Abstract:

The Internet has undoubtedly become an efficient tool in affecting politics in the developed world. Its role was not obvious in developing countries and especially in Arab countries. Recently however, such role has been clearly witnessed with the rise of the Arab spring in general, and in Egypt in particular. During the 18 days of the Egyptian revolution starting on 25th January 2011, and afterwards, the Internet proved to be an important tool in mobilizing people, coordinating between protestors, and documenting and publishing facts that occurred on the ground during the revolution.

This paper provides an overview of the Internet use in politics and the applications available for such purpose. The paper highlights specifically Internet use in politics in Egypt. The paper’s objective is to investigate how Egyptians are using the Internet in politics in accordance with the relevant literature - such as, channels used and main functions -, and whether it could be a powerful mean in transferring Egypt towards democracy.