A Tunisian blogging group was awarded an online media freedom prize from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) for “highlighting the role of social media in the Arab world's uprisings this year.” In a statement, RSF praised the role of the young online activists in helping to deliver images and information to the outside world. Nawaat.org won the press freedom group's Google-sponsored $3,450 Netizen Prize for what the organization said were “efforts to promote freedom of expression online.” According to the press watchdog, the watchdog was vital in “rallying anti-government protesters in Tunisia, where President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali's regime routinely quashed dissent and strictly controlled traditional media. The website was created in 2004 as a means of giving Tunisians the opportunity to disseminate their daily worries in a public forum. Users were able to upload images of violence during the protest wave over unemployment and corruption. RSF added that as traditional media was curtailed, social media sites such as Nawaat were able to fill a void left by the media vacuum. BM
