When we think of the MENA region, there is a loud noise brewing under the radar, always waiting for the right moment to emerge. It’s no longer about marching to the streets, but rather putting your finest algorithmic battle on and letting it lead the way. From Egypt’s Me Too movement to flocking to the Palestinian-owned UpScrolled, here is a walk-through of the most prominent movements that stemmed from a hashtag, mass-reporting calls, or simply put, a digital-driven frustration.
Me Too Movement
In 2020, Egyptian women decided it was time to unite and take action, revolutionizing the way sexual harassment is perceived in the community. Instagram accounts Assault Police and Speak Up then came into the picture, calling out harassers and exposing their identities until legal action is taken. Actresses, artists, activists, and victims of assaults followed suit one by one, sharing their stories and making one point clear: silence is no longer an option.
Boycott France
A French history professor showed illustrations demeaning to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and rightfully so, the Muslim world didn’t take it lightly. From TikToks, headlines, and TV appearances, people called out for boycotting French products. It turned into a hashtag with over. This went out of scale, prompting the French President Emmanuel Macron to not only acknowledge it, but actively state that France would “not cease drawing caricatures.” The boycott spread even more, with 560,000 posts going under #BoycottFrenchProducts within 25 days.
Save Sheikh Jarrah
When Muna El Kurd took to Instagram in 2021, she was simply documenting how Israeli forces were slowly taking over the Jerusalemian neighborhood. Her videos and clashes with Israeli settlers emerged, and little by little, the momentum increased. It became a full-fledged movement that paved the way for the Palestinian cause to take center stage on an unprecedented global scale.
UpScrolled
TikTok’s new owners’ political affiliations prompted people to slowly migrate to other platforms, until UpScrolled came and took the social media world by storm, jumping to the first spot on Apple’s App Store. Created by Palestinian-Australian Issam Hijazi, the application promises no censorship, political affiliations, or shadow-bans affecting its algorithm. Users from the region and beyond are sharing their usernames, calling for others to do the same and delete all META platforms.
Digital Censorship
Be it Suzy or Abdelaaty, the censorship resonates. The region’s biggest stars and content creators created an online campaign questioning why they were held under investigation, with posts and TikToks coming in one after the other. Did it prompt his release? Debatable. But it gave people the leverage to voice out their frustration, until it eventually happened, and his name and release stole the spotlight once again.
So, What About It?
The main takeaway? The algorithm is the new street, and the MENA region is now well aware that its online visibility carries power. The uprising hasn’t disappeared; it’s simply being optimized for a digital world.
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