Lina Ben Mhenni (–2020)

A good short personal account of the transformation of a Tunisian girl blogger turned political activist who discovered the liberating, disinfecting power of information. On her blog, she documented and reported on the failings of the Tunisian regime which had already lost most popular and elite support. Only the police and security forces were still truly defending the president. Every overreach of the military and police further eroded the political support. The Tunisian revolution reminded most of the Romanian Revolution of 1989. The modern means of communication only accelerated the downfall of a moribund regime. Access to blogs and twitter was probably only ancillary to the successful overthrow. While her account ends optimistically, Tunisia's democratic future and prosperity is far from assured.… (mer)