The Power of Internet and the Security Implication for the Transformation of Political Power in the Arab Spring Crises

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue V, May 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

The Power of Internet and the Security Implication for the Transformation of Political Power in the Arab Spring Crises

David Oluwafemi, BODUNDE¹, Goodluck Tamarameiye, LAYEFA², Noah Opeyemi, BALOGUN³

^1,3Department of Peace, Security and Intelligence Studies, Afe-Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
²Department of Media and Event Management, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Abstract:-The spread of information through internet source in the Arab Spring issues has unsalutory effects on their governments to the advantages of the masses. It made power to be more distributed with undercut monopoly of traditional bureaucracy, robbed the government of their absolute control of agendas in the crisis, and made political leaders enjoy fewer degrees of freedom before responding to events by sharing the crisis stage with more participating actors. Using Persuasive Communication Theory and Unified Theory of Acceptance in the Use of Technology as theoretical framework, this study evaluates the power of information technology with special reference to internet in the transformation of political power in the Arab Spring. It also examines the historical antecedent of the Arab Spring crisis along the factors that led to the crisis viz a viz the implication for the Arab spring and global security in general. It concludes that the power of internet which influenced agitation for political transformation in the Arab spring, causing political instability, agitation for regime change with enthronement of democracy could as well serve as catalyst for revolution in other climes and contexts.

I. INTRODUCTION

The new wave of internet discovery has transformed the world politics. It has also made governments all over the world to be worried on how secret and open information spread like fire. Internet as one of the keys of information dissemination has contributed immensely to information revolution, making instantaneous communication possible and giving enormous reaction to governmental activities that touch human rights, democracy and standard of living. Information Technology has always had an important impact on how human beings interact and organize their world. The role of internet in the current crises in Arab Spring makes us to understand some of the forces that shape the world in the twenty-first-century. Economic and Information network has revolutionalised the political situation in the Arab spring, changing rapidly than governments with the political scales of sovereignty and authority in Arab Spring not yet grow at a similar rate.

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