The Struggle over Internet Narratives

Today’s featured piece from Arseh Sevom’s Civil Society Zine is The Death of the “Twitter Revolution” and the Struggle over Internet Narratives from PhD candidate Donya Alinejad. In her piece, she poses questions about techno-utopianism, Cold War imagery, and the real and imagined effects of social media and the internet in creating offline actions. The town square is still the town square, she asserts, pointing to recent uprisings in Egypt and Libya.

Alinejad also looks at the role of the US State Department in promoting internet-based activism. Information has always been used by the US (and other nations) as a tool of influence. Think Radio Free Europe which targeted Soviet Bloc nations. Is the internet policy any different?

She contrasts the techno-utopian notions that seem to be influencing State Department policy with the weakening of net neutrality laws protecting the rights of US citizens against corporate interests instead of political tyranny.

The writer also questions the argument that social media and the internet have nothing to offer social movements and have had minimal influence in the opposition movement in Iran and the Arab world. Why shouldn’t they after all?

Read the whole thing. It’s a good read. We look forward to hearing your comments.