Saudi Arabia: Netizens Turn to Online Activism to Draw Attention to Qatif Protests

The month of November marked the return of protests to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, as the people of Qatif took to the streets to demand reforms, equality, the release of their detainees, and political freedom as many of their slogans and chants have expressed. So far, four protesters have been shot dead by security forces as a result. The regime justified its acts saying protests in Qatif are plotted by a foreign agenda, hinting on Iran since the Eastern Province is inhabited by a large number of Shias. The youth of Qatif used YouTube, Facebook and Twitter as their platform to spread the news from the protests by posting videos, pictures, and updates. It was clear that the world and in specific Arab mainstream media gave its back to those protests just the way the Bahrain protests were treated, especially when they first started back in February. Here are some of the videos posted from the Qatif protests. Western media reported four dead shot, however, through social networking, users from the Eastern Province claim that there were at least 10 killed so far throughout November, including a 7-year-old girl, but they provided no evidence to prove so.

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