Abdel-Monem Mahmoud is a prolific Egyptian blogger. Though an outspoken member of the Muslim Brotherhood, his message of greater political freedoms for all Egyptians has made him an admired figure across the political spectrum. He has been imprisoned by the Mubarak regime several times and was once tortured while in police custody. His most recent arrested in mid-April of this year resulted in a global Free Monem campaign.

After approximately six weeks in jail, Monem was released from prision and got right back to blogging. His time in jail did not temper his strong criticism of the Egyptian government or his passion for digital activism, as this blog post from July 8, published in his blog Ana Ikwan and the newspaper Al Doustour, shows. It is translated from Arabic by myself and I take full responsiblity for any errors or omissions.

A Call to Blogging... A Call to Freedom

Blogging can break the biased mass media's monopoly over certain issues and present a new picture of free media. This phenomenon, which began recently in Egypt, presented itself as a way to oppose the system. These blogs can confront corruption, fraud, violations of the dignity of the Egyptian citizen, and torture in police stations. This potential may not be new to the mass media, but what is new is that one can present through these web pages a realistic picture of these violations of the pen, the vote, and the image.

Many civic and human rights organizations have published reports which show that Egypt is among the countries that use torture in the Department of the Interior to take revenge on its opponents, but these reports do not move the citizenry. However, a mere short video that shows the torture of a citizen has a great impact. Bloggers can obtain these videos and put them on their blogs. They can change the situation and show the truth in the face of their terrible denials.

Blogging, and its potential for society, has come to occupy the minds of many Western researchers who highlight this capacity. After being silent, a number of bloggers in the United States have put videos on the site YouTube to express their rejection of the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. The number of viewers of [one anti-Hillary video] has reach more than three million and many of these viewers have changed their opinion about their choice of Hillary.

The effectiveness of these free pages calls us to use them to propose issues that are important to us. It is a call to to the masses who are silent and oppressed by the persecution of the system to move now to present a living picture of what is happening in Egypt. Moreover, it is possible to benefit from this available space without being noticed by remaining anonymous.

It is of the utmost importance to show the corruption and collusion of government entities to steal the money of the public. You can use this free space for investigative journalism against these thieves, murders, and corrupt officials by using the camera in your cell phone. You can participate for free in these blogs, which you can find through Google or WordPress. You can publish pictures of officers and soldiers who are shaking down an old woman, who has on her head a big bag full of eggs and cheese, in order to demand a bribe from her by force.

This space can bring together a large group of young people, which is continuously growing every day. They are becoming representatives of a learned, bold, and aware generation. They can put great pressure on this system and present initiatives, both individual and collaborative, to demand freedom and reform of the political system and call the public to effective public participation to achieve this desired change.

Image credit: Abdel-Monem Mahmoud