A Data Revolution
This blog is cross-posted from the ONE blog, where I was a guest blogger on Monday.
What's happening in Egypt is unprecedented -– and not only politically. Despite extraordinary efforts on the part of the Egyptian regime to silence pro-democracy protesters, this may be the most communicated, documented and media-ready political upheaval in history. On January 25th, Egypt caught the world's attention when thousands poured into Tahrir Square, Cairo's biggest public plaza. Protests were organized on the social networking site Facebook, on pages of groups like "We Are All Khalid Saeed"; by anonymous administrators embodying generational frustrations.
On the following day, January 26th, the government blocked access to Facebook to stifle information sharing. When this proved ineffective, the state intelligence agency shut off the internet off at the central national router; mobile phone services, including voice and SMS, followed almost immediately thereafter. The government went after journalists, detaining and confiscating essential broadcast equipment, rendering media channels mute. Despite this, Egyptians continued to communicate. Using memory cards, dial-up modems, and ham radio, they documented and disseminated the experience. Satellite media -- notably Al Jazeera -- seized upon these accounts, supplementing reporting with first-hand witness. The world watched as skirmishes in Cairo embodied the struggle for democracy, dignity and human rights.
With information flowing out unimpeded, and the economy collapsing, communications were eventually restored. Images, video, and audio flooded the web, and the world lived vicariously in Tahrir -- sometimes in whimsy, sometimes in visceral, brutal horror. Even as 'events' seemed uncertain, 'actions' were captured in permanent posterity. Today, pro-democracy protesters continue to press the government, promising continued defiance and rejecting gestures of incremental change. With all eyes on Egypt, the only outcome that seems certain is the output -- a continued promise of the documentation of raw revolution.