Vera Colombi!
ARAM244"
15.02.24"
TITLE"
Youth Activism in Response to Digital Authoritarianism in Egypt and Saudi Arabia
INTRODUCTION"
With the advent of the Internet, the Arab World has gone through a revolutionary transformation. In order to
pursue more freedom, the Middle East citizens have undergone several phases in the last 30 years, such as
fear, need and revolution. This process has begun with the usage of the Internet as a proper tool for politics,
which has had a strong impact on both individuals and the state. In this area, youth activism has always
been a political phenomenon throughout history, as the youth have frequently stood against injustice and
misconduct of power. When the Internet became available for the first time in 1990, the habits of the youth
begun to change and, in turn, their consideration of politics too. The Internet access, at the beginning, was
limited to a few people, but after a few years, more and more people were starting to use it. During this
phase, people were afraid that this modern tool could take away from them their culture and replace it with
western customs. When the Internet begun to spread more, and people realised its potential, they begun to
use it to gain more power against the state. At this point, the Internet was necessary not only to subvert the
state, but also to link people, to find jobs, to enhance people’s skills and to feel connect to the rest of the
world. Arabs, more involved in international politics, began to desire a democratic system which lead to
sparking protest and revolts all over the Middle East. In 2011, the Arab Spring marked a crucial
transformation in the Arab history as an authoritarian President, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was pushed out for
the first time by popular protests. Even though these events had strong repercussion in terms of social-
political dynamics, the hoped-outcome after the Arab Spring imagined by millions of citizens has not yet
materialized. In Tunisia and partially in Sudan, a semblance of democratic transition has emerged. However,
in Egypt and Bahrain, external support bolstered the state, leading to a violent counterrevolution. In three
other nations, Syria, Libya, and Yemen, neither a smooth political transition nor an effective government’s
response prevailed, resulting in civil strife, state collapse, and widespread turmoil."
Hence, the failure of the 2011 uprising has marked a disappointing result in achieving a more solid and just
political system. The revolutionary youth stated that the revolution was a failure because it did not
consolidate its priorities, demands, needs and principles and was unsuccessful in protecting the civilians
