♪ >> welcome to "beyond the headlines". i am cheryl jennings. every week we focus on a different topic affecting people who live in the bay area. today we are discussing the groundbreaking revolution that has swept over the middle east and africa and the influence of facebook and twitter on those powerful movements. people of egypt led the way with a political protest that ousted mubarrack in february. now middle easterners are tweeting away and rounding up people to try to overthrow the government. some cases they are met with deadly force.

abc's wang filed this report. >> government tanks have moved in and parts of the capitol is on lock down after a predawn assault on demonstrato police fired tear gas can rubber bullets at demonstrators who were camping out in the city's central square. they are demanding greater freedom and more jobs. the hospitals were overloaded with people coming in with gaping wound and problems with tear gas and broken bones. hundreds were wounded. >> today they are pushed out in the street. don't look, don't look. >> abc's news correspondant is the latest reporter that was beaten but not badly injured. >> we said repeatedly that the united states believes strongly that violence is not

an appropriate reaction when the peoples of the region or any region are peacefully protesting and airing their grievances. >> in other parts of the middle east and north africa, more bloody revolt and in yemen they called on facebook and twitter to call on the president two step down. in libya 20 are dead in clashes there. demonstrator calling for a day of rage. the united nations is urging governments to listen. >> the number of countries with the transition and reforms that are promised. it is crucial that the leaders deliver on those promises. >> joining us right now is abc's news reporter wang wang. thank you for being here. >> and that report that you filed was back in february.

what is the general situation right now? >> there is so much unrest in middle east and africa and could spread to asia and chin a. people are inspired by the revolutions in egypt and tunisia to finally speak up. a lot of these people are young people and have seen their parents oppressed. i am not an expert but i have seen the reports and radio -- video coming down. they live on the poverty line and they want more jobs and a voice and they have the courage to speak up and protest against the government. >> one of the things we hear about is social media. a whole new way to communicate. what have you seen in terms of an influence in your report? >> i continuing is a big influence. people in these countries. i want to mention the countries where there is unrest besides tunisia and

egypt. alger and iman and iraq and libya . i think many of the countries, these people have been too afraid to speak up. but they see the postings on twitter and facebook about demonstration to gather and what time to meet, it gives them a support system they need to come out of their houses and go to these squares and you know, gather with all of the people to speak up. >> it is like safety in numbers. they feel like they have support and encouragement of the community to get out there and speak up. >> in many cases we have seen that in libya, too, they have been killed. >> we heard reports and we have seen reports that the government hut down almost like internet acess and prohibiting some from texting to each other and acess to cell phones. when they speak up.

they are getting killed and the government is not stepping down. moammar gaddafi refuse said he would die a martyr. the u.s. is supporting the people who is spoke up. the state department started a twitter site in farsei and other languages to have their voice heard and condemn violence against the peaceful protest. >> thank you for your insight and keep up the great work. >> thank you so much, cheryl. we'll follow reportos twitter and facebook as well to follow the dialogue. when we come back we'll learn more about the influence of

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[ mr. mehta ] honey, touch of brown sugar, crunchy clusters -- any cardboard? cardboard no, delicious yes. so where's the fiber? maybe it's in the honey clusters. [ male announcer ] fiber one. cardboard no, delicious yes. >> welcome back to "beyond the headlines". today we are talking about political uprisings in the middle east and how on line media social programs like facebook and twitter are innuential. we have the story of day two of the egyptian protest in late january. at that time the internet was available to less than 10 percent of the population after the egyptian government shut down service to all but one provider. testing was - texing was almost nonexistent. >> unrest in egypt. a political uprising.

cameras are everywhere. tweeting and blog facebook. these images were recorded by a woman who moved from san francisco to cairo to work for the government owned newspaper. she was able to skype from the hotel where there was internet access . she talked about the chaos after the government pulled the acess on the cell phone and web. >> it was horrible. the entire country called to do the final protest and we didn't know if people were okay and it was incredibly scary to know where people are. >> half a world away. larry sitting at palo alto home and watches a text tweets. >> dear americans, this is where your taxes go. >> he believes that social

media is a part of the uprising. >> i believe that twitter and facebook messages are how they are organize spread the message and get international sympathy . social media and texing is a crucial piece. >> he is a professor of history in tan ford history. >> is a factor but not as important as people have said. >> the professor believes it was a spark from recent protest in tunisia and cheer leading from al-jazeera combined with the build up of 10 years of labor and unrest in egypt. >> there are facebook-based calls for demonstrations before that fizzled. >> the professor acknowledged the importance of word of mouth and experience of cell phones and texting more so than facebook and blog blog. egypt has a lie level of

illiteracy . joining us in the studio to understand the relation of social media and the political unrest in middle east and africa. is the associate preosisor dina ibrahim. >> thank you. >> thank you for joining us. >> you were in egypt before all of this starting happening in egypt. >> yes, it was clear thrawas happening . i was there when the president of -- former president of tunisia was on the plane and he had been exiled and gon. - gone . having lived through the inspiration that the egyptian people were feeling after tunisia, it has been fascinating to come back and see that momentum continue. >> you watched it develop while you there were? >> i did. we were watching television. that's where the vast majority of people in the entire region

are getting information. this is a diverse region. it is hard to lump it owl in one basket. the middle east is made up of very, very different countries. but the one thing they have in common is acess to satellite television and the internet. but satellite television is everywhere. >> that is interesting. we are hearing about the illiteracy rate versus television and twitter and internet. if you can't read or write, you can't use the internet. >> no, but you can watch tv and listen to the radio. if you go almost anywhere in the region from morocco to yemen, you will see modest houses with satellite dishes. satellite dishes are everywhere. if you have been in a developing country beyond the middle east you will see this. house after house a satellite dish. >> but the government shuts

down state run television they can get the pictures by satellite. >> state run media lost all credibilitiy in many of the countries particularly in egypt. no one believes state media and it is a joke. most people are turning to satellite channels not just al-jazeera but b.b.c. arabic others that are popular. >> and we heard about google executive. he was driving this revolution people said through facebook. >> i think he was inspiring a lot of younger people . there's no doubt that what he and others did played a significant role in the revolution, but you have to look at what was going on well before he started to be in the spotlight, you have years and years of blowinging by blogers

and activist who were jail beaten and torteured by the egyptian police . they told the story of police corruption and lack of dignity in egypt. it was not just one particular person that did this, but it was a series of people and he is one of those very, very significant people in the movement. >> he sparked that. we, do you think that this could have happened 10 years ago without the social media and internet? >> it would have been difficult without the mobilizing force of the internet. as much as i would like to stress on television, power of social media and youtube and blogs in there as well. we know that facebook and twitter are the buzz words here in the u.s.. but what youtube has done in citizen journalism and being

able to rise above the available sources of information . be able to provide something that is grass roots is revolutionary. >> i want to talk about that. but we have to take a break. when we come back, we'll continue our discussion with professor dina ibrahim in just a moment. stay with us. [ ma announcer ] 95% of all americans aren't getting enough whole grain. but actually, it's easier than you think, because general mills big g line of cereals

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>> welcome back to beyond the head lines. today we're talking about political unrest in middle east and africa. protest have continued in the last couple of months and we have seen that the internet is a powerful tool giving voice to the people in the streets and also had iran silence decent. >> popular iranian restaurant customers told us they couldn't talk about the protest and please don't bother to stop by. >> because they are afraid to go back to iran they will grab him. they don't want that. >> he's not joking. >> they suspect that the government would watch that and take repricals. >> i am not going back and that's why i am talking to you. >> far fetched. some of us have to go back. every american iranian said it is an issue. >> you don't want to give me

your name. >> no, i don't. >> the internet has given global reach to both side. >> they search key words. sasha is the restaurant manager and said the government and protestors are playing a cat and mouse game. videos like these pop up on websites and the government shuts them down and they appear somewhere else . the state run television it is blatant. >> they killed a university student and leaving over a dozen injured. >> government sanctioned the reports and blamed the protestors and the west for supporting the demonstration. >> they condemned the illegal protest in tehran. >> they are showed executions of two men who opposed president ahmadinejad. he is showing us the broadcast and competing coverage from

dube ai outside of iran. >> are they able to see the alternate version? >> only on the web. >> in staford, iranian expert and author of the book on the shah, is convinced that the current regime will lose. >> internet and social network and facebook and twitter, with satellite technology all of these have made our world a much smaller place . very inhospitable territory for despotism . those who have a monopoly of truth. >> back with us. professor what are you hearing from the other countryall -- about all of the changes. >> we are all looking at very similar sources now. but what is interesting to me, when i watch satellite tv available to me here in pran

fran. i watch arabic tv. it is citizen journalism with the main stream journalism. protests are spreading and that the same narrative that began in tunisia and spread to egypt and going to now in libya and bahrain and oman and possibly take place in saudi arabia. >> is this a hunger for democracy or hunger for food? >> it is a hunger for dignity . a simple hunger for basic human rights and being treated well and respected and not beaten up and consistently lied to and denied basic huran rights. >> what do you want people to take away from the revolutions? >> that people in the middle east are more capable than what people think they are. that is a great take away from this entire development in the

region and they really do want political participation. >> and can the people support thempt >> i hope so, i hope that the american people will support the people of the middle east to live the same way people live here. people taking for granted here all of the time and no body should do that. >> professor thank you for your insight and being here today. >> and we do have to take a break. when we come back, we'll learn how to participate in social media and news worthy event in our own back . we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] to get fresh-baked rich, indulgent chocolaty brownies you don't have to open your oven... just the refrigerator. ready-to-eat pillsbury eet moments. find them in the refrigerated section of your store. bui've got a warm, fresh baked strawberry toaster strudel. see the difference?

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♪ [ female announcer ] the yoplait you love, now in a 4-pack. try it today. >> welcome back to "beyond the headlines". today we are talking about the growing power of social media to push for change athe world including our own. the congressman amendi spoke to constitients using facebook and iphone and blackberries. he was the first to use visible vote to connect with the voters in his district. >> from his office in washington d.c., john garmendi launched the first ever mobile video town hall. >> this is new. he has held telephone town halls but not like this. >> is it skype type thing .

blackberry or android and divile of facebook and vis yil vote and you can see. >> he want to focus the hour long q& a on manufacturing in the usa. they can stay on and it is free to them. >> application that makes it possible was developed by paul ervington. >> we had a hard time getting in touch with local legislators and tried to call and write and phone and faxing and nothing seem to work . paul being the software genius figured out a better system. >> it does more than allow video town you halls. users can look up legislation and vote on it before it comes to congress. >> we tally them and send them to each member of congress and encourage them to respond to that . which a lot of them do. >> you can post your own video

to the local member of congress and track their votes. political consultant believes that the impact of technology on democracy is transformative. >> i have seen it in a unbelievab in egypt. facebook images and communicated via cell phone . it is obviously impacting. >> and here at home, it will help level the playing field in capitol hill. >> they may not pay for themselves to go to washington d.c. and express themselves. but they will have a tool to express themselves and if they organize and use the social media network they can multiply the number of voices out there. >> joining us in the studio is warts - on rachel schwartz. she is here to help us figure out how social media is from our own home.

rachel. you are a web master in your own right. how is social media used to help. >> we see it in breaking news situation locally. san bernardino pipe line explosion we got information out to the public in the immediate sense where evacuation centers were and what was the damage and information that we were finding out moment by moment . as fast as people were on tv giving information, we gave back to people who were in front of theirs. tvs. >> you are spreading it out as fast as you can get it in. >> it goes from our twitter followers and they see the information and they spled - inford the informationcial gets out to the community. >> what are the reasons that why it is important to share

in this experience? >> you really get a sense of what is going on in the entire community. no one person is ever going to be everywhere at every time. you really need the entire community to come together to feed bits of information to tell the story. >> i have been trying to reach schools on a lock down and kids are good. they are totally in tune to the social media. >> utilizing the social media you are reaching out to an audience who is not keyed in on the news media. but giving them a tool to use the cell phone and computer and devise to acess information and includes them in the process. >> when you think about people being daunted by this and as i in the beginning. but now i use it a lot. how do you get involved? >> there is fear about i don't need to be on twipter .

people don't care about what i had for lunch. not that you are going to be witnessing fires and car crashes every moment of the day, but everyone has a story to tell. that's what they do. share the life experience and give a perspective. >> and remember the crashing on the hudson. >> that was early on in showing how useful twitter could be. when that incident happened a plane landed in the hudson river. it was almost unbelievable until we saw that image and there really was a plane sitting peacefully in the middle of the hudson river. >> thank you for being here and new social med yampt we are out of time. very special thankful to all of our guests today and that's it for this week's edition of beyond thed had lines. information on abc 7.com. click on the community page.

if you are looking for community focusing. dial 211 for help. i am cheryl jennings, have a great week, see you next time. bye-bye. [ male announcer ] it aule of nature. you don't decide when vegetables reach the peak of perfection. the vegetables do. at green giant, we pick vegetables only when they're perfect. then freeze them fast so they're are as nutritious as fresh. [ green giant ] ho ho ho. ♪reen giant [ speaking spanish ] ♪ [ male announcer ] old el paso stand 'n stuff taco shells. old el paso. feed your fiesta.