The Internet Connection In and other countries, protesters are using the internet and ceii phones to chailenge their governments and fight for more freedom ach day, millions of taking place in the Middle East. A 26-year-old woman named Americans log on to Those protests have led to big Asmaa Mahfouz posted a video on , , and changes in the government of YouTube urging to join YouTube. They chat with Egypt and those of other nations. her in protest. V^ael Ghonim, a friends and share 30-year-old executive at the Epictures and videos. But these Getting Organized technology company Google, also Internet tools can be used in much For years, people in Egypt had got involved. He used a Facebook more serious ways. People in been slowly growing dissatisfied. page to organize a huge protest in Egypt recently used them to help The repressive government led by , Egypt's capital. start a revolution. President kept the Other Egyptians went online to Sites like Facebook and Twitter country under strict control. spread the word. On January 25, are called social media. These sites Egyptians had very few freedoms, thousands of protesters flooded and the Internet in general have and Mubarak would not allow fair into the main square in Cairo. played a key role in the protests elections. People also grew More people joined the protest frustrated by the lack of good jobs. each day, demanding that Words to Know In January, many Egyptians Mubarak leave office. suppress (suh-pres) verb, to put a decided it was finally time for a The government tried to stop stop to something, especially by using authority or force change. To stand up to their the protests by shutting down the tyrants (tye-ruhnts) noun, plural. leader, ordinary citizens used the Internet, ft also blocked text people who rule other people in most powerful weapons they had: messaging on cell phones. But it cruel or unjust ways the Internet and cell phones. was too late. After less than three

4 SCHOLASTIC NEWS EDITION 5/6 • MARCH 28, 20t 1 weeks of protests, Mubarak's 30-year rule was over. "People on the street moved faster and shared information faster than their government," says social-media expert Shel Israel. "They stayed ahead of the other side." Instant Messages The Internet not only enables people to communicate and organize quickly, it also gives Today, as more people access to information people get access to the about the world around them. Internet, governments That is a big change for people in are having a much Egypt and other nations with harder time controlling repressive governments. what people see and Unlike in the U.S., governments hear. Since 2005, the in those countries control number of Internet newspapers, TV stations, and radio users worldwide has stations. People cannot freely doubled. Being online share news and ideas. Their makes it easier for governments often prevent people people to learn about from seeing any news that is what's going on in other were inspired to act. They staged critical of their leaders. Limiting countries—like attempts to protests of their own to demand a the flow of information to the overthrow tyrants. greater say in their governments. people helps these governments Egyptians organized only after stay in power. learning about similar protests in Get the Message Out " [They] suppress the freedom of Tunisia. As news of protests in The Internet has also helped speech and press that people have Egypt spread, people in other protesters gain support in the U.S. in democracies," Shel Israel says. countries in the region, like Libya, and other democratic countries. Protesters used cell phones to take photos and videos of the rallies, Protests in North Africa and the Middle East including violent crackdowns by government forces. The protesters then posted them on the Internet for all the world to see. "It let people in democracies see what was happening and to cheer them on," says Shel Israel. Of course, social media can be an important tool, but only brave protesters themselves can bring about real changes in government. "It takes more than Twitter and Facebook to get people to risk their lives to fight for freedom," Shel Israel says. —Laura Modigliani

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