Between Networked Mobilization and The Limits of Democratization: the Role of Social Media in the Arab Spring

Abstract

This article examines the role of social media in political mobilization during the Arab Spring, focusing on Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of the network society and cyberdemocracy, it investigates the contribution of digital platforms to protest organization and the structural limits of their impact on post-2011 democratization processes. The research adopts a qualitative, analytical, and comparative approach, based on a literature review and analysis of secondary data. The findings indicate that social media acted as catalysts for collective action by facilitating the circulation of information and horizontal mobilization, especially among young people. However, their democratizing effects were conditioned by national institutional and political factors, producing distinct outcomes: democratic regression in Tunisia, authoritarian reconsolidation in Egypt, and political-institutional fragmentation in Libya. The article concludes that, although central to mobilization, social media were not sufficient to guarantee democratic consolidation. Keywords: International Politics. International Law. Foreign Relations.