Global Voices Online hat ein längeres Interview mit Slim Amamou veröffentlicht. Der 33-jährige tunesische Blogger und Netzaktivist wurde während der Protesten verhaftet und nach dem Sturz Ben Ali´s anschließend als Staatssekretär für Sport und Jugend in die Übergangsregierung berufen: Tunisia: Slim Amamou Speaks About Tunisia, Egypt and the Arab World.
Some say the Internet was a catalyst, others contend it has played only a marginal role in the uprising. Do you think, had the events of Sidi Bouzid or Cairo happened, say, in the 80s, when the Internet was not available yet, it would have achieved the tremendous rallying we’ve witnessed?
You don’t have to go back to the 80s. In 2008, there were uprisings in Redeyef, similar to what happened in Sidibouzid. But back then it seems that the internet community did not reach a critical mass. And then at that time, Facebook got censored for a week or two. I don’t remember if it was related. But it was like a training for this revolution. People think that this revolution happened out of nowhere but we, on the Internet have been trying for years, together and all over the Arab world. The last campaign that mobilised people was for Khaled Said in Egypt, and we Tunisians participated. And you have to remember that Egyptians (and people all over the world) participated in the Tunisian revolution: they informed, they participated in Anonymous attacks and they even were the first to demonstrate for Sidibouzid in Cairo.
So, yes Internet was very important.