Will the Russian Winter turn into an Arab Spring? In 1991, the world watched as the Soviet Union disappeared after a failed coup to overthrow President Mikhail Gorbachev. During the past month, the world has been wondering if Russia is in the middle of another government upheaval that may change the course of history. It is too soon to determine whether Vladimir Putin and Dimitry Medvedev will continue to hold their country's top two leadership positions; however, I predict that they will not lead as long as they had anticipated.
On February 11, 2011, I discussed some of the underlying reasons why Egypt's President Mubarak was forced from power. I stated: "[i]t was a combination of Mubarak's dictatorial rule, routine police brutality, a suspended constitution, and poor living conditions for the average Egyptian that fueled the revolution. However, social media platforms and technologies such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and texting enabled the Egyptian people to political crowdsource and communicate with each other to discuss their unhappiness with Mubarak's 30 year reign and to coordinate a strategy to try to create change."
Russia has some of the same problems that plagued Egypt. Former President Putin and current President Medvedev are seen as dictators, there is rampant police brutality and political corruption, recent constitutional changes that have benefited Putin and Medvedev, and major economic challenges. These issues plus social media missteps by Medvedev and Putin have fueled anger that may foment change. According to published reports, Medvedev/Putin may have also utilized the Russian secret police to try to block protestors from using social media. This is the same tactic that Egypt's Mubarak tried and it failed miserably.
The international community first noticed that the Russian people may have finally grown weary of Putin's stranglehold over the Russian government in late November during a mixed martial arts fight between Russia's Fedor Emelianenko and America's Jeff "The Snowman" Monson. After the fight Putin stepped into the ring to congratulate the winner and the crowd booed Putin. According to the BBC, the scene was uploaded to YouTube and subsequently viewed more than 2.5 million times.
In Russia, booing Putin during a public event was seen as a major signal that there may be underlying problems with his iron grip on the country. Subsequently, during the recent election there were numerous allegations that Putin's party may have participated in electoral fraud. Widespread anger and protests against Putin are increasing daily and instead of properly addressing the concerns of the Russian people Putin is generally ignoring them and acting as a Czar. Therefore, I would not be surprised if the Russian Winter turns into an Arab Spring.
To learn more about these issues you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Showing posts with label Egypt Social Media Revolution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Egypt Social Media Revolution. Show all posts
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Did Social Media Cause Egypt's Mubarak To Step Down?
Was social media usage the main reason why Egypt's Mubarak resigned from the Presidency of Egypt? No. It was a combination of Mubarak's dictatorial rule, routine police brutality, a suspended constitution, and poor living conditions for the average Egyptian that fueled the revolution. However, social media platforms and technologies such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and texting enabled the Egyptian people to political crowdsource and communicate with each other to discuss their unhappiness with Mubarak's 30 year reign and to coordinate a strategy to try to create change.
Social Media terrifies every single dictatorship in the Middle East along with China and Russia. When the U.S. and European news outlets started covering the beginning of the Egyptian protests against Mubarak's rule, I noticed that China's and Russia's main news outlets were relatively quiet. At first, I thought I may have been reviewing the wrong websites. However, soon after I observed this lack of coverage by these two countries I read an article that discussed this same observation.
The brutal killing and cover up of businessman Khaled Said in Egypt in June of 2010 was the spark that started the beginning of the end of Mubarak's rule. A leaked photo of Mr. Said's mutilated corpse along with Mr. Said's family and friend's persistence in trying to learn the truth about his death ignited the fire that eventually engulfed Mubarak. A Facebook page about Khaled Said enraged and united Egyptians against Mubarak's rule. The lessons learned from the failed Iranian Revolution after the 2009 elections, and from the recent Tunisian revolution emboldened millions of Egyptians.
In just 18 months, people in the Middle East have learned how to harness the power of social media to work to create political change. During this time, the economy has generally not been great throughout the world and people are more willing to push for institutional change when the economy is in poor shape. When times are prosperous people are less likely to protest and demand a change in leadership. However, when the average citizen is tired of poor living conditions they have nothing to lose to try to change their political system.
It is too soon to tell if the change that social media has helped to foment in Egypt will make the world a safer and more democratic place. I hope that Egypt's Social Media Revolution begins a domino effect that creates more democratic governments that share the same ideals with and are willing to partner with the United States to make the world a better place to live.
To learn more about the legal, business, and political ramifications of social media you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Social Media terrifies every single dictatorship in the Middle East along with China and Russia. When the U.S. and European news outlets started covering the beginning of the Egyptian protests against Mubarak's rule, I noticed that China's and Russia's main news outlets were relatively quiet. At first, I thought I may have been reviewing the wrong websites. However, soon after I observed this lack of coverage by these two countries I read an article that discussed this same observation.
The brutal killing and cover up of businessman Khaled Said in Egypt in June of 2010 was the spark that started the beginning of the end of Mubarak's rule. A leaked photo of Mr. Said's mutilated corpse along with Mr. Said's family and friend's persistence in trying to learn the truth about his death ignited the fire that eventually engulfed Mubarak. A Facebook page about Khaled Said enraged and united Egyptians against Mubarak's rule. The lessons learned from the failed Iranian Revolution after the 2009 elections, and from the recent Tunisian revolution emboldened millions of Egyptians.
In just 18 months, people in the Middle East have learned how to harness the power of social media to work to create political change. During this time, the economy has generally not been great throughout the world and people are more willing to push for institutional change when the economy is in poor shape. When times are prosperous people are less likely to protest and demand a change in leadership. However, when the average citizen is tired of poor living conditions they have nothing to lose to try to change their political system.
It is too soon to tell if the change that social media has helped to foment in Egypt will make the world a safer and more democratic place. I hope that Egypt's Social Media Revolution begins a domino effect that creates more democratic governments that share the same ideals with and are willing to partner with the United States to make the world a better place to live.
To learn more about the legal, business, and political ramifications of social media you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Egypt's Social Media Revolution
As I am writing this post I am surfing the net looking for information about Egypt's Social Media Revolution. It is reminiscent of the events that took place in Iran last year during their election season. The Iranian Twitter Revolution failed to achieve its immediate goal of peaceful institutional change but it may have inspired the current Social Media Revolution in Egypt. This eventing, NBC News discussed how social media has helped fuel the protests in Egypt.
In general, for thousands of years Egypt has been ruled by one political party or group. Some of these groups have been internal while others have been foreign powers who exerted influence over Egypt's internal affairs. While researching Egypt's history, it appears that the Egyptian people have never really had the opportunity to freely choose from a pool of candidates whom they want to lead their country. Therefore, it will be interesting to see the final outcome of this situation.
The bottom line is that during times of turmoil organizations must be aware of how people are utilizing social media and they must create social media crisis management plans because social media has the potential to shape people's hearts and minds the way television has been doing so for the past 50 years. Blocking access to social media is not the answer and will only fuel the fire. Therefore, institutions and companies must be proactive and understand the political, legal, and business ramifications of social media.
To learn more about the legal, business, and political ramifications of social media you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
In general, for thousands of years Egypt has been ruled by one political party or group. Some of these groups have been internal while others have been foreign powers who exerted influence over Egypt's internal affairs. While researching Egypt's history, it appears that the Egyptian people have never really had the opportunity to freely choose from a pool of candidates whom they want to lead their country. Therefore, it will be interesting to see the final outcome of this situation.
The bottom line is that during times of turmoil organizations must be aware of how people are utilizing social media and they must create social media crisis management plans because social media has the potential to shape people's hearts and minds the way television has been doing so for the past 50 years. Blocking access to social media is not the answer and will only fuel the fire. Therefore, institutions and companies must be proactive and understand the political, legal, and business ramifications of social media.
To learn more about the legal, business, and political ramifications of social media you may contact me at www.shearlaw.com.
Copyright 2011 by the Law Office of Bradley S. Shear, LLC. All rights reserved.
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