Abstract
M.Phil.
The Arab Spring which can be defined as the manifestation of anger of the population in the Arab region started so peacefully. The youth organised the revolution because they wanted to let the government know about their worries, their disappointment, their suffering; because for years they felt neglected by that regime. Since his accession to power 30 years earlier, Mubarak never took care of the youth like his predecessors did. Under his reign they felt neglected and mistreated. The emergency law that was in place made things worse between the youth and the regime; deepening the gap that was already there. The fraudulent elections of the main political party pushed the youth to be apolitical, disinterested in the political state of their country. Before the revolution of January 2011, there had been many demonstrations, marches and strikes, by the youth who only wanted to be noticed by the regime but instead they were beaten, brutalised, and repressed. The only thing the regime cared about was the economy and their business partners. In Egypt rights were abolished, like the right to free expression and free association.
Since the youth could not express themselves or associate physically, the only opportunity they had was the internet and social media. They started using the internet in 2004, a space that was not controlled by the vicious regime. On line, they found a space where they were free to express their feelings and associate with anyone; and that is what they did. They started creating groups that grew and became movements. Those movements were the ones fighting for their rights and demands. So those movements planned and organised the January revolution using the internet and social media, after they saw the success of the revolution in Tunisia. The dissertation argues that the effect of failed leadership and lack of democracy created a revolution that impacted a whole region and saw the fall of dictators. In order to properly carry this research, because of the lack of resources to go to the studied country, a desktop literature study will be used. To conduct this research the researcher will use secondary sources. The findings are about the effective and efficient use of the internet, social media and youth movements, to plan and put in place a successful revolution that saw a dictator toppled.