Facebook tackles taboos

RNW, 30 September 2011, by Klaas den Tek

(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.