Social media for social change

  Esra'a Al Shafei

I'm a digital native whose work grew out of my own experience of the power of the internet to bring diverse people together. I saw a void and an urgent need for greater dialogue and tolerance as the key to peaceful coexistence.

In this regard, there is no doubt that the internet is one of the most liberating forces in the Middle East. The amount of power and visibility it continues to give to millions of regional activists, social entrepreneurs and free speech advocates is unmatchable. Despite social, political and physical barriers, the internet is bringing people together in every arena.

Realizing the potential of this medium, I created MideastYouth.com, where we are using the demonstrative power of the internet to empower people and cause them to act in unity for peace and tolerance, instead of out of hatred. We know that this is only possible through effective communication and grassroots diplomacy.

Our innovation must be seen within the context of our culture. We have risked our freedom, our security and our lives by grasping the revolutionary power of information technology in a region where information is controlled and censored by our leaders to manipulate public sentiment by illustrating the "otherness" of our neighbors and our "enemies". Though youth in the Middle East number in the millions, we are represented in the West as a homogenous group of "Arab Muslim Extremists". In reality, we are highly diverse: ethnically, religiously and linguistically. Such abusive and intolerant stereotypes are also used by our leaders to paint other sects, tribes, religions and nations within the region, so that we are united in our "hatred". Such "unity" is then used by government-controlled media to perpetuate this divisiveness.

However, many young people across the Middle East are using the internet to build powerful indigenously self-created digital communities. The revolutionary factor is not in the way people communicate with each other but in how they do so. For example, it was very difficult for a Muslim activist to work with a Baha'i or Yezidi activist on a grassroots movement that inspires tolerance and understanding by Muslims toward such minorities. Today, thousands of Muslims and Baha'is across the region are working hand in hand, using sites like Facebook and Ning to inspire and facilitate communication.

Understanding the potential of this, MideastYouth.com began launching some of the first minority rights campaigns by Muslims and Arabs for ethnic and religious minorities in the region, including Baha'i, Kurds and migrant workers. Through such efforts, we gathered activists and campaigners from all sects and ethnicities for youth and minorities who lack any voice or representation in the civil discourse. This, though it may seem mundane to those accustomed to such freedom, is revolutionary in our closed societies.

I know this model is successful because I grew up in a society dominated by racist propaganda in the media. Through my eventual interface with Baha'i, Iranians, Kurds, Jews, Americans and others, I gained an understanding of their fears and challenges and that we share them. I lost my own hatred this way. I am empowered, more aware and feel increasingly educated through my work.

By providing people access to otherwise inaccessible information, the internet also serves as a source of educational empowerment. A great example of that is the way the internet can be used to access information regarding ethnic and religious minorities within the region, such as the Kurds, Baha'i, Yezidis, Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Assyrians, among many others who have been readily persecuted.

When the blogging phenomenon reached its height between 2004 and 2005, I took advantage of the number of regional bloggers online and made it my personal mission to use the phenomenon to bridge the gap between members of the mainstream majority, whether Arab or Iranian Muslims, and the numerous minorities in order to break the barriers of isolation and racial and religious tensions. I surrounded myself with young activists who believe in the importance of minorities in our societies and together we created a platform where minorities share a prominent voice with their mainstream brethren. There is no place like the world wide web; a place where youth can meet youth from regions they are at war with, where they can engage in an open, respectful dialogue about their differences and, often, their similarities.

Since 9/11, an onslaught of American and European organizations, often faith-based, some multilateral, have come to the Middle East to facilitate interfaith dialogue among leaders with brief forums and seminars, or "training of trainers". These efforts are western in perspective, non-sustainable, neither credible nor trusted by most in the region, and have demonstrated little to no effect, just as other transplanted policy solutions developed and implemented from Brussels and Washington have failed to achieve their objectives the world over.

We take responsibility for our own future, rather than accept to continue to be represented by a handful of powerful elites who use divisiveness to perpetuate their power. We want to grow up in peace, like everyone else, and know that our work to bring about recognition of our rights is the only way forward. The internet is the one tool that makes this entirely possible.

While regional governments are finding new ways to effectively censor information concerning their human rights abuses or controversial historical and religious information, activists are also building proxies and new innovative ways to circumvent such censorship. We must stay one step ahead and we rely upon our brethren in the international blogosphere to help us develop the technologies to do so.- Published 26/2/2009 © bitterlemons-international.org

Esra'a Al Shafei is based in Bahrain and is a recent recipient of the Berkman Award from Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society for her "outstanding contributions to the internet and its impact on society".