Comment: The Lebanese Uprising in the Digital Age
| Author(s) |
Karim Merhej, Elina Qureshi |
| Contact |
Karim Merhej, American University of Beirut, P.O. Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh, Beirut, Lebanon. E-mail: km63@aub.edu.lb |
| Issue |
CyberOrient, Vol. 14, Iss. 2, 2020, pp. 85-98 |
| Published |
December 15, 2020 |
| Type |
Comment |
| Abstract |
On October 17, 2019, following the announcement of a tax to be placed on calls made via
the mobile communication application WhatsApp, thousands of Lebanese citizens took
to the streets to protest against this arbitrary decision. The protest quickly morphed into
a country-wide uprising in which citizens from all walks of life participated. Digital
technologies were heavily used by both protesters and counter-revolutionary forces. This
descriptive commentary piece will seek to shed light on how the former used digital technologies
in ingenious ways to further the cause of the uprising while the latter used them
to break the uprising’s momentum, with the hope that such a piece can pave the way for
further research on the intersection of social movements, technology, and counter-revolutionary
tactics. |
| Keywords |
social media, activism, cyberactivism, Lebanon, social movements, counter-revolution
|
