Terrorists use social networks as a means of communication. It would seem that these words are nothing but another provocation. However, political intrigues and revolutions in Arab countries in particular would not have taken place, if it wasn't for Facebook, Twitter and many other internet services. Some indeed believe that the brainchild of Mark Zuckerberg is a point of communication for terrorists. This is most likely an exaggeration.
Eduard Limonov, writer
"The influence of social networks on politics is exaggerated. In the Arab world, no matter what they may say, the communication network is not so well developed. Rather, this is a PR technology, which social networks create themselves. As a source of information, social networks may have some value, but I would not say that they rapidly spread political ideas among people. In my opinion, it's all blown out of proportion. As for the Arab Spring, there were reasons for riots to erupt. In Egypt, for example, President Mubarak took power 32 years before he was finally toppled. People were fed up. During long-time rulings, power groups appear that take and control everything. A change of power is always needed, because it allows to stir society from time to time. If people have one and the same president for 32 years, people become annoyed about it. As for corporations, they want to be important, of course, to strengthen their power and obtain even more of it."
Indeed, it must be remembered that people would take to the streets and stage rallies before social networks were invented and more so, before computers were invented.
German Klimenko, the head of Liveinternet
"We must remember that this is a technology. This technology can make a revolution more convenient. Yet, to make thousands of people take to the street, one needs something more serious. If we go back to Russia in 1993, then people took to the streets of Moscow without any twitters.
In any case, the government of any country in the world faces a choice - either not follow social networks in general, and thus give their opponents a great fighting tool, or tightly control the virtual space - thus only strengthening the " revolutionary situation."
