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Trending: The man who kick-started the Egyptian revolution

Factual: Politics

The man who kick-started the Egyptian revolution

21/06/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - Trending, The man who kick-started the Egyptian revolution

Wael Ghonim was behind a Facebook page that called people to Tahrir Square in 2011.

Wael Ghonim was behind a Facebook page that called people to Tahrir Square in 2011. What does he think of what’s happened since?

It was a moment that defined online activism. When tens of thousands of people came out to Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand the end of the rule of Hosni Mubarak in January 2011, they weren’t responding to a political party or a leafleting campaign – but instead to a Facebook page.

It was called “We are all Khaled Said” - in honour of a 28-year-old man who was tortured to death by Egyptian police. It was the moment when the world woke up to the true political power of social media.

Wael Ghonim was one of the founders of that Facebook page - but the revolution did not go according to plan. The Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi was elected president, and was then overthrown by the army. He recently died while on trial.

A wave of terror attacks, a shaky security situation, a faltering economy, and increasing political repression have rocked Egypt.

Earlier this year, Trending visited Wael Ghonim in one of his favourite cafes in San Francisco to talk about technology, politics, and revolution. Have the events in Egypt changed his perspective on technology and politics?

Presenter: Mike Wendling

(Photo Caption: Wael Ghonim / Photo Credit: BBC)

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