The Arab Spring| Analyzing the Role of ICTs in the Tunisian and Egyptian Unrest from an Information Warfare Perspective

Abstract

In January 2011, the Tunisian government stepped down after weeks of protests; this was followed by unrest and protests in Egypt against the Egyptian government, leading also to the resignation of its president. Demonstrations in both countries were facilitated in some part by the online social media and related information and communications technologies that impacted the flow of information. The manner in which the information and communication technologies were employed suggests that the uprisings were a form of social information warfare. To provide an alternative understanding of the role of technology and information in the events that led to the resignations of the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents, these uprisings are analyzed using the Information Warfare Lifecycle Model.