External publications

Islamic political communication online: an analysis of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s official English websites

Breuer, Anita / Karim Khashaba
External Publications (2014)

Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegungen – Plus Suppl. zu 1/2014

The important role of the Internet in the context of the Arab Spring uprisings has reinvigorated scholarly interest in the potential of ICTs to shape and intervene in political transition processes. The bulk of political communications literature produced in the aftermath of the Arab Spring focuses on the function of the Internet as catalyst of the popular protests that toppled the authoritarian regimes in Egypt and Tunisia. By contrast, little attention has been paid so far on how the Muslim social movements and the faith-based political parties that emerged as winners in the post-revolution elections are using the Internet for political communication. To close this gap, this paper provides a content analysis of the official English websites of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and its political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), over the week leading up to the Egyptian constitutional referendum of 15th December 2012.