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| (Photo: ANP) |
An
anonymous Iranian woman describes how she was raped and tortured in prison.
Thanks to Facebook and Twitter, her movie has reached more than 75,000 views.
Social media are the thorn in the side of authoritarian regimes, but leaders
are committed to crush the 'bug.' How are critical social media in countries
such as Tunisia, China and Belarus still standing?
The
22-year-old Iranian student, who is disguised in her video, was arrested during
the outbreak of mass demonstrations against the regime of President Ahmadinejad
following the 2009 elections. Dressed in typical black Iranian clothing, she
describes her ordeal. "Nobody knew where I was. I wanted it to be over. I
wanted to die.”
Her story
is not only a shocking account of human rights violations in Iran, but also an
open discussion of rape and abuse which is exceptional in the Middle East.
Victims often get the blame and they must remain silent. Social media ensures
that taboos such as rape are challenged in every case. They give the victims a
voice, albeit only a digital one.
In Egypt
and Tunisia social media have been useful in organising demonstrations. Does
this make Facebook and Twitter the champions of democracy? That may be jumping
to conclusions, says Gilles Lordet from Reporters Without Borders. Social media
is a tool to for bringing abuses to light, but they can also be easily
disabled.
“Regimes regularly
shut down the sites. With that, they are often quite successful. The real
pressure on the regime then comes from the people that rise up on the
streets."
China
The Chinese
government blocks sites like Facebook and Twitter, but the website Weibo is
still allowed. Since its inception in August 2009, the use of the Internet
service has grown enormously to 10 million new registrations per month.
The Chinese
government tries to control the flow of information. Everything is scanned by
their employees and removed when necessary. For example, during the recent
demonstrations in the Middle East, the word ‘Egypt’ could not be searched for
fears the movement there might be an inspiration. Messages about the Dalai Lama
are also removed immediately.
Despite the
strong grip of the Chinese government on the Internet, some important
information seeps through. On July 23, a major train accident took place in the
Chinese city of Wenzhou. Two high-speed trains collided killing about 40
people. The Chinese government tried to keep news of the accident from
spreading, but streams of messages appeared on Weibo, many of which openly
criticised the authorities.
"It's
a cat-and-mouse game. The regime tries to control everything, but it can never
do that completely. Citizens use Weibo to share stories about corrupt
politicians and oppression. It shows that within the Chinese population, there
is an enormous need for a just system," says Lordet.
Belarus
In Belarus,
the people have lived for years under the sway of dictator Alexander
Lukashenko. The popular social networking site, VKontakte provides an outlet.
It is also used for organizing peaceful protests. Citizens gather in a place
and join in protest against Lukashenko. However, the success of social media in
Belarus is not as powerful as in other countries, says Joeri Oudshoorn of
Mission to Minsk, an organisation that calls attention to the situation in
Belarus.
"The
power of a social network is that you can reach many people and then many
people will take to the street. This is not the standard in Belarus. People are
quickly arrested by the regime.
Moreover, Belarus is known to have an older population with little
access to the internet,” says Oudshoorn.
That is not
to say that social media – also in Belarus – does not serve an important
function. According to Oudshoorn, they make people aware of human rights
violations in the country.
That is why
Loekasjenko shut down the social network last summer. Belarusian Syarzhuk
Paulyukevich was severely punished by the regime because he used VKontakte to
call a silent protest. In an interview, Paulyukevich tells of humiliation and
mistreatment in a Belarusian prison. The video was quickly taken down.
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