Facebook Becomes Divisive in Bahrain
\nPhillip Walter Wellman – Dubai, United Arab Emirates
\n torturous
\nA Bahrain woman looks at pictures of victims of the February 14 uprising, displayed at an exhibition during a gathering held by the Al Fateh Youth Union in Isa Town, south of Manama, Bahrain, July 28, 2011<\/p>\n
It has been six months since anti-government protests inspired by the successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt first erupted in Bahrain. And as in Egypt, many Bahrainis used social media Internet sites such as Facebook to help organize the protests. The Bahraini government is now using Facebook, too – apparently to track down and arrest the protesters.<\/p>\n
It is questionable whether the Arab Spring ever would have amounted to much without social media on the Internet. In most cases, as more and more frustrated youths turned to their computers to express their discontent, an increasing number of people left their homes to publicly demand change.<\/p>\n
The term \u201cFacebook Revolution\u201d was coined after the successful ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. And in Bahrain, the social networking site also played a role in encouraging people to participate in the nation\u2019s \u201cDay of Rage\u201d protests on February 14, and in the pro-democracy demonstrations that followed.<\/p>\n
Manama\u2019s Pearl Roundabout traffic circle quickly became Bahrain\u2019s own version of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where protesters, made up of mostly Shi\u2019ite Muslims, set up camp and pushed for reform.<\/p>\n
Unlike in Egypt, however, the demands of the Bahrainis were never met. The Sunni government, with military help from neighboring Gulf States, quelled the uprising and afterwards, reportedly used access to social media to help identify and punish those who spoke out.<\/p>\n
Rights groups say that more than 1,000 opposition supporters have been arrested since the crackdown began. Today, many Bahrainis say they are apprehensive about using social media.<\/p>\n
A recent documentary aired on the al-Jazeera television network describes how one Facebook page helped single out a 20-year-old Shi\u2019ite woman who allegedly was arrested and tortured. Visitors to the page were told to reveal her name and workplace on that page, “and let the government take care of the rest.”<\/p>\n
Another page displayed photos of other demonstrators that would be checked off once a person was detained by authorities.<\/p>\n
According to Abdulnabi Alekry, chairman of the Bahrain Transparency Society, the government’s use of social media to help identify opponents has pushed the country\u2019s Sunnis and Shi\u2019ites further and further apart. …more<\/a><\/p>\n