Araştırma Makalesi
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Cyberactivism in Syria: Emergence, Transformation, Potentials, and Limitations

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 20 Sayı: 48, 239 - 263, 23.08.2024
https://doi.org/10.17752/guvenlikstrtj.1463912

Öz

The rise of the cyber domain and social media platforms has profoundly impacted the socio-political landscape in Syria, enabling cyber-activism to emerge as a potent force against authoritarian regimes. This qualitative research examines the evolution, impact, and challenges Syrian cyberactivists face, drawing from professional reports, interviews, and scholarly literature. While online platforms empower activists by facilitating mobilization and information dissemination, activists also face significant obstacles, including surveillance, censorship, and cyberattacks within a statecontrolled digital environment. Despite these challenges, cyber-activism in Syria played a crucial role in shaping narratives, fostering solidarity, challenging the regime, influencing international perceptions, and highlighting the transformative potential of the cyber domain in repressive contexts.

Kaynakça

  • AL-SAQAF Walid (2016). “Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools: Escaping the Control of the Syrian Regime”, Media and Communication, 4:1, 39-50.
  • APPLEGATE Scott (2011). “Cyber-militias and Political Hackers: Use of Irregular Forces in Cyberwarfare.” IEEE Security & Privacy, 9:5, 16-22.
  • BISWAS Masudul and SIPES Carrie (2014). “Social Media in Syria’s Uprising and Post-Revolution Libya: An Analysis of Activists’ and Bloggers’ Online Engagement”, Arab Media & Society, Fall 2014 (19):1, 1-21.
  • DE ANGELIS Enrico and BADRAN Yazan (2016). “Interacting in a Context of War: Communication Spaces in Idlib”, Confluences Méditerranée, 99:4, 149-160.
  • GÖKSUN Yenal (2015). “Cyberactivism in Syria’s War: How Syrian Bloggers Use Internet for Political Activism”, BAYBARS-HAWKS Banu (eds), New Media Politics: Rethinking Activism and National Security in Cyberspace, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015, 49-62.
  • GOSWAMI Manash (2018). “Social Media and Hashtag Activism”, Liberty Dignity and Change in Journalism. Kanishka Publisher, New Delhi, 2018, 252-262.
  • HENNEFER Ashley N. (2013). Cyberactivism: A Generational Comparison of Digital Activism, Master’s thesis, University of Nevada, Reno.
  • İLİ Burak (2023). “Bibliometric Analysis of Hashtag Activism Researches”, Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication, 13:4, 900-915.
  • KHAMIS Sahar (2017). “Revisiting Cyberactivism Six Years After the Arab Spring: Potentials, Limitations and Future Prospects”, Nele Lenze, Charlotte Schriwer & Zubaidah Abdul Jalil (eds), Media in the Middle East, 2017, Palgrave Macmillan Cham, 3-19.
  • KHAMIS Sahar and VAUGHN Katherine (2011). “Cyberactivism in the Egyptian Revolution: How Civic Engagement and Citizen Journalism Tilted the Balance.”, Arab Media & Society, 14:3, 37-74.
  • KHAMIS Sahar and VAUGHN Katherine (2012). “We Are All Khaled Said: The Potentials and Limitations of Cyberactivism in Triggering Public Mobilization and Promoting Political Change.” Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, 4:2-3, 145-163.
  • KHAMIS Sahar, GOLD Paul B. and VAUGHN Katherine (2012). “Beyond Egypt’s ‘Facebook Revolution’ and Syria’s ‘Youtube Uprising:’ Comparing Political Contexts, Actors and Communication Strategies.”, Arab Media & Society, 15:1, 1-30.
  • MANSOUR Faten A. (2015). Cyber-Activism: Engendering Political Subjects Within New Logics of Resistance in Contemporary Egypt and Yemen, Master’s thesis, American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt.
  • MATTHIEU Rey (2017). “Preventing a Mobilization from Spreading: Assad and the Electronic War”, Nele Lenze, Charlotte Schriwer & Zubaidah Abdul Jalil (eds), Media in the Middle East, 2017, Palgrave Macmillan Cham, 89-106.
  • McCAUGHEY Martha and AYERS Michael D. (2003). Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and Practice, Routledge, New York.
  • MEHAN Julie E. (2008). Cyberwar, Cyberterror, Cybercrime: A Guide to the Role of Standards in an Environment of Change and Danger, IT Governance Publishing, United Kingdom.
  • OWEN Taylor (2015). Disruptive Power: The Crisis of the State in the Digital Age, Oxford Studies in Digital Politics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
  • POWERS Shawn and O’LOUGHLIN Ben (2015). “The Syrian Data Glut: Rethinking the Role of Information in Conflict”, Media, War & Conflict, 8:2, 172-180.
  • RACICOT Julie (2015). The Syrian Civil Conflict in the Cyber Environment, Master’s thesis, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Canada.
  • RADSCH Courtney (2016). Cyberactivism and Citizen Journalism in Egypt: Digital Dissidence and Political Change, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
  • REGALADO Daniel, VILLENEUVE Nart and RAILTON John Scott (2015). Behind the Syrian Conflict’s Digital Front Lines, FireEye, California.
  • SIGHOLM Johan (2013). “Non-State Actors in Cyberspace Operations”, Journal of Military Studies, 4:1, 1-37.
  • WILHELMSEN Vivi Cathrine Ringnes (2014). SOFT WAR IN CYBERSPACE How Syrian non-state actors use hacking to influence the conflict battle of narratives, Master’s thesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • WOO-YOUNG Chang and WON-TAEK Lee (2006). “Cyberactivism and Political Empowerment in Civil Society: A Comparative Analysis of Korean Cases”, Korea Journal, 46:4, 136-167.
  • “Branch 215, Raid Brigade Military Intelligence Division”, Violations Documentation Center, 2013, http://t.co/t53aZ4XbJb, accessed 3.10.2023.
  • “Ministry of Communication and Technology”. https://shorturl.at/5yRih, accessed 14.3.2024.
  • “MTN Syria”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTN_Syria, accessed 12.3.2024.
  • “National Agency for Network Services”. Establishment of the national network, https://nans.gov.sy/ar/page/ establishment_of_the_national_network_se, accessed 22.03.2024.
  • “New Cisco Annual Internet Report Forecasts 5G to Support More Than 10% of Global Mobile Connections by 2023”, Cisco Newsroom, 18 February 2020, https://newsroom.cisco.com/c/r/newsroom/en/us/a/ y2020/m02/new-cisco-annual-internet-report-forecasts-5g-to-support-more-than-10-of-globalmobile- connections-by-2023.html, accessed 14.1.2024.
  • “Open Season: Building Syria’s Surveillance State”, Privacy International, December 2016, http://privacyinternational.org/report/1016/open-season-building-syrias-surveillance-state, accessed 20.11.2023.
  • “Russia Restructures Military Intelligence Network to Disrupt Support for Ukraine”, Asharq Al-Awsat, 2024, https://shorturl.at/CglBH, accessed 24.2.2024.
  • “Syria: Tal al-Mallohi sentenced after flawed trial”, Amnesty International, 18 February 2011. https://www.amnesty.org/fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/mde240062011en.pdf, accessed 24.1.2024.
  • “Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression”. Internet Media, https://scm.bz/en, accessed 5.3.2024.
  • “Syrian Government Orders Seizure of Assets of Rami Makhlouf”, Al-Jazeera, 19 May 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2020/5/19/syrian-government-orders-seizure-of-assets-oframi- makhlouf, accessed 12.03.2024.
  • “Syrian Security Branches and Persons in Charge “. Syrian Network for Human Rights, https://snhr.org/public_html/wp-content/pdf/english/Syrian_security_branches_and_Persons_in_ charge_en.pdf, accessed 05.01.2024.
  • “Syrian Telecommunication Regulatory Authority”, https://www.sytra.gov.sy/index.php/en/about-us, accessed 05.02.2024.
  • BAIAZY Amjad. “Syria’s Cyber War”, https://www.academia.edu/3555530/Syria_Cyber_Wars, accessed 03.02.2024. BARROW Michelle. “Challenging Information Control with Communication Technologies in Syria”, E-International Relations, 26 April 2022, https://www.e-ir.info/pdf/97189, accessed 11.08.2023.
  • CHAMPAGNE - KITETOA Antoine. “Network Surveillance: Qosmos, a Tool Provider for Syria’s Leader Al-Assad”, Reflets, 09 May 2014, https://reflets.info/articles/network-surveillance-qosmos-a-toolprovider- for-syria-s-leader-al-assad, accessed 13.01.2024.
  • GURULI Nino and DÁVILA-RUHAAK Sarah. “Digital Dominion: How the Syrian Regime’s Mass Digital Surveillance Violates Human Rights”, Access Now Publisher, March 2021, https://www.accessnow. org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Digital-dominion-Syria-report.pdf, accessed 25.10.2023
  • KHARROUB Tamara. “Cyberactivism in the Middle East: Six Potentials and Six Limitations of New Media Technologies in Democratization” Arab Center Washington DC, September 2015, https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/cyberactivism-in-the-middle-east-six-potentials-and-sixlimitations- of-new-media-technologies-in-democratization, accessed 21.02.2024.
  • KHEOPS. “#OpSyria: When the Internet Does Not Let Citizens Down”, Reflets, 11 September 2011, https://reflets.info/articles/opsyria-when-the-internet-does-not-let-citizens-down, accessed 13.02.2024.
  • LEE Bryan. “The Impact of Cyber Capabilities in the Syrian Civil War”, Small Wars Journal, 26 April 2016, https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/the-impact-of-cyber-capabilities-in-the-syrian-civil-war, accessed 24.01.2024.
  • LEYDEN, John. “UK Firm Denies Supplying Spyware to Mubarak’s Secret Police”, The Register, 21 September,2011, https://www.theregister.com/2011/09/21/gamma_international_denies_egyptian_ links, accessed 20.02.2024.
  • MARQUIS-BOIRE, Morgan, DALEK Jakub et al. “Planet Blue Coat: Mapping Global Censorship and Surveillance Tools”, Citizen Lab, 15 January 2013 ,https://citizenlab.ca/2013/01/planet-blue-coatmapping- global-censorship-and-surveillance-tools/, accessed 12.02.2024.
  • NEUMAYER Christina and RAFFL Celina. “Facebook for Global Protest: The Potential and Limits of Social Software for Grassroots Activism”, Paper presented at 5th Prato Community Informatics & Development Informatics Conference, Prato, Italy, October 2008, http://ccnr.infotech.monash.edu/ conferences-workshops/prato2008.html, accessed 05.03.2023
  • TALLAA Maen. “The Syrian Security Services and the Need for Structural and Functional Change”, Omran for Strategic Studies, 18 November 2016, https://omranstudies.org/index.php/publications/papers/ the-syrian-security-services-and-the-need-for-structural-and-functional-change.html, accessed 21.10.2023.

Suriye’de Siber Aktivizm: Ortaya Çıkışı, Dönüşümü, Potansiyeli ve Sınırlılıkları

Yıl 2024, Cilt: 20 Sayı: 48, 239 - 263, 23.08.2024
https://doi.org/10.17752/guvenlikstrtj.1463912

Öz

Siber alanın ve sosyal medya platformlarının yükselişi, Suriye’deki sosyopolitik ortamı derinden etkilemiş ve siber aktivizmin otoriter rejimler karşı büyük bir güç olarak ortaya çıkmasını sağlamıştır. Bu nitel araştırma, profesyonel raporlardan, mülakatlardan ve akademik literatürden yararlanarak Suriyeli siber aktivistlerin gelişimini evrimini ve yaşadıkları zorlukları incelemektedir. Çevrimiçi platformlar harekete geçmeyi ve bilginin yayılmasını kolaylaştırırken, aktivistler aynı zamanda devlet kontrolündeki bir dijital ortam içinde gözetim, sansür ve siber saldırılar gibi büyük engellerle de karşılaşmaktadır. Yaşanan bu zorluklara rağmen, Suriye’deki siber aktivizm anlatıları şekillendirmede, dayanışmayı güçlendirmede, rejime meydan okumada ve uluslararası alandaki algıları etkilemede önemli bir rol oynamış ve baskıcı ortamlarda siber alanın dönüştürücü potansiyeline dikkat çekmiştir.

Kaynakça

  • AL-SAQAF Walid (2016). “Internet Censorship Circumvention Tools: Escaping the Control of the Syrian Regime”, Media and Communication, 4:1, 39-50.
  • APPLEGATE Scott (2011). “Cyber-militias and Political Hackers: Use of Irregular Forces in Cyberwarfare.” IEEE Security & Privacy, 9:5, 16-22.
  • BISWAS Masudul and SIPES Carrie (2014). “Social Media in Syria’s Uprising and Post-Revolution Libya: An Analysis of Activists’ and Bloggers’ Online Engagement”, Arab Media & Society, Fall 2014 (19):1, 1-21.
  • DE ANGELIS Enrico and BADRAN Yazan (2016). “Interacting in a Context of War: Communication Spaces in Idlib”, Confluences Méditerranée, 99:4, 149-160.
  • GÖKSUN Yenal (2015). “Cyberactivism in Syria’s War: How Syrian Bloggers Use Internet for Political Activism”, BAYBARS-HAWKS Banu (eds), New Media Politics: Rethinking Activism and National Security in Cyberspace, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015, 49-62.
  • GOSWAMI Manash (2018). “Social Media and Hashtag Activism”, Liberty Dignity and Change in Journalism. Kanishka Publisher, New Delhi, 2018, 252-262.
  • HENNEFER Ashley N. (2013). Cyberactivism: A Generational Comparison of Digital Activism, Master’s thesis, University of Nevada, Reno.
  • İLİ Burak (2023). “Bibliometric Analysis of Hashtag Activism Researches”, Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication, 13:4, 900-915.
  • KHAMIS Sahar (2017). “Revisiting Cyberactivism Six Years After the Arab Spring: Potentials, Limitations and Future Prospects”, Nele Lenze, Charlotte Schriwer & Zubaidah Abdul Jalil (eds), Media in the Middle East, 2017, Palgrave Macmillan Cham, 3-19.
  • KHAMIS Sahar and VAUGHN Katherine (2011). “Cyberactivism in the Egyptian Revolution: How Civic Engagement and Citizen Journalism Tilted the Balance.”, Arab Media & Society, 14:3, 37-74.
  • KHAMIS Sahar and VAUGHN Katherine (2012). “We Are All Khaled Said: The Potentials and Limitations of Cyberactivism in Triggering Public Mobilization and Promoting Political Change.” Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research, 4:2-3, 145-163.
  • KHAMIS Sahar, GOLD Paul B. and VAUGHN Katherine (2012). “Beyond Egypt’s ‘Facebook Revolution’ and Syria’s ‘Youtube Uprising:’ Comparing Political Contexts, Actors and Communication Strategies.”, Arab Media & Society, 15:1, 1-30.
  • MANSOUR Faten A. (2015). Cyber-Activism: Engendering Political Subjects Within New Logics of Resistance in Contemporary Egypt and Yemen, Master’s thesis, American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt.
  • MATTHIEU Rey (2017). “Preventing a Mobilization from Spreading: Assad and the Electronic War”, Nele Lenze, Charlotte Schriwer & Zubaidah Abdul Jalil (eds), Media in the Middle East, 2017, Palgrave Macmillan Cham, 89-106.
  • McCAUGHEY Martha and AYERS Michael D. (2003). Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and Practice, Routledge, New York.
  • MEHAN Julie E. (2008). Cyberwar, Cyberterror, Cybercrime: A Guide to the Role of Standards in an Environment of Change and Danger, IT Governance Publishing, United Kingdom.
  • OWEN Taylor (2015). Disruptive Power: The Crisis of the State in the Digital Age, Oxford Studies in Digital Politics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
  • POWERS Shawn and O’LOUGHLIN Ben (2015). “The Syrian Data Glut: Rethinking the Role of Information in Conflict”, Media, War & Conflict, 8:2, 172-180.
  • RACICOT Julie (2015). The Syrian Civil Conflict in the Cyber Environment, Master’s thesis, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Canada.
  • RADSCH Courtney (2016). Cyberactivism and Citizen Journalism in Egypt: Digital Dissidence and Political Change, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
  • REGALADO Daniel, VILLENEUVE Nart and RAILTON John Scott (2015). Behind the Syrian Conflict’s Digital Front Lines, FireEye, California.
  • SIGHOLM Johan (2013). “Non-State Actors in Cyberspace Operations”, Journal of Military Studies, 4:1, 1-37.
  • WILHELMSEN Vivi Cathrine Ringnes (2014). SOFT WAR IN CYBERSPACE How Syrian non-state actors use hacking to influence the conflict battle of narratives, Master’s thesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • WOO-YOUNG Chang and WON-TAEK Lee (2006). “Cyberactivism and Political Empowerment in Civil Society: A Comparative Analysis of Korean Cases”, Korea Journal, 46:4, 136-167.
  • “Branch 215, Raid Brigade Military Intelligence Division”, Violations Documentation Center, 2013, http://t.co/t53aZ4XbJb, accessed 3.10.2023.
  • “Ministry of Communication and Technology”. https://shorturl.at/5yRih, accessed 14.3.2024.
  • “MTN Syria”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTN_Syria, accessed 12.3.2024.
  • “National Agency for Network Services”. Establishment of the national network, https://nans.gov.sy/ar/page/ establishment_of_the_national_network_se, accessed 22.03.2024.
  • “New Cisco Annual Internet Report Forecasts 5G to Support More Than 10% of Global Mobile Connections by 2023”, Cisco Newsroom, 18 February 2020, https://newsroom.cisco.com/c/r/newsroom/en/us/a/ y2020/m02/new-cisco-annual-internet-report-forecasts-5g-to-support-more-than-10-of-globalmobile- connections-by-2023.html, accessed 14.1.2024.
  • “Open Season: Building Syria’s Surveillance State”, Privacy International, December 2016, http://privacyinternational.org/report/1016/open-season-building-syrias-surveillance-state, accessed 20.11.2023.
  • “Russia Restructures Military Intelligence Network to Disrupt Support for Ukraine”, Asharq Al-Awsat, 2024, https://shorturl.at/CglBH, accessed 24.2.2024.
  • “Syria: Tal al-Mallohi sentenced after flawed trial”, Amnesty International, 18 February 2011. https://www.amnesty.org/fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/mde240062011en.pdf, accessed 24.1.2024.
  • “Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression”. Internet Media, https://scm.bz/en, accessed 5.3.2024.
  • “Syrian Government Orders Seizure of Assets of Rami Makhlouf”, Al-Jazeera, 19 May 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2020/5/19/syrian-government-orders-seizure-of-assets-oframi- makhlouf, accessed 12.03.2024.
  • “Syrian Security Branches and Persons in Charge “. Syrian Network for Human Rights, https://snhr.org/public_html/wp-content/pdf/english/Syrian_security_branches_and_Persons_in_ charge_en.pdf, accessed 05.01.2024.
  • “Syrian Telecommunication Regulatory Authority”, https://www.sytra.gov.sy/index.php/en/about-us, accessed 05.02.2024.
  • BAIAZY Amjad. “Syria’s Cyber War”, https://www.academia.edu/3555530/Syria_Cyber_Wars, accessed 03.02.2024. BARROW Michelle. “Challenging Information Control with Communication Technologies in Syria”, E-International Relations, 26 April 2022, https://www.e-ir.info/pdf/97189, accessed 11.08.2023.
  • CHAMPAGNE - KITETOA Antoine. “Network Surveillance: Qosmos, a Tool Provider for Syria’s Leader Al-Assad”, Reflets, 09 May 2014, https://reflets.info/articles/network-surveillance-qosmos-a-toolprovider- for-syria-s-leader-al-assad, accessed 13.01.2024.
  • GURULI Nino and DÁVILA-RUHAAK Sarah. “Digital Dominion: How the Syrian Regime’s Mass Digital Surveillance Violates Human Rights”, Access Now Publisher, March 2021, https://www.accessnow. org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Digital-dominion-Syria-report.pdf, accessed 25.10.2023
  • KHARROUB Tamara. “Cyberactivism in the Middle East: Six Potentials and Six Limitations of New Media Technologies in Democratization” Arab Center Washington DC, September 2015, https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/cyberactivism-in-the-middle-east-six-potentials-and-sixlimitations- of-new-media-technologies-in-democratization, accessed 21.02.2024.
  • KHEOPS. “#OpSyria: When the Internet Does Not Let Citizens Down”, Reflets, 11 September 2011, https://reflets.info/articles/opsyria-when-the-internet-does-not-let-citizens-down, accessed 13.02.2024.
  • LEE Bryan. “The Impact of Cyber Capabilities in the Syrian Civil War”, Small Wars Journal, 26 April 2016, https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/the-impact-of-cyber-capabilities-in-the-syrian-civil-war, accessed 24.01.2024.
  • LEYDEN, John. “UK Firm Denies Supplying Spyware to Mubarak’s Secret Police”, The Register, 21 September,2011, https://www.theregister.com/2011/09/21/gamma_international_denies_egyptian_ links, accessed 20.02.2024.
  • MARQUIS-BOIRE, Morgan, DALEK Jakub et al. “Planet Blue Coat: Mapping Global Censorship and Surveillance Tools”, Citizen Lab, 15 January 2013 ,https://citizenlab.ca/2013/01/planet-blue-coatmapping- global-censorship-and-surveillance-tools/, accessed 12.02.2024.
  • NEUMAYER Christina and RAFFL Celina. “Facebook for Global Protest: The Potential and Limits of Social Software for Grassroots Activism”, Paper presented at 5th Prato Community Informatics & Development Informatics Conference, Prato, Italy, October 2008, http://ccnr.infotech.monash.edu/ conferences-workshops/prato2008.html, accessed 05.03.2023
  • TALLAA Maen. “The Syrian Security Services and the Need for Structural and Functional Change”, Omran for Strategic Studies, 18 November 2016, https://omranstudies.org/index.php/publications/papers/ the-syrian-security-services-and-the-need-for-structural-and-functional-change.html, accessed 21.10.2023.
Toplam 46 adet kaynakça vardır.

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil İngilizce
Konular Siyaset Bilimi (Diğer), Ortadoğu Çalışmaları
Bölüm Makaleler
Yazarlar

Iyad Helwani 0000-0003-0232-7608

Yayımlanma Tarihi 23 Ağustos 2024
Gönderilme Tarihi 2 Nisan 2024
Kabul Tarihi 20 Temmuz 2024
Yayımlandığı Sayı Yıl 2024 Cilt: 20 Sayı: 48

Kaynak Göster

Chicago Helwani, Iyad. “Cyberactivism in Syria: Emergence, Transformation, Potentials, and Limitations”. Güvenlik Stratejileri Dergisi 20, sy. 48 (Ağustos 2024): 239-63. https://doi.org/10.17752/guvenlikstrtj.1463912.