Tunisian Facebook turns political hub

A Tunisian forum for bloggers stated that Facebook in the country was becoming a centre for politcal propaganda. "Dialogue among Bloggers” was organised by the German Dutch Academy in cooperation with Nawah, the Tunisian website and Kalema the Tunisian radio station. The forum was attended by a number of Arab and non-Arab bloggers from all over the world and was to have finished Wednesday.  The forum discussed “Ethics of Social communication Network” and “Ways of Financing Bloggers” and “Blogging space in the Arab Maghreb and Germany”.   Attendees of the forum agreed upon the significant use of social communication networks, especially Facebook. Such networks were used to support the revolutionary goals to achieve freedom, dignity, employment, social justice and combating corruption. However, today’s use of social networks are directed towards make political parties campaigns in addition to joining political conflicts. The Tunisian human rights activist Siham Bin Sedrin said that the credibility of alternative media is on the edge after "enemies of freedom" joined the bandwagon and used the internet and blogging space to publish their "lies". She also called on Kalema Radio Station to launch outreach campaigns to promote the positive way of using the Internet and how to resist such practices. Some lecturers who participated in the forum noted: “Facebook in Tunisia was turned into a center of political campaigns and a tool used by those who want to exchange insults and from different perspectives who seek contradicting interests. It is now a channel through which the launch rumors is rampant,  after it had was touted the media arm of the revolution.”