Issue and Opponent: Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt for 29 years. After Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali resigned from office on January 14, Egyptians began a protest calling for Mubarak to leave office as well. Egyptians used humor to make fun of Mubarak to accomplish their goals. Protestors named a pile of garbage and toilets “the National Democratic Party Headquarters.” When Vice President Omar Suleiman denounced the protestors’ “foreign agendas” they left plain blank notebooks on the square saying “I left my agenda at home.”
Dilemma Action: Egyptians took to social media to encourage others to join them. It allowed their humor in the streets to be translated online as well. A fake “Installing Freedom” screen grab showed files being copied only to be met with an error message reading “Cannot install Freedom. Please remove Mubarak and try again.” A fake Twitter account titled @HosniMubarak erupted and signaled that the military was no longer satire-proof. When Mubarak was late to a speech, #ReasonsWhyMubarakIsLate was trending on Twitter.
Outcome: Mubarak resigned on February 11, however, strikes and jokes continued in Egypt.