A Facebook message that sparked Egypt protests - Hindustan Times

A Facebook message that sparked Egypt protests - Hindustan Times

A Facebook message that sparked Egypt protests - Hindustan Times

Asmaa Mahfouz told Al-Mihwar TV that the first activity was on Facebook.

“Yes. I was angry that everybody was saying that we had to take action, but nobody was doing anything. So I wrote on Facebook: 'People, I am going to Tahrir Square today'. This was a week before January 25."

“I wrote that I was going to demand the...rights of my country. I wrote that I was 26 years old...,” the Middle East Media Research Institute quoted her as saying.

Asmaa said: “Whenever we talked to the people and told them to express their views, they would say: “Who can we talk to? We will be thrown in prison and tortured.’”

Anonymous News Network: Op ESR: The Protest that Wasn't

Anonymous News Network: Op ESR: The Protest that Wasn't

"It takes a substantial amount of time and energy to build a protest movement. As this NYT New York Times article describes, the first Egyptian youth protests began in 2005 but were quickly crushed because, to put it lightly, the movement was still rather "squishy" and susceptible to disruption. But even more than that, the ability to get one's message out depends on how many sympathetic ears are available and willing to help."