The Role of Social Media in Empowering the Arab World October 12, 2011

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2011/09/29/Who_Controls_the_Message_Content_in_a_Digital_Age

Lakome editor Aboubakr Jamai attests that, even though the extent of the influence is unknown, social media sites were instrumental in fueling the Arab Spring revolutions. "We see a spike in tweets about what will happen in Tahrir Square, and then it happens in Tahrir Square. So obviously there is communication going on there," says Jamai.

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Drawing on the Open Society Foundations' research into the worldwide impact of new and digital media, this forum will discuss the role that these evolving forms of media can play in the development and strengthening of democratic societies. -

Aboubakr Jamai is the founder and editor of the Moroccan weekly magazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire. He is currently the editor of the French-language edition of the news website lakome.com. He was a visiting Scholar at the University of San Diego, Yale World Fellow in 2004, a Nieman Fellow in 2007, and a Mason Fellow at Harvard University in 2008.