The extent to which social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have played a role in the political events shaping the Arab World since 2011 is still subject to debate, but some of the region’s governments that appeared at first to be caught by surprise at the speed at which the technology was adopted now seemingly want to catch up. Participants at the second edition of the GCC Government Social Media Summit in Dubai this week discussed various ways of how the public sector increasingly sees social media as an efficient tool to promote its economic interests, while also improving the interaction with its citizens, thereby possibly pre-empting social dissent. “Governments have been slow to shape the conversations that are taking place online and on social media networks,” said Al Sharif Abdullah Bin Zeid, strategic communications director at the office of King Abdullah of Jordan. “If you’re not framing the debate, then you’re reacting to it, then you’ll be playing catch-up,” he said. Across the Arab World, home to about 3.7 million Twitter users and nearly 60 million Facebook adepts, governments have responded to the emergence of social media in various ways from detaining bloggers and tweeters to trying to block or control access to it. But “other, more avant-garde governments have seen that this is an opportunity for them, to communicate with this section in society that they didn’t reach out to in the past,” said Fadi Salem, a social media expert and co-author of a recent report on the topic. In the Middle East, some single out the United Arab Emirates as one of the countries at the forefront of adapting to the social media trend by conducting research, introducing guidelines and creating dedicated social media portals within the government.
“As long as you’re not stepping on other people’s toes or making accusations, insulting, I don’t see any problem in having a discussion on various issues,” said Majed Sultan Almesmar, deputy director general at the U.A.E.’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. While that appears like the sensible thing to do, the U.A.E. too is going through a process of trial and error as it copes with an increased flow of information that is not always to the liking of its decision makers. Earlier this year, for example, the country’s telecoms regulator asked to shut down an Arabic-language news site based in the U.S.. It also introduced a cyber crime law in 2012, which human rights activists said would infringe on free speech. Both examples signal some degree of unease with the rapid developments on the social media front. “There’s a balance to be made: it’s always one step forward, one step back kind of thing, it’s not clear science, especially as this is new all over the world,” said Mr. Salem. “Each government will reach an equilibrium or balance of freedom of info, flow of info, and control of information. It shouldn’t cross the line of censoring and blocking the information from the public,” he said.
