This lesson was created by Anthony Long, Jeffrey Brown, and Deborah Johnston for the Middle East Studies Center
2013 Summer Institute: The Arab Uprisings
Lesson
Comparing Access & Control of Social Media in Syria &
Egypt 2011-2013
Background Information
Activists and government bodies in Syria and Egypt have used social media to
broadcast their messages throughout the revolutions that began in 2011. Each group
has accessed and controlled these tools in different ways.
Time
3 day lesson
Curriculum Framing
Questions
How does access and control of social media outlets impact what has happened in
the uprisings in Syria and Egypt?
Goal
To develop a deeper understanding of the impact of the Arab Uprisings, specifically
in Egypt and Syria and their use of Digital Media and the Governments use of
Digital Media to counteract the uprising
The purpose of this lesson is to examine how both the democratic activists and the
state access and control social media outlets, plus how the access and control of
social media outlets affect the revolutions in Syria and Egypt. The background
information for this lesson is provided below; yet it is not all-inclusive. Students’
research may lead them to other resources. This is a group project for 3-4 (ideally 4)
students. After you review the lesson and expectations, each group will determine
what role and duties each student will be responsible in researching and completing.
Caveat: this assignment is not easy. Individually and as a group you will
need to burn some intellectual calories. The assignment also provides an
opportunity to take to some intellectual chances. The assignment is
intentionally non-prescriptive; you will need to problem-solve both
individually and as a group.
Learning Objectives
1. Understand the power of social media in political change in the Egyptian and
Syrian uprisings.
2. Use evidence to support a comparative analysis of Egypt and Syria
3. Practice verbal and visual presentation skills.
Curriculum Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of
information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as
Common Core
Curriculum Standards for well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
History / Social Studies: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.8 Evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence
by corroborating or challenging them with other information.
Integration of
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9 Integrate information from diverse sources, both
Knowledge and Ideas
primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting
discrepancies among sources
Implementation
1. Students will work in small groups of 3-4 to research how both the activists
and the state in Egypt and Syria access and control social media outlets. They
will also look at how the access and control of social media outlets affect the
revolutions that occur/are occurring in Syria and Egypt
2. Teachers may provide students with the resources below as a starting point
for their research.
3. Students will create a 5-7 minute presentation (using Power-point, Prezi,
Animoto, Xtra-normal or Photo-story platforms) with a minimum of 15
slides.
4. Students will present their final product to the class
Assessment &
Evaluation of Student
Learning
Student Personal Evaluation of their Group’s Work
Teacher Evaluation of the Student’s Group Work
Teacher Assessment Rubric for Oral Presentation of Project
Guidelines
Comparing Access & Control of Social Media:
Syria & Egypt 2011-2013
Presentation should include:
Attention to both Egypt & Syria
Attention to activities of both the State Actors & Uprising Activists
Presentation Template (see PowerPoint example)
Title page Slide (1 slide)
Overview of Argument: Digital media as a Tool in the Uprisings (1 slide)
How Egyptian Citizens have used social media (3 slides)
How the Egyptian State has responded (3 slides)
How Syrian government has used social media (3 slides)
How Syrian people have used social media (3 slides)
+ Must Include Statistical Data, for at least one aspect (integrated into slides above)
+ Also must reference Non-State Actors: NGO’s, corporate interests, IMF, UN, and other
groups. (Integrated into slides above)
+ Must include and draw attention to a Personal Story from blogs, twitter, etc (integrated
into slides above)
Must Include: Works Cited Slide (1 slide)
Total Minimum Required Slides for Presentation: 15 slides
Include references to 3-5 of the following resources:
Any TED talk
Any database that utilizes statistical analysis
An e-book or print text source
Online Journal article
Social media sources from the region (Twitter feed, blog, facebook…)
Personal story of someone who is affected by this in the region
Assessment/ Accountability
Student Personal Evaluation of their Group’s Work
Teacher Evaluation of the Student’s Group Work
Teacher Assessment Rubric for Oral Presentation of Project
Resources:
Overview
Clay Shirky on Social media (GREAT TED Talk):
http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_can_make_history.html
Historical
Interview by CNN in Feb 2011 on use of Twitter and Facebook
http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2011/02/04/exp.piers.morgan.tunisia.cnn.
html
Egypt
Committee to Protect Journalists:
 http://www.cpj.org/
 http://www.cpj.org/blog/2013/07/egypts-media-blunders.php
Egypt's fever of violence: Where is accountability? http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/07/12/egyptsfever-violence-where-accountability?origin=from_home
In Post-Revolution Egypt, Social Media Shows Dark Side: http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/05/inpost-revolution-egypt-social-media-shows-dark-side/
The Role of Social Media in Political Mobilisation:
http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/academy/content/pdf/participant-papers/2012-02bifef/The_Role_of_Social_Media_in_Political_Mobilisation_-_Madeline_Storck.pdf
Egypt's revolution hones its skills:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/07/201372121622650964.html
Egypt's opinion leaders using social media: http://www.dw.de/egypts-opinion-leaders-using-socialmedia/a-16946519
Social Media Use Evolving in Egypt: http://www.dw.de/social-media-use-evolving-in-egypt/a16930251
AlJazeera Loses Respect Over Egypt Coverage: http://gulfnews.com/news/region/egypt/aljazeera-loses-respect-over-egypt-coverage-1.1208966
The Deposing of the Egyptian President, as Seen on Social Media:
http://techpresident.com/news/WeGov/24134/ouster-egyptian-president-seen-social-media
How an Egyptian Revolution Began on Facebook:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/books/review/how-an-egyptian-revolution-began-onfacebook.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Egypt’s Revolutionary Fire: http://www.wired.com/business/2011/02/egypts-revolutionary-fire/
How Social Media Accelerated the Uprising in Egypt:
http://www.fastcompany.com/1722492/how-social-media-accelerated-uprising-egypt
Muslim Brotherhood’s Legitimate Grievances: http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/muslimbrotherhoods-legitimate-grievances
Syria
Creative Dissent in Syria: http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2012/06/ali-ferzat-syria-creativedissent/
SecDev Foundation to Monitor Syria’s Digital Security:
http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2013/04/09/secdev-foundation-to-monitor-syrias-digitalsecurity/
14 year old citizen jounralist killed covering clashes in Syria:
http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2013/05/23/14-year-old-citizen-journalist-killed-coveringclashes-in-syria/
Skype Trojan targets Syrian citizen journalists, activists:
http://www.cpj.org/security/2012/06/skype-trojan-targets-syrian-citizen-journalists-ac.php
Caveat utilitor: Satellite phones can always be tracked:
http://www.cpj.org/security/2012/02/caveat-utilitor-satellite-phones-can-always-be-tra.php
Why Don’t We Care About Syria?
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2012/02/syria_uprising_twitter_and_socia
l_media_revolution_fatigue_.html
The Lens of a Youth Photography Collective: Documenting Life and War in Syria:
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/10637/the-lens-of-a-youth-photographycollective_documen
Social Media Bouquet from Syria: http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/11050/social-mediabouquet-from-syria
Facebooking the Syrian Revolution: http://www.latitudenews.com/story/facebooking-the-syrianrevolution/
How Syrians are using Social Media as Part of their Fight: http://wallblog.co.uk/2012/08/06/howsyrians-are-using-social-media-as-part-of-their-fight/
Syria's video activists give revolution the upper hand in media war:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/01/syria-video-activists-media-war?INTCMP=SRCH
Woman’s Work: The Twisted Reality of an Italian Freelancer in Syria:
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/12986/woman%E2%80%99s-work_the-twisted-reality-ofan-italian-fre
Syrian Hands Raised: User Generated Creativity Between Citizenship and Dissent:
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/8125/syrian-hands-raised_user-generated-creativity-betw
Beyond the Banality of Evil: The Challenge of Professional Photography in Syria:
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/11511/beyond-the-banality-of-evil_the-challenge-of-profe
Syria: Free expression activists arrested: http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2012/02/syria-razanghazzawi-detained/
Today is Bassel’s second birthday in prison: http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2013/05/happybirthday-bassel-khartabil/
The online war for Syria: http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2012/06/jillian-york-syria-conflictinternet/
In Syria, killing the messenger hasn't killed the message: http://cpj.org/blog/2012/03/in-syriakilling-the-messenger-isnt-working.php
https://www.wefightcensorship.org/censored/syria-tightens-grip-internethtml.html
Data-- includes blogger arrests and state intervention
 http://pitpi.org/

Economists Weighted Index of Fragility:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/multimedia/2011/02/unrest_arab_world
Databases
 Inforgrams: http://infogr.am/
 Arab Social Media Report:
http://www.arabsocialmediareport.com/UserManagement/PDF/ASMR_5_Report_Final.p
df
 Internet Users site: http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats5.htm
 Gapminder (GREAT data sets as well as Hans Rosling TED talks -- washing machine one
especially
http://www.gapminder.org/
 Population Reference Bureau:
http://www.prb.org/DataFinder/Topic/Rankings.aspx?ind=19
 World Bank Data http://data.worldbank.org/
o http://data.worldbank.org/country/egypt-arab-republic
o http://data.worldbank.org/country/syrian-arab-republic
 CIA Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook
 Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org
 Amnesty International http://www.amnestyusa.org/
 United Nations:
o http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=146&Body=Syria&Body
1=
o http://www.un.org/apps/news/search.asp Egypt
o http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=129&Body=North+Afri
ca&Body1=protest
Presentation Tools



http://www.xtranormal.com/
http://animoto.com/
http://prezi.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=11132 Photo Story 3