logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2021
18m 14s

The ‘Facebook revolutions’ that weren’t

Al Jazeera
About this episode

Social media was how many of us consumed the 2011 Arab uprisings. Technology was putting power in the hands of the people. To use social media in 2021, especially in the Middle East, is to navigate a maze of internet laws, surveillance, censorship, fake news, and bots. With Facebook now looking for ways to make political content less visible, we’re asking: what changed?

In this episode:

Mohamad Najam (@monajem), executive director of SMEX, a digital rights organization in Beirut, Lebanon; Jillian C. York (@jilliancyork), director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Connect with The Take: 

Twitter (@AJTheTake), Instagram (@ajthetake) and Facebook (@TheTakePod)

Up next
Today
Amid ceasefire, Omar El Akkad on the politics that betrayed Gaza
Acclaimed author Omar El Akkad writes a powerful reflection of Western hypocrisy over Gaza in his book, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. We speak to El Akkad on the immense suffering that has occurred over the past two years of Israel's genocidal war and exam ... Show More
24m 46s
Oct 8
What does life look like for Gaza, two years into a genocide?
Gaza has faced relentless bombs and hunger for two years. Families struggle to live, children grow up in fear and hope feels distant. We speak to Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum to hear what life is really like in Gaza. How do people keep going when the world watches bu ... Show More
21m 30s
Oct 8
The objects Gaza’s women refused to leave behind
The smallest belongings can become the most powerful relics. As Palestinians are forced to flee again and again within the Gaza Strip and beyond, people carry personal items that hold deep meaning. In this episode, we explore the stories behind those objects in the midst of a war ... Show More
21m 36s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2024
Our memories, their data - the Facebook story 20 years on
It’s 20 years since Facebook was brought into the world by a group of Harvard University roommates. In the years since, millions of us have shared our photos, our memories, our lives…and our data.In the early days Facebook’s mantra was ‘move fast and break things’. By last week, ... Show More
27m 7s
Sep 2023
Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen On The ‘Chaos Era’ Of Social Media & The Future of Public Discourse
Determined to bring transparency and accountability to Big Tech, in 2021 Frances Haugen risked everything to blow the whistle on Facebook. She copied tens of thousands of pages of documents that revealed that the social media giant had accidentally changed its algorithm to reward ... Show More
2h 38m
Aug 2020
Jack Dorsey on Twitter's Mistakes
It’s been four years since the 2016 election laid bare the powerful role that social media companies have come to play in shaping political discourse and beliefs in America.Since then, there have been growing calls to address the spread of polarization and misinformation promoted ... Show More
39m 58s
Feb 2024
20 ans après, Facebook a-t-il vraiment changé nos vies?
 Les excuses du patron de Facebook, 20 ans après la création du réseau social. Devant le Sénat américain, Mark Zuckerberg, interpellé sur les dangers des réseaux sociaux pour les enfants et les ados, s'est excusé auprès des victimes des dérives de Facebook. Lors de l'audition, él ... Show More
17m 11s
Nov 2021
Pourquoi Facebook est accusé de diviser pour prospérer
Cet automne, plusieurs enquêtes éclaboussent Facebook dans la presse américaine et internationale. Elles mettent en cause la façon dont le réseau social modère les contenus postés et partagés par ses milliards d’utilisateurs. De nombreux documents révèlent notamment que les algor ... Show More
19m 7s
Sep 2021
Facebook AI, public policy and responsibility in the Middle East
A little more than a third of humans on the planet use Facebook each month, that’s 2.8 billion people in more than 160 countries and growing.   Outside its home country, Facebook is under the scrutiny of governments, who are grappling with how to handle the scope of tech companie ... Show More
22m 43s
Feb 2021
Arab Spring Leader Wael Ghonim on Modern Social Media's Promise And Peril
In 2011, Wael Ghonim created a Facebook page that sparked the overthrow of the Egyptian regime. Since then, the former Google marketing director has kept a close eye on social media's evolution, and has plenty to say about where it's gone wrong, and how it can get better. Ten yea ... Show More
1h 13m