Library Services During the Arab Spring

Internt librarian international 2011 /
Library Services During the Arab Spring /
A Navigation of the ‘New Normal Environment’ in Bahrain /
Kayo Chang /
10/27/2011 /

Introduction

The events of February 2011 were a watershed moment for Bahrain. Those disturbances shook the country, and the government response to them established a new security situation, ‘the new normal environment,’ representing a new set of rules for public conduct. Among these, the most notable is the government’s reconsideration of policy towards online social media (such as Facebook and Twitter). My position as a librarian at Bahrain Polytechnic during this time furnished me with a direct view of how the political turmoil in Bahrain affected the country and its people. In this paper, I will share my experience working with social media prior to the pro-democracy movements, discuss the changes brought on by the evolving security situation, andaddress the issues that have been raised during the political upheaval, namely, the struggle between privacy and its clash with the dominant ideological power. I will conclude with some thoughts on how these issues could be incorporated into a media literacy initiative at Bahrain Polytechnic.

Bahrain Polytechnic Library Learning Centre

Bahrain Polytechnic was established in 2008 to “address the need for a skilled Bahraini labour force aimed at supporting economic growth and diversification” (Bahrain Polytechnic 2011). As of Spring 2011, Bahrain Polytechnic has 1,200 full time students and 8 academic departments, and we are still in the process of expanding (Bahrain Polytechnic 2011). Bahrain Polytechnic Library Learning Centre (LLC) supports the mission and goals of the institution. It is a growing library that strives to be innovative, using the latest technologies, such as LibGuides and Summon to deliver efficient and friendly library services. The LLC have been utilizing social media creatively in order to engage with students. As the Information Services Librarian, my responsibilities includeupdating the LLC’s social media sites, which include Facebook[1], Twitter[2] and a Wordpress blog.[3] These tools are popular with the students and became effective promotional tools for library services and events. For instance, as of September 2011, the Bahrain Polytechnic Facebook page has over 200 fans and students post comments and status updates regularly. The library blog has been visited over 4,000 times since November 2010 anda number of students are regular commenters and subscribers. In addition, eventspromoted on social media sites, such as Teen Tech Week[4], had excellent attendance, with at least 50 students participating in various activities in the LLC, and many more drawn in by the lively festivities.

The LLC social media initiatives were not limited to the Facebook page and Twitter account, - I also created library avatars to attract students to the library. In addition, students and staff have collaborated in creating podcasts, with two regular series currently produced at the LLC. One is a book review where students and staff are encouraged to discuss a book that they have read recently. I also work with a Polytechnic student to host a podcast program devoted to exploring and discussing music. We often invite other staff members or students with an interest in a particular genre to participate. These podcasts are available for download at the LLC blog. The LLC social media sites have become interactive spaces where students receive updates from the LLC, express their views and exchange information with one another. Prior to the security disturbances, LLC was making visible progress in establishing a positive virtual presence in the Bahrain Polytechnic community.

Protests in Bahrain

Inspired by events in Egypt and Tunisia, in spring 2011 Bahrainis in considerable numbers took part in protests and demonstrations critical of the current government. The protests, situated in the symbolic Pearl Roundabout, were motivated by economic and political grievances, including the issue of sectarian discrimination (Kerr 2011). Notably, social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter were used extensively to organize demonstrations and other events. People shared photos and stories, as well as updated each other about the developments in the country (Beaumont 2011)[5]. The protests were brought to a halt by the intervention of other GCC countries at the request of the Bahraini government, whose forces helped disperse the protestors and re-establish government control. In the operation, military and police used tear gas and rubber bullets against massed crowds. The Pearl Roundabout has since been dismantled, and numerous arrests and dismissals followed (Chulov 2011). In addition, many students were suspended or expelled for their political activities (Ahlul Bayt News Agency 2011).

Consequences

During the removal of protestors from Pearl Roundabout, government forces encountered heavy resistance, with significant outbreaks of violence resulting in property damage and death. Out of concern for student safety, Bahraini educational institutions were closed (Grewal 2011). At Bahrain Polytechnic, the students were away from campus for a month. During this time, I reached out to students using Facebook, Twitter and the library blog. It was extremely difficult to deliver any library services while students were not on campus and I relied heavily on social media in order to stay in touch with them. I regularly updated the social media sites with information on the construction of the new LLC and the new arrival of graphic novels. This enabled me to deliver a library service, and provide moral support during an extremely challenging period.

There have been many consequences of the political upheaval in Bahrain. Foreign military units patrolled the country and a curfew was imposed. There were interruptions in the Internet and mobile phone services. Many expatriate residents in Bahrain left the country at that time, leading to a serious shortage of staff at Bahrain Polytechnic. At the LLC, it was necessary for me to perform technical service functions to keep the library running. As a result, I was unable to focus on my regular duties in public and access services, and unable to dedicate as much time to the LLC’s social media initiative.

Although most of the students of Bahrain Polytechnic resumed their studies in April 2011, according to Ahlul Bayt News Agency (2011) 47 students were expelled and 12 students were suspended as punishment for expressing political opinions on Facebook, Twitter, and their personal blogs. In order to curb political organizing, Bahrain Polytechnic opted to block Facebook and Twitter on campus. Although I am able to promote library services and events as well as to reach out to the community via the LLC blog, this form of communication was far less interactive than Facebook or Twitter. Operating in the “new normal environment” required me to give up Facebook and Twitter professionally to perform my duties.

Navigating the New Normal Environment in Bahrain

The political upheaval in Bahrain has created a new security environment, the so-called “new normal.” Protests still take place in certain areas in Bahrain but they are no longer nearly as large as the ones at Pearl Roundabout in the spring. Political uncertainty has become a fact of life as the resumption of large scale demonstrations remains a real possibility. To prevent such an outcome, security forces have established multiple checkpoints around the country, as well as regular helicopter patrols. Social media and mobile phones have been blamed for the unrest and as a result controls have been placed on them and other means of circulating information. Bahrain’s Telecoms Regulatory Authority (TRA) issued the following warning:

Users of online social media websites in Bahrain have been warned … against posting and circulating images, videos or messages of an extreme or violent nature,(…) The TRA called on users of BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook and Twitter to refrain from posting or sending messages that are untrue, of an extreme nature, violent or pornographic (AMEinfo 2011).

People have come to live with the fact that Internet services may be interrupted and it may be difficult to access information on the Web. Furthermore, people have to be cautious when having discussions in public, especially topics relating to politics. For instance, staff at Bahrain Polytechnic are unable to comment on the investigation and expulsion of students from the institution. It is clear however, that social media use was a factor related to the expulsions. The political protests and the government response illustrate that there are two sides to the political use of social media – they are able to mobilize a critical mass to promote social change, but also facilitate government agencies intrusion into personal privacy. For librarians this creates a dilemma: How can we deliver services and contribute to the community given the regulatory limits of Bahrain?

Media Literacy Initiative at Bahrain Polytechnic

Young people are active participants in shaping their online experience (Harris 2010) and as educators, it is our responsibility to guide them rather than stifle their experience. ‘Living Internet’ has been coined by the Online Safety and Technology Working Group (OSTWG) to reflect how Internet use differs from the passive and static nature of media experience such as television watching. Living Internet implies that that the Internet is not merely a ‘technology’ or content provider. Rather, it has become a “behavior, or sociality, every bit as much as content” (Harris 2010). As people consume information differently across multiple media, media literacy has become essential component in education. In the past, being literate simply means to have the ability to write and read in a more static environment. In today’s world, being literate means being able to read and write using the media forms of the day, which may include old media such as television and the printed word, as well as new media including various social and Web 2.0 media (Ohler 2009). Therefore, it is imperative for students to be media literate, to gain the knowledge, skills and attitude to act in a conscious, critical and active way within a complex, changing and media saturated world (Nijboer and Hammelburg 2009).

As demonstrated in the recent events in Bahrain, one of the main concerns in Bahrain is the idea of privacy and its relationship to power. Privacy is a subjective concept and it means differently things to different groups of people. While parents associate the need of privacy with the potential for external dangers such as sexual predators, in the case of young people, privacy is about separation from authority figures in a position to judge or limit their personal choices (Harris 2010). While many young people understand the need for privacy, they require guidance in managing their online exposure of personal information, particularly that which could be misconstrued when seen out of context by an unintended audience (Harris 2010). Opinions or personal notes revealed online have the potential to harm students, either through direct sanction for expressing politically prohibited views or indirectly through harm to their personal reputation. As Rosa Ehrenreich (2001) demonstrates in her paper, “issues such as the privacy of medical records and electronic monitoring in the workplace … might be better described and analyzed as issues of power.” The youth of Bahrain need to understand the consequences of their social media use in relation to power, the agencies and institutions, government or otherwise, who may be interested in their unintended exposures to personal information and views. Librarians are well situated to educate the youth of Bahrain in the media literacy skills necessary to navigate in this “new normal environment.”

The LLC intends to organize a problem-based initiative to bring awareness to media literacy in a creative and meaningful way. This initiative intends to introduce students to the concepts of media, privacy and power. The objectives of this initiative is to enable students to be able to ‘critically examine, understand, question and evaluate how various media produce meaning, the structure of media organization and how such organization construct reality “(Covington 2004). It will allow students to question certain assumptions as students at Bahrain Polytechnic and citizens of Bahrain. It will also explore the idea of privacy and its relationship to power and the practical consequences of failing to protect one’s personal information or dissident opinions. Furthermore, it will explore the concept of citizenship, and what it means to be a responsible and conscious member of Bahraini society while adhering to its laws. Students will then be posed with a problem they need to solve. The solutions of these problems can then be presented in a medium of their choice, such as a podcast, a video or a digital collage.

Some of proposed issues to be addressed in this initiative are:

Privacy settings on social media
Creation of different groups to limit exposures of personal information
Critically examining who should be added as a ‘friend’ on social media sites
Managing online reputation
Consequences of tarnished online reputation and how that might affect the physical reality
Analysis of power in Bahrain
Issues of the concept of ‘citizenship’ in Bahrain
Issues of bias (in media and other arenas of public life)
Consequences of not following the laws of Bahrain
Consequences of blindly following the laws of Bahrain

Although the situation in Bahrain has seemed to improve since earlier this year, it remains volatile. As a result, the content and the message of this initiative may become politicized. Additional collaboration with other staff is required in order to further develop a sound media literacy program. One of the challenges we face is to create an innovative program that is acceptable to the government authorities in Bahrain while still effective in training students to be media literate.

Conclusion

The political upheaval of early 2011 – including both the protests and the government’s reactions to them – has transformed the patterns of daily life in Bahrain, giving rise to the “new normal environment.” While prior to the disturbances the LLC was able to unproblematically use social media to inform and engage with students, the new political reality has revealed the political and practical implications of online activity. Students would benefit from media literacy, especially regarding the intersection of power and privacy. Towards that end, the LLC has developed a media literacy program that will give students the tools to effectively and safely deploy online media. I hope the media literacy program will enable Bahraini youth to create positive changes in their society through constructive engagement and critical thinking. In the meantime, educators and librarians are also navigating in the same environment, requiring us to balance between meeting our educational objectives and staying within the laws of Bahrain.

Reference List

“Bahrain: Delays and Misleading Information of the True Numbers of Expelled Student to Avoid Reinstating Them.” 2011. Ahlul Bayt News Agency.

“Bahrain Looks to Censor Social Media.” 2011. AMEinfo.com.

Bahrain Polytechnic. 2011. “About Us: A Warm Welcome.” Bahrain Polytechnic.

Beaumont, Peter. 2011. “The Truth About Twitter, Facebook and the Uprisings in the Arab World.” The Guardian. February 25.

Chulov, Martin. 2011. “Bahrain Destroys Pearl Roundabout.” The Guardian. March 18. pearl-roundabout

Covington, William. 2004. “Creativity in Teaching Media Literacy.” International Journal of Institutional Media 31(2): 119-124.

Ehrenreich, Rosa. 2001. “Privacy and Power.” Georgetown Law Journal 89(6): 2047- 2062.

Grewal, Sandeep Singh. 2011. “Security Tightened at Bahrain Polytechnic.” The Gulf Daily News. April 20. news.com/ArchiveNewsDetails.aspx?date=04/20/2011&storyid=304258

Harris, Frances Jacobson. 2010. “Teens and Privacy: Myths and Realities.” Knowledge Quest Intellectual Freedom Online 39(1): 75-79.

Kerr, Simeon. 2011. “Bahrain’s Opposition Steps Up Call for Political Change.” FT.Com: n/a.

Nijboer, Jelke, and Hammelburg, Esther. 2009. “Extending Media Literacy: a New Direction for Libraries. New Library World 111(1/2): 36-45.

Ohler, Jason. 2009. “New Media Literacies”. Academe 95(3): 30-33.