Bahrain: Tweeting Against Formula 1

Twitter hashtags are no longer spontaneous, at least not to Bahraini Twitter users who are using hashtags as another tool to spread information about their protest against a regime which has so far granted them cosmetic reforms after a whole year of protest. Although Bahrain's population is small in number, Twitter users are very organized online, using social media platforms as their only way to document the crimes of the regime against them.

This idea to trend hashtags started in solidarity with Abdulhadi Khawaja, a prominent activist and opposition figure, who is sentenced to life imprisonment after being accused of attempting to overthrow the regime and who has been on hunger strike for weeks.

For the previous month, Bahrainis have succeeded in getting several hashtags to trend worldwide. In their latest attempt, they wanted to address Formula 1, the famous car race organiser, to cancel their race in Bahrain in protest against the regime's violations against human rights. The race is scheduled to be held from April 20 to 22, 2012.

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