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BIG TECHNOLOGY
Arab Spring Leader Wael Ghonim on Modern Social Media’s Promise and Peril
Ten years ago, Ghonim used Facebook to spark a revolution in Egypt. This week, he discusses social media’s evolution since then.
OneZero is partnering with the Big Technology Podcast from Alex Kantrowitz to bring readers exclusive access to interview transcripts — edited for length and clarity — with notable figures in and around the tech industry.
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In 2011, Wael Ghonim created a Facebook page that sparked the overthrow of the Egyptian regime. Since then, the former Google marketing director has kept a close eye on social media’s evolution and has plenty to say about where it’s gone wrong and how it can get better. Ten years after Cairo residents painted “Facebook” on walls after the revolution, Ghonim stops by Big Technology Podcast to revisit what happened and where we go from here.
Alex Kantrowitz: You were working for Google as a head of marketing in the Middle East in 2011. Then the Egyptian regime killed a man, Khaled Saeed, and you created a Facebook page, “We Are All Khaled Saeed,” which eventually led to the overthrow of the regime. Can you take us back to that moment?
Wael Ghonim: Well, it was basically a moment of frustration. I’m someone who was born in 1980, and since I was one year old, since I was coming into life, there was only one president that runs the country, and the ruling party was getting old in their position of power. It had been 30 years at that time. Unfortunately, the way the country runs has not been ideal in the perspective of a lot of people, especially young people, who were exposed to the global phenomena, who got together on the internet. The event of Khaled Saeed happened and the response that came from the government about his case was basically a denial saying, “No, he did not die from being beaten up by police officers. He just swallowed some drugs, and that’s what basically caused him to die.”
