How to Ignite, or Quash, a Revolution in 140 Characters or Less

Do the Internet and social media empower Big Brother or individuals in autocratic regimes, or do they offer a rare level playing field?

This year’s Arab Spring resurrected exuberant claims for the role of new technologies in spreading democracy. At the same time self-proclaimed “cyber-realists” were quick to point out that President Mubarak’s problems seemed to grow after he unplugged the Internet. Now, summer’s deadly stalemate in Syria has given pause to anyone peddling absolute theories about the interplay between new information technologies and revolution.  

If not a panacea, how can social media and the Internet be deployed to maximize civic engagement in autocratic societies? Does the U.S. policy of supporting Internet freedom amount to a policy of regime change in some countries? When Big Brother does unplug the Internet, what can — or should — the rest of us do about it?

A full writeup of the discussions from this July 13 Future Tense event can be found in the agenda below. 

For Slate’s coverage, please see:

• Springtime for Twitter, by William Saletan
• Take That, Tehran, by Omid Memarian
• Tahrir Square Was a Foreseeable Surprise, by Merlyna Lim

Participants