Middle East

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 14th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend have a view on the way that social networking sites have affected the direct action in Egypt and Tunisia? Does he think that that is an unmitigated good or is there a risk that rumours and false information could be spread in that way and worsen the problems in the middle east?

[Mr Speaker]

The Foreign Secretary’s views on philosophy are interesting, but we are also concerned about policy.

[Mr Hague]

Yes, there is no doubt that social networking sites have played an important role, particularly in Tunisia. That was very apparent from the young people I met and talked to there, many of whom, especially the young women, had taken part in the revolution on social networking sites rather than out in the streets. They were very proud of the way that they had co-ordinated their messages in the days before the revolution in order to intensify the action and demonstrations that took place. Those sites have played an important role and it is something that we should be positive about overall. The world is changing in a very significant way: people of all ages have access to communicating in that way and it is important that their freedom to do so is preserved. One way in which the Egyptian authorities have gone wrong in the past couple of weeks has been in trying to suppress access to the internet and misuse mobile telephone networks. People now have the right to use those things in a relatively open way.