Post Published: June 15, 2019
Throughout this policy brief, we vet the use of social media in a major Middle Eastern
country – Egypt – where the youth took to the streets to express frustrations that lasted
almost a lifetime. While social media helped topple autocratic dictator, Hosni Mubarak, it
played the role of Pandora’s box, unwittingly showing the strengths and weaknesses of the
society’s fabric. The brief follows a string of events that changed the face of the Egyptian
state and with it came conflict. We also discuss how extremism infiltrated potentially every
home with access to internet and offer solutions that can aid this creeping disease that lures
sympathisers. Finally we list a number of recommendations that could help civil society
groups sustain a dialogue and a have a strong impact on the general public […]
