The Progression of Social Movements under Authoritarian Regimes: A Case Study of Egypt and Syria
Keywords:
Social Movements; Authoritarian Regimes; Egypt and Syria
Abstract
This paper examines the transformative role of social media in the mobilization and progression of social movements under authoritarian regimes, focusing specifically on the Arab Spring protests in Egypt and Syria. Sparked by the success of Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution, mass protests swept across the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, with activists leveraging platforms like Facebook and Twitter to organize demonstrations, spread uncensored information, and attract global attention. By comparing Egypt and Syria—two countries with divergent protest outcomes—the study highlights how former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s decision to step down contrasts sharply with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s refusal, which ultimately led Syria into civil war. Drawing on theories from Sidney Tarrow’s Power in Movement, the paper analyzes how social media facilitated rapid mobilization, sustained protest momentum, and circumvented state censorship. The findings underscore social media’s enduring significance as a catalyst for political change, not only in the Arab Spring but also in later global movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that social media has become an indispensable tool in shaping modern social movements, challenging authoritarian controls, and redefining collective action in the 21st century.
References
Abdalla, N. (2020, June 22). The Arab Revolutions seven years on: The state of social movements in Egypt and Syria. Arab Reform Initiative. https://www.arab-reform.net/publication/the-arab-revolutions-seven-years-on-the-state-of-social-movements-in-egypt-and-syria/.
Abdulla, R. (2023). Social media, the public sphere, and public space in authoritarian settings: A case study of Egypt’s Tahrir Square and 18 years of user generated content. Social Media + Society, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231158824.
Al-Qteishat, A. S. A. (2024). Social media and political protest mobilization: unveiling the dynamics of the Arab Spring 2.0. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06942-1.
AlSayyad, N., & Guvenc, M. (2013). Virtual Uprisings: On the Interaction of New Social Media, Traditional Media Coverage and Urban Space during the ‘Arab Spring.’ Urban Studies, 52(11), 2018–2034. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098013505881.
Arafa, M., & Armstrong, C. (2016). “Facebook to mobilize, Twitter to coordinate protests, and YouTube to tell the world”: New Media, cyberactivism, and the Arab Spring. Keensaw State University, https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1187 & context=jgi. https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1187&context=jgi
Badr, H. (2019). Before the ‘Arab Spring’: How challengers pushed counter-issues in Egypt’s hybrid media system. Media War & Conflict, 14(4), 522–541. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635219894611.
Boulianne, S., Koc-Michalska, K., & Bimber, B. (2020). Mobilizing media: comparing TV and social media effects on protest mobilization. Information Communication & Society, 23(5), 642–664. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2020.1713847.
Clarke, K., & Kocak, K. (2018). Launching Revolution: Social media and the Egyptian uprising’s first movers. British Journal of Political Science, 50(3), 1025–1045. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007123418000194.
Cole, J. (2013). Egypt’s modern revolutions and the fall of Mubarak. In Cambridge University Press eBooks (pp. 60–79). https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139236737.004.
Demidov, O. (2011). SOCIAL NETWORKS IN INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY. Security Index a Russian Journal on International Security, 18(1), 23–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/19934270.2012.634122.
Egypt after the Arab Spring: A Legacy of No Advancement. (n.d.). https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publications/giga-focus/egypt-after-the-arab-spring-a-legacy-of-no-advancement.
Hajjar, L. (2023). Before and after the Arab uprisings. Critical Sociology, 50(1), 171–175. https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205231191760.
Hamid, S. (2011, October 1). What Obama and American liberals don’t understand about the Arab Spring. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-obama-and-american-liberals-dont-understand-about-the-arab-spring/.
Hosni Mubarak’s Dramatic Rise and Fall from Power. (2001, March 14). Wilson Center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/hosni-mubaraks-dramatic-rise-and-fall-power.
Howard, P. N., Duffy, A., Freelon, D., Hussain, M., Mari, W., & Mazaid, M. (n.d.). Opening closed regimes: What was the role of social media during the Arab Spring? In Working Paper 2011.1. https://www.pITPI.org.
Huang, C. (2021, June 17). Facebook and Twitter key to Arab Spring uprisings: report. The National. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/facebook-and-twitter-key-to-arab-spring-uprisings-report-1.428773/.
James, A. R. (2018). Thirty years of Hafez Al-Assad. Fragile Nation, Shattered Land: The Modern History of Syria. London: I.B., 160–162.
Josua, M., & Edel, M. (2021). The Arab uprisings and the return of repression. Mediterranean Politics, 26(5), 586–611. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2021.1889298.
Kuran, T. (1996). Private truths, public lies: the social consequences of preference falsification. Choice Reviews Online, 33(05), 33–3038. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.33-3038.
Laub, Z. (2013, September 11). Syria’s crisis and the global response. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/syrias-crisis-and-global-response
Lynch, M., Freelon, D., & Aday, S. (2014). Syria in the Arab Spring: The integration of Syria’s conflict with the Arab uprisings, 2011–2013. Research & Politics, 1(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168014549091.
Ma’oz, M. (2021). The Assad Dynasty. In Routledge eBooks (pp. 249–264). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003100508-19.
Paul, S. (2017, May 2). Analysis of 14 million Arab Spring tweets reveals normal people drive huge movements. American Political Science Review. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-analysis-million-arab-tweets-reveals.html.
Reith, M. M. C. a. N. E. (2019). Local solidarities. Sociological Forum, 34, 1174–1196. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48558597.
Rutherford, B. K. (2009). Egypt after Mubarak: liberalism, Islam, and democracy in the Arab world. Choice Reviews Online, 47(02), 47–1096. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.47-1096.
Saidin, M. I. S., & Storm, L. (2024). The challenges of regime change and political transition in Egypt and Libya after the Arab Uprisings: critical reviews of factors and implications. Cogent Arts and Humanities, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2335771.
Salvatore, A. (2011). BEFORE (AND AFTER) THE “ARAB SPRING”: FROM CONNECTEDNESS TO MOBILIZATION IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE. Oriente Moderno, Nuova Serie, Anno 91, Nr. 1, BETWEEN EVERYDAY LIFE AND POLITICAL REVOLUTION: THE SOCIAL WEB IN THE MIDDLE EAST, 5–12. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23253702.
Shahin, A. S. a. S. (2017). Social media and social mobilisation in the Middle East. India Quarterly, 73(2), 196–209. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48505308.
Shehata, D. (2011). The Fall of the Pharaoh: How Hosni Mubarak’s reign came to an end. Foreign Affairs, 90, 26–32. https://www.proquest.com/docview/863517023?accountid=10216&pq-origsite=primo&sourcetype=Magazines.
Solomon, T., & Steele, B. J. (2016). Micro-moves in International Relations theory. European Journal of International Relations, 23(2), 267–291. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066116634442.
Stepanova, E. (2011). The role of information communication technologies in the “Arab Spring.” PONARS Euraisa, POL 159. https://web.archive.org/web/20201113233517/https://pircenter.org/kosdata/page_doc/p2594_2.pdf.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2025, February 15). Arab Spring | History, Revolution, Causes, Effects, & facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Arab-Spring.
Toumani, R. (2016). The Role Of Facebook In The Syrian Uprising. Southern Illinois University. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1962&context=gs_rp.
Van Dyke, N., & Amos, B. (2017). Social movement coalitions: Formation, longevity, and success. Sociology Compass, 11(7). https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12489.
View of a Revolutionist analysis of the Thirty-Year authoritarian rule of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. (n.d.). https://ojs.jssr.org.pk/index.php/jssr/article/view/396/307.
Wessels, J. I. (2017). Video Activists from Aleppo and Raqqa as ‘Modern-Day Kinoks’? Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, 10(2–3), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.1163/18739865-01002005.
Weyland, K. (2012). The Arab Spring: Why the Surprising Similarities with the Revolutionary Wave of 1848? Perspectives on Politics, 10(4), 917–934. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1537592712002873.
Wolfsfeld, G., Segev, E., & Sheafer, T. (2013). Social media and the Arab Spring. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 18(2), 115–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161212471716.
Yilmaz, I., Akbarzadeh, S., Abbasov, N., & Bashirov, G. (2024a). The Double-Edged Sword: Political engagement on social media and its impact on democracy support in authoritarian regimes. Political Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129241305035.
Yilmaz, I., Akbarzadeh, S., Abbasov, N., & Bashirov, G. (2024b). The Double-Edged Sword: Political engagement on social media and its impact on democracy support in authoritarian regimes. Political Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129241305035.
Abdulla, R. (2023). Social media, the public sphere, and public space in authoritarian settings: A case study of Egypt’s Tahrir Square and 18 years of user generated content. Social Media + Society, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231158824.
Al-Qteishat, A. S. A. (2024). Social media and political protest mobilization: unveiling the dynamics of the Arab Spring 2.0. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06942-1.
AlSayyad, N., & Guvenc, M. (2013). Virtual Uprisings: On the Interaction of New Social Media, Traditional Media Coverage and Urban Space during the ‘Arab Spring.’ Urban Studies, 52(11), 2018–2034. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098013505881.
Arafa, M., & Armstrong, C. (2016). “Facebook to mobilize, Twitter to coordinate protests, and YouTube to tell the world”: New Media, cyberactivism, and the Arab Spring. Keensaw State University, https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1187 & context=jgi. https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1187&context=jgi
Badr, H. (2019). Before the ‘Arab Spring’: How challengers pushed counter-issues in Egypt’s hybrid media system. Media War & Conflict, 14(4), 522–541. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750635219894611.
Boulianne, S., Koc-Michalska, K., & Bimber, B. (2020). Mobilizing media: comparing TV and social media effects on protest mobilization. Information Communication & Society, 23(5), 642–664. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2020.1713847.
Clarke, K., & Kocak, K. (2018). Launching Revolution: Social media and the Egyptian uprising’s first movers. British Journal of Political Science, 50(3), 1025–1045. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0007123418000194.
Cole, J. (2013). Egypt’s modern revolutions and the fall of Mubarak. In Cambridge University Press eBooks (pp. 60–79). https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139236737.004.
Demidov, O. (2011). SOCIAL NETWORKS IN INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY. Security Index a Russian Journal on International Security, 18(1), 23–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/19934270.2012.634122.
Egypt after the Arab Spring: A Legacy of No Advancement. (n.d.). https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/publications/giga-focus/egypt-after-the-arab-spring-a-legacy-of-no-advancement.
Hajjar, L. (2023). Before and after the Arab uprisings. Critical Sociology, 50(1), 171–175. https://doi.org/10.1177/08969205231191760.
Hamid, S. (2011, October 1). What Obama and American liberals don’t understand about the Arab Spring. Brookings. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-obama-and-american-liberals-dont-understand-about-the-arab-spring/.
Hosni Mubarak’s Dramatic Rise and Fall from Power. (2001, March 14). Wilson Center. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/hosni-mubaraks-dramatic-rise-and-fall-power.
Howard, P. N., Duffy, A., Freelon, D., Hussain, M., Mari, W., & Mazaid, M. (n.d.). Opening closed regimes: What was the role of social media during the Arab Spring? In Working Paper 2011.1. https://www.pITPI.org.
Huang, C. (2021, June 17). Facebook and Twitter key to Arab Spring uprisings: report. The National. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/facebook-and-twitter-key-to-arab-spring-uprisings-report-1.428773/.
James, A. R. (2018). Thirty years of Hafez Al-Assad. Fragile Nation, Shattered Land: The Modern History of Syria. London: I.B., 160–162.
Josua, M., & Edel, M. (2021). The Arab uprisings and the return of repression. Mediterranean Politics, 26(5), 586–611. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2021.1889298.
Kuran, T. (1996). Private truths, public lies: the social consequences of preference falsification. Choice Reviews Online, 33(05), 33–3038. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.33-3038.
Laub, Z. (2013, September 11). Syria’s crisis and the global response. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/syrias-crisis-and-global-response
Lynch, M., Freelon, D., & Aday, S. (2014). Syria in the Arab Spring: The integration of Syria’s conflict with the Arab uprisings, 2011–2013. Research & Politics, 1(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168014549091.
Ma’oz, M. (2021). The Assad Dynasty. In Routledge eBooks (pp. 249–264). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003100508-19.
Paul, S. (2017, May 2). Analysis of 14 million Arab Spring tweets reveals normal people drive huge movements. American Political Science Review. https://phys.org/news/2017-05-analysis-million-arab-tweets-reveals.html.
Reith, M. M. C. a. N. E. (2019). Local solidarities. Sociological Forum, 34, 1174–1196. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48558597.
Rutherford, B. K. (2009). Egypt after Mubarak: liberalism, Islam, and democracy in the Arab world. Choice Reviews Online, 47(02), 47–1096. https://doi.org/10.5860/choice.47-1096.
Saidin, M. I. S., & Storm, L. (2024). The challenges of regime change and political transition in Egypt and Libya after the Arab Uprisings: critical reviews of factors and implications. Cogent Arts and Humanities, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2335771.
Salvatore, A. (2011). BEFORE (AND AFTER) THE “ARAB SPRING”: FROM CONNECTEDNESS TO MOBILIZATION IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE. Oriente Moderno, Nuova Serie, Anno 91, Nr. 1, BETWEEN EVERYDAY LIFE AND POLITICAL REVOLUTION: THE SOCIAL WEB IN THE MIDDLE EAST, 5–12. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23253702.
Shahin, A. S. a. S. (2017). Social media and social mobilisation in the Middle East. India Quarterly, 73(2), 196–209. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48505308.
Shehata, D. (2011). The Fall of the Pharaoh: How Hosni Mubarak’s reign came to an end. Foreign Affairs, 90, 26–32. https://www.proquest.com/docview/863517023?accountid=10216&pq-origsite=primo&sourcetype=Magazines.
Solomon, T., & Steele, B. J. (2016). Micro-moves in International Relations theory. European Journal of International Relations, 23(2), 267–291. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066116634442.
Stepanova, E. (2011). The role of information communication technologies in the “Arab Spring.” PONARS Euraisa, POL 159. https://web.archive.org/web/20201113233517/https://pircenter.org/kosdata/page_doc/p2594_2.pdf.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2025, February 15). Arab Spring | History, Revolution, Causes, Effects, & facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Arab-Spring.
Toumani, R. (2016). The Role Of Facebook In The Syrian Uprising. Southern Illinois University. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1962&context=gs_rp.
Van Dyke, N., & Amos, B. (2017). Social movement coalitions: Formation, longevity, and success. Sociology Compass, 11(7). https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12489.
View of a Revolutionist analysis of the Thirty-Year authoritarian rule of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. (n.d.). https://ojs.jssr.org.pk/index.php/jssr/article/view/396/307.
Wessels, J. I. (2017). Video Activists from Aleppo and Raqqa as ‘Modern-Day Kinoks’? Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, 10(2–3), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.1163/18739865-01002005.
Weyland, K. (2012). The Arab Spring: Why the Surprising Similarities with the Revolutionary Wave of 1848? Perspectives on Politics, 10(4), 917–934. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1537592712002873.
Wolfsfeld, G., Segev, E., & Sheafer, T. (2013). Social media and the Arab Spring. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 18(2), 115–137. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161212471716.
Yilmaz, I., Akbarzadeh, S., Abbasov, N., & Bashirov, G. (2024a). The Double-Edged Sword: Political engagement on social media and its impact on democracy support in authoritarian regimes. Political Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129241305035.
Yilmaz, I., Akbarzadeh, S., Abbasov, N., & Bashirov, G. (2024b). The Double-Edged Sword: Political engagement on social media and its impact on democracy support in authoritarian regimes. Political Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129241305035.
Published
2025-07-12
How to Cite
Furnari, G. (2025). The Progression of Social Movements under Authoritarian Regimes: A Case Study of Egypt and Syria. International Journal of Social Science Research and Review, 8(7), 156-168. https://doi.org/10.47814/ijssrr.v8i7.2826
Section
Main Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
