Slim Amamou
Slim Amamou | |
|---|---|
| سليم عمامو | |
 | |
| Secretary of State for Sport and Youth | |
| In office 17 January 2011 – 25 May 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Post created |
| Succeeded by | Myriam Mizouni |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1977 (age 46–47) |
| Nationality | Tunisian |
| Political party | Tunisian Pirate Party (2010-2011) Pirate Party of Tunisia |
| Alma mater | University of Sousse |
| Profession | Programmer |
| Website | No Memory Space |
| Part of a series on |
| Pirate Parties |
|---|
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Slim Amamou ( (Arabic: سليم عمامو, romanized: Slīm ‘Amāmū; born 1977) is a Tunisian blogger and a former Secretary of State for Sport and Youth in the transitional Tunisian government of early 2011. He resigned from the role in the week of 25 May 2011 in protest of the transitional government's censorship of several websites.[1][2]
Early life and education
Amamou studied at the University of Sousse.[3] He is a blogger and author of ReadWriteWeb France.
Political career
He protested against censorship in Tunisia and organized a demonstration on 22 May 2010.[4]
He was arrested on 6 January 2011 during the protests that led to the Tunisian Revolution, alongside others including Azyz Amami. The Anonymous hacktivist group had led attacks on the Tunisian government's websites, and Amamou was held for five days by the state security forces under the suspicion of having collaborated with the hackers.[5] Following a mass internet campaign and protest, Amamou and other bloggers were released from government custody.[5]
Amamou was later released, and, following the flight of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, a national unity government was formed. Amamou was invited to become Secretary of State for Sport and Youth (Arabic: كاتب دولة للشباب والرياضة, French: Secrétaire d'État à la Jeunesse et aux Sports) in that government on 17 January 2011.[6][7][8][9] When he assumed the role he told television channel France 2 that he would resign from his role if the government started to interfere with the internet, such as using internet censorship.[10] He received considerable criticism online for joining the transitional government, particularly from fellow bloggers and internet activists.[11]
In his role as Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, he was subordinate to the Minister for Youth and Sports, Mohamed Aloulou. On 29 March 2011, he was expelled from the Tunisian Pirate Party for joining the transitional national unity government. He later joined a rival party, the Pirate Party of Tunisia, instead.
On the week of May 25, he resigned from his post in protest of the transitional government's censorship of several websites at the request of the Tunisian Army.[1]
Political positions
He is an advocate for network neutrality and opposes internet censorship.[1]
He supports the legalisation of cannabis in Tunisia.
See also
- 2010–2011 Tunisian revolution
- Operation Tunisia, which gave Amamou software to spread during the revolution
References
- ^ a b c Angelique Chrisafis (2011-05-25). "Tunisian dissident blogger quits ministerial post". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ Masri, Safwan. Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly. New York: Columbia University Press, 2017, 41.
- ^ Slim Amamou's profile at LinkedIn Archived 2012-07-16 at archive.today
- ^ Isabelle Mandraud, « Au gouvernement, Slim Amamou, 33 ans, conserve ses réflexes de blogueur », Le Monde, cahier spécial Tunisie : le sursaut d'une nation, 21 janvier 2011, p. V
- ^ a b Almiraat, Hashim (11 February 2011). "Tunisia: Slim Amamou Speaks About Tunisia, Egypt and the Arab World". GlobalVoices. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ^ "Twitter Post". 2011-01-29. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
- ^ "Turmoil in Tunisia: As it happened on Monday". BBC News. 2011-01-17. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
- ^ "Arrested Pirate Party member becomes Tunisian State Secretary". TorrentFreak. 2011-01-17. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
- ^ "Dissident blogger enters new Tunisian government". Straits Times. 2011-01-18. Archived from the original on 2011-01-21. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
- ^ Ungerleider, Neil (18 January 2011). "Tunisian Blogger Becomes Cabinet Member". Fast Company. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ^ Mackey, Robert (18 January 2011). "Dissident Tunisian Blogger Joins Government". New York Times. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
External links
- Amamou's blog, NoMemorySpace
- Interview with Amamou broadcast on Radio France Internationale
- Slim Amamou on Twitter
