Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown Wednesday by the Egyptian military following three days of occasionally violent street protests across the country. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) suspended the constitution and said the Chief Justice would assume presidential powers until a new election could be held.
Social media has for years been a source of news and information during political upheaval. It's also been a place for opposition groups to organize. Both of those phenomena have happened plenty in Egypt this week.
But there's a new circumstance that has been occurring alongside all that: The crucial players in the conflict -- Morsi and the military -- are using social media to post statements not simultaneously seen on other media.
The military threatened Monday to get involved in the ongoing political crisis within 48 hours if Morsi refused to meet protestors' demands for a more inclusive government. Many commentators interpreted this accurately as a coup threat. As the clock was winding down Tuesday afternoon, Morsi rejected the military's ultimatum -- on Twitter.
#الرئيس محمد مرسي يؤكد تمسكه بالشرعية الدستورية ويرفض أي محاولة للخروج عليها ويدعوالقوات المسلحة سحب إنذارها ويرفض أي إملاءات داخليةأوخارجية— د.محمد مرسي (@MuhammadMorsi) July 2, 2013
Translation:
"President Mohamed Mursi asserts his grasp on constitutional legitimacy and rejects any attempt to deviate from it, and calls on the armed forces to withdraw their warning and refuses to be dictated to internally or externally."
While Morsi would appear in a televised address later in the evening, news organizations around the world ran with Morsi's Tweet of Defiance before his speech began.
Update: Morsi Issues Defiant Tweet http://t.co/IiBlpZc36b #Egypt— NYTimes Lede Blog (@thelede) July 2, 2013
Opposition groups even responded to it, generating almost unbelievable headlines like this one:
MURSI'S TWEET PUSHING COUNTRY TOWARD `CIVIL WAR': OPPOSITION— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 2, 2013
The SCAF has preferred to use Facebook to share its own statements, posting the terms of the Morsi's ouster shortly after issuing them on television. Morsi's Foreign Relations chief has also been posting on his Facebook page, writing that "there is no democracy without the ballot box."
"As I write these lines I am fully aware that these may be the last lines I get to post on this page," he wrote. "For the sake of Egypt and for historical accuracy, let’s call what is happening by its real name: Military coup."
Amazingly, a Morsi-affiliated verified Twitter account is still tweeting in defiance of the military coup. Morsi's status remains largely unknown -- he has reportedly been taken to an "undisclosed location." Twitter did not immediately respond to Mashable's question about how it would handle a presidential account after that president is subject to a coup.
Pres. Morsy: Measures announced by Armed Forces leadership represent a full coup categorically rejected by all the free men of our nation— Egyptian Presidency (@EgyPresidency) July 3, 2013
Pres. Morsy: Armed Forces announcement is rejected by all free men who struggled for a civil democratic Egypt.— Egyptian Presidency (@EgyPresidency) July 3, 2013
Pres. Morsy urges civilians and military members to uphold the law & the Constitution not to accept that coup which turns #Egypt backwards— Egyptian Presidency (@EgyPresidency) July 3, 2013
Pres. Morsy urges everyone to adhere to peacefulness and avoid shedding blood of fellow countrymen.— Egyptian Presidency (@EgyPresidency) July 3, 2013
An official Morsi Facebook page has also posted a status rejecting the military's coup:
With a lack of statements being made elsewhere, top news organizations are running these tweets and Facebook statuses as updates:
Morsi on Twitter: Measures "represent a full coup categorically rejected by all the free men of our nation." http://t.co/HdeJWdSBFN— The Associated Press (@AP) July 3, 2013
Egypt's Mursi quoted as calling army action a military coup http://t.co/sDmyzFssUF— Reuters World (@ReutersWorld) July 3, 2013
In a sign there's a power struggle over presidential social media accounts, a 22-minute statement posted by Morsi on YouTube was soon deleted.
Is this a coming of age for social media's role in global affairs? Share your thoughts in the comments.