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Amid Virtual News Blackout, Lebanese Protests Default to Social Media

Betty Ayoub

   BEIRUT - From Hong Kong to Iraq to Chile, massive street protests have
   erupted in recent months over frustration with political injustice,
   widespread unemployment and corruption.

   But in Lebanon, where most media outlets have [1]strong political
   leanings, the largest anti-government protests in decades have been
   unfolding amid a virtual blackout of domestic news-media coverage.

   Sparked by a fall 2019 proposal for new taxes, Lebanon's nationwide
   demonstrations have grown into calls to topple the political elite that
   has run the country since a civil war ended in 1990.

   Until Tuesday, the country had been without a functioning government
   since Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Oct. 29 resignation, a key demand of
   protesters.

   "This revolution, like in Hong Kong, is about choices," says political
   activist Eli Khoury, founder and CEO of Beirut-based Quantum Group, a
   private communications group.

   "The choice is, do you want to be part of the free world, the West, or
   do you want to be part of the monolithic, dark East?"

   Fractious, crowded media sphere

   Given the strongly partisan leanings in Lebanese news media, some
   activists have created their own outlets to report on events unfolding
   in the streets, and to plan demonstrations."

   Most of this revolution is happening on WhatsApp," says Khoury,
   explaining that such encrypted communications platforms allow
   protesters to coordinate efforts anonymously.

   "People are organizing themselves, debating the issues, doing what they
   need to do on WhatsApp, and then posting on social media," he said.

References

   1. https://rsf.org/en/news/lebanese-media-family-affair

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