Facebook and Twitter are used in the United States as an everyday necessity but in the Middle East Twitter is just making a difference and Facebook is getting citizens in trouble.
Saudi Arabi and Turkey are two countries in the Middle East that have the most active twitter users. According to Jennifer Van Grove of cnet.com said that "fifty-one percent of surveyed Internet users in Saudi Arabia and 39 percent of Internet users in Turkey identified themselves as active Twitter users"
In Palestine, another social media site has been used but in a negative way. In the last couple of months two palestinians have been sentenced to jail time for slander against politicians.According to Reuters, 29 year old Anas Ismail was arrested and sentenced to 6 month in jail for liking a post about former communications minister. Ismail was arrested for liking a status, that just seems crazy.
Why cant citizens in any region and any country be able to express themselves the way they want? Why does the government feel they need to step in? What happened to Freedom of Expression?
Journalists are also under attack. According to the New York Times, a jounalist was arrested and sentenced to a one year in prison for insulting the President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas on facebook. "Another Palestinian was given the same sentence last month for posting a humorous caption beneath an image of Mr. Abbas kicking a soccer ball on the social network.
In the United States we use Twitter and Facebook as platforms to express what we are feeling at a particular time. We use these social media sites as a way of expressing ourselves and a way for our peers to agree or disagree. I could never imagine getting arrested and put in jail for something i posted or seen on Facebook, let alone for liking something. why cant all regions just let their citizens express themselves the way they want to?