Tools of Change: How the Internet Helped Shape the Arab Spring

Abstract
The Internet has served as a tool in the struggle for freedom in the Arab Spring uprisings, from Tunisia--where bloggers made sure the struggle was heard around the world--to Syria, where revolutionaries have used YouTube to fill in the gaps the mainstream media has been unable to report. Though not a catalyst, social media has nonetheless played a role in organizing and disseminating information from protests this past year, from Tahrir Square to Zucotti Park.

Jillian York has studied the powerful role of social media in the Arab Spring, as well as the drawbacks of these dynamic tools, and speaks to their use throughout the past year in the Middle East and North Africa.


Jillian C. York is Director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), where her work focuses on a range of issues including government Internet censorship, corporate social responsibility, export controls, surveillance technology, and online safety. She writes regularly about these and related issues for publications including Al Jazeera English, Bloomberg, Foreign Policy, the Guardian, and Al Akhbar English.

York is also a contributor to and on the board of Global Voices Online. Prior to joining the EFF, she worked at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society on a number of projects including the OpenNet Initiative and Herdict.