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Community Media and the Arab Spring
The Arab Spring is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began in December 2010. To date, there have been revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, a civil war in Libya resulting in the fall of its government; civil uprisings in Bahrain, Syria and Yemen, major protests in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, and Oman.
The revolts were sparked by the first protests that occurred in Tunisia in December 2010 following Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in protest of police corruption and ill treatment.
Many demonstrations have met violent responses from authorities, as well as from pro-government militias and counter-demonstrators. The protests have shared techniques of civil resistance in sustained campaigns involving strikes, demonstrations, marches and rallies, as well as the use of social media such as community radio, and web-based and mobile technologies. These means of communication allowed protesters to organize, communicate, and raise awareness in the face of state attempts at repression and Internet censorship.
As of November 2011, governments had been overthrown in three countries. Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on 14 January following the Tunisian revolution protests. In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak resigned on 11 February 2011 after 18 days of massive protests, ending his 30-year presidency. The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown on 23 August 2011, after the National Transition Council took control of Bab al-Azizia. He was killed on 20 October 2011, in his hometown of Sirte after the NTC took control of the city.
Following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a series of increasingly violent street demonstrations through December 2010 ultimately led to the ouster of long-time President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. The demonstrations were precipitated by high unemployment, food inflation, corruption, lack of freedom of speech and other forms of political freedom, and poor living conditions.
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