Open AccessThe Lebanese Uprising in the Digital Age
Author(s) -
Merhej Karim,
Qureshi Elina
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
cyberorient
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1804-3194
DOI - 10.1002/j.1804-3194.2020.tb00004.x
Subject(s) - media studies , social media , intersection (aeronautics) , political science , sociology , political economy , public relations , law , geography , cartography
On October 17, 2019, following the announcement of a tax to be placed on calls made via the mobile communication application WhatsApp, thousands of Lebanese citizens took to the streets to protest against this arbitrary decision. The protest quickly morphed into a country‐wide uprising in which citizens from all walks of life participated. Digital technologies were heavily used by both protesters and counter‐revolutionary forces. This descriptive commentary piece will seek to shed light on how the former used digital technologies in ingenious ways to further the cause of the uprising while the latter used them to break the uprising's momentum, with the hope that such a piece can pave the way for further research on the intersection of social movements, technology, and counter‐revolutionary tactics .