blogs were used was during the Workers General Strike in 2008. Blogs and digital sources first played a role in encouraging and organizing the resistance. There were facebook pages dedicated to the event called the ‘April 6 Day of Anger in Egypt,’ which was to protest rising food prices and low wages. During this time, bloggers documented and updating people about what was going on and were capturing footage of people being detained and abused for demonstrating and striking. The web pages served to inform the public and persuade them to demonstrate. As a result of this, authorities began arresting bloggers as well. This is a movement that continued in 2009 and shows how digital activism is working in solidarity with physical movements.
The virtual, digital space is replacing the physical space of people mobilizing because it is a safer way to express voices in states with restrictive authoritarian governments. However, by using real names this shows that they are not just talking and that they are not scared but instead they want to include actions. The more courage they have and present means that they will inspire more awareness. By creating a virtual space for voices to be heard, bloggers such as Wael Abbas are showing footage and stories that traditional media do not cover. This can help the media get involved in the debate about these issues, which might result in Egypt’s Interior Ministry assessing the problem seriously.
Blogging has also been effective in giving a voice to those that are not normally heard, such as women. Approximately sixty percent of bloggers in Egypt are women. It is not only women but people of different sexual orientation, different races and religions that are being empowered by creating blogs. Wael Abbas posted two videos that were effective in involving legal actions. One of his videos in 2007 showed police officers attacking a bus driver, which led to their conviction. Another incident was shown with a video of police officers torturing a prisoner, Imad Kavear, which led them to be sentenced to jail. Blogging is not only having an effect in Egypt but it is becoming a part of a larger movement to create spaces to be heard, in the form of an alternative media source.
Critique:
A critique of this video may be that Wael controls what goes on his blog and how it is framed; therefore, he acts as an intermediary player. This is different from people actually posting their stories themselves because he can manipulate the stories or show only one point of view. Also, blogs are not necessarily accurate. Regardless of these critiques, I believe that he is having a significant impact on freedom of expression and he is allowing people to speak who would otherwise not be heard. There are many who would not post up their story on the internet for fear of negative ramifications so they allow Wael or other bloggers to give them a voice.
It is interesting to analyze the role of blogs because we in our class have the ability to talk about many controversial issues without fear of negative ramifications. However, it is unfortunate that other people in different countries do not have this right and are facing arrests, or torture as a result. This shows us how a simple blog can have a significant impact not only in raising awareness but it can actively promote large-scale civil disobedience so that democratic changes can be made and people are heard.
6 Responses to “Egypt: Bloggers on the Frontline”
This reminds me of the Rodney King incident, one of the most prolific police brutality cases that was caught on camera. The advent of home video cameras brought an entirely new level of surveillance into the world and its influence skyrocketed when they were incorporated into cellphones. Foucault looks at how the sovereign has been instilled within our society so that we all become the police of each other. While he critiques this form of surveillance as a dangerously normalizing production, we see the benefit of it in a story like this. We are able to put ourselves in a place of power by carrying a camera phone. Collectively, the oppressed people in a community can act as their own police officers as a sign of solidarity. This actively unites the subaltern, not only giving them a voice but also providing them with a community. As Wael Abbas notes, this can be an extremely dangerous act but it is also one that becomes more powerful with numbers. Soon videos will not be needed because only the threat of a camera being in the vicinity will be enough to evade many corrupt and violent acts from taking place. Blogging appears to be the future of the human rights movement.
I think this video and story is interesting in the context of being posted for a course on development. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not as though I disagree with its relevance!
I believe I remember Sara saying near or at the beginning of the course that we won’t be looking at ‘economic’ development per se. Seeing this video seems to bring that full circle. Wael Abbas seems to be looking for political development and/or development of freedoms. One of the key ways I see the interface between these different types of development is the Wael and the other Egyptian bloggers are not economically ‘underdevelopment’: they wouldn’t be ‘bloggers’ if they were. And yet, they are still subaltern…their underdevelopment is one of political exploitation and expropriation of their rights. How does this affect their position as subaltern and/or how does it affect their ability to speak? Does it undermine their subaltern status?
I found this video very interesting. I agree that the idea of blogging as a form of giving voice is complicated because, although in a video one is able to see and hear what is going on is the subaltern really speaking? Although we see a man, who is silenced, harassed in the street we are completely out of context, we do not know why this may be happening, and how this man is effected by this event. To me, when the subaltern speaks we actually hear them, not their interactions or movements.
I am not completely convinced that Wael Abbas is actually a ‘subaltern.’ I understand that the police are trying to silence him and take his voice away, but I feel that Spivak implies that a ‘subaltern’ is more than that, it’s ‘worse’ than being oppressed. It is a person who has never really been given the chance to speak, he/she has been silenced for a very long time. Wael, based on his diction and idea of setting up the blog, must have had a far amount of education and this again, makes me question his ‘subalterness.’ He is not arrested, maybe because of his international fame, so here, his ‘life counts’ more than the sublatern.
I was interested to read about the empowering of women, because in fact while watching the clip it was a note I made. The fact that he never mentioned who sends him blogs or in fact how many. This may simply be because he never thought to go into as much detail or because he does believe it important enough to say.
Lastly, although I believe the idea to blog is great, and has clearly started to make an impact on the government, or at least, police I feel that the true subaltern could not be heard using this system. This is simply because, and again it may be that my understanding of sulaltern is faulty, in order for people to send a blog, they have to own a cellphone with a video recording function or a video camera, have access to a computer with internet and also have the knowledge to know how to send such a clip. I feel that these requirements make it difficult for the ‘subaltern’ to actually speak
That fact that you picked a story from a person who wasn’t defined as the “regular” undeveloped subaltern is a nice change of pace. What kind of development Wael Abbas is looking for through his blog and videos is still a bit of a mystery to me although previous comments like he is looking for political development or the development of freedoms is probably getting closer to what he is trying to say/find.
The most interesting point this video made to me was it confused the lines of the subaltern a little, here is a man who is clearly not underdeveloped yet he speaks as though he is, he suffers from persecution from the state for his expression and ideas yet he still actively broadcasts under his own name. Are we seeing a divide in what we perceive to be the subaltern? It seems to me that expanding upon this, and believing that this blogger isn’t a subaltern would be creating a sub-subaltern wouldn’t it? Just some food for thought.
This is truly an inspiring and innovative way of expressing every day realities, and framing them in the right context to ensure that the videos and images speak for themselves. I feel that this kind of expression, through social outlets and popular sources for quick information, enables a huge audience to participate (even if only in a very passive way). Anyone can collaborate and share immensely important acts of violence and brutality that could otherwise be stifled by the perpetrators themselves or the comparatively limited impact of “word of mouth” stories. Visual media is unique in its ability to captivate attention and encourage response. While an individual could be otherwise marginalized and devalued in the context of society, with a tool like a camcorder they can empower themselves to spread the truth, to prove responsibility, inspire others and generally create a piece of solid evidence. I hope to see more of this in the future, for our generation needs be “pulled in” to social issues somehow.
This video takes me right back to a few months ago to when the political turmoils were happening during Iran’s presidential elections. Just like Egypt, the Iranian government aggressively censors and prohibits any ‘inappropriate’ internet content that might provoke its citizens to do anything ‘Western’ or ‘un-Islamic’. So during the massive government crackdown that ensued the elections, Islamic militias captured and tortured Iranian leaders and civilians that were suspected of working against the government. Also, more crucially, international news outlets were forced out by the Iranian government in the hope that such events wouldn’t be covered. But ironically enough, internet cyber spaces such as blogs, twitter, and facebook became the only way for Iranians to show the rest of the world what was truly happening in Iran.
Even though this presents one of the times in where the subaltern are not directly affected by the project of Development or the unfolding of capitalistic processes, these people shouldn’t be made any ‘less subaltern’. I agree that the youth of Iran and Egypt are the subaltern due to the brutal fact that they are deprived of a physical voice. As a result, this ‘cyber space’ becomes the only realm in where people look for a voice in their constant struggle for social justice.