BEIRUT: In this year of unprecedented protests across the Middle East and North Africa, new technology has also played an important role mobilizing people and dispensing information.

“Thanks to technology, the truth is increasingly harder to hide,” says Mark Malkoun, creator of Signal, a mobile application that sends texts and images directly from the source of an event. “Oppressors who could previously get away with certain crimes are quickly getting nailed down by the international public opinion, which is exactly what we saw in the Arab Spring.”

With the series of uprisings over the past year in the Middle East and North Africa, quickly dubbed the Arab Spring, the popular social networks were soon getting credit for propelling revolutions, leading to debate as to whether or not technology was taking away the spotlight from the protesters on the street.

While it is unclear how much credit technology should be given for inspiring Arab uprisings, it is undeniable that this year of unprecedented protests in the region has spawned a handful of tech innovations.

One iPhone application dispenses instant images and texts of breaking news to people all over the world; at least two applications notify loved ones when a protester has been arrested; others specific to different countries tell protesters about news of demonstrations, human rights abuses and other new developments of an uprising. And others are largely for the amusement of the users, the dark humor a respite from the difficult months endured.

“We call our application ‘Tunisia Don’t Forget to make people remember,'” says Walid Sultan Midani, creator of the free iPhone and Android phone application released in February that has become among the most popular in the country. It allows the user to play with the speeches of Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, the leader who was ousted in January after a popular uprising which marked Tunisia as the birthplace of the Arab Spring.

For example, by mixing around words from Ben Ali’s last speech, a user can make him say, “I’ve spent my entire life destroying this country.”

	“Thanks to technology, the truth is increasingly harder to hide.”

Another iPhone application that was conceived around the same time came from the frustration of Malkoun, creator of Signal, who says he didn’t want to rely on either state-run news in neighboring countries or politically affiliated news in Lebanon.

About six months into the uprisings, inspired by citizen journalism, Malkoun, with the help of his business partner Emile Khattar, created Signal. Using a similar concept as Twitter and Facebook to share live news, it eliminates the need for “followers” or “friends,” allowing for anyone with a computer or smartphone to see the news.

“Signal gives anyone the chance to have their story or point of view seen by the whole country or even the world, without having to build a huge number of followers,” he says. “It also gives consumers a wider range of interesting stories that are being ignored by big media companies, whether because of political pressure, fear of criticism, or simply out of ignorance.”

Possibly the most notorious app to come out of the Arab Spring is "Souria wa Bas" (Just Syria). The iPhone app that gives detailed news accounts of the uprising, updates of arrests and human rights abuses, was reportedly a key reason that the Syrian authorities banned the iPhone in early December.

The decision came in the ninth month of the popular uprising, in which protesters have used mobile phones to film and organize anti-government demonstrations, document alleged human rights abuses and send text messages with news updates of the movement. The government argued that such devices are detrimental to the country’s stability and has issued a warning to iPhone users.

However, the revolution that has inspired the greatest number of apps by far has been that of Egypt, home to the largest population in the Arab world and bellwether of political dissent in the region. It is also a home to a former Google executive Wael Ghonim, whose marketing and IT skills helped organize the popular revolt that put an end to the 30-year rule of former President Hosni Mubarak.

"Agenda25" is an Egyptian news aggregator that brings together information based on the preferences of the user; "Sawtak" (your voice) gives Egyptian voters information about candidates; "Byt2abad 3alia" (I am being captured) is an Egyptian app that tells loved ones when the user is being arrested; and "Masr 3ayza Meen?" is a gaming app which pits Egyptian politicians against each other in street fights.

“The idea started with the Egyptian revolution and the movement that happened online,” says Ziad Feghali, the Lebanese creator of “Masr 3ayza Meen?” (Who will Egypt choose?). He says that he understands Egyptians’ humor as well as their need to feel like they are part of the political process. He boasts that even Amr Moussa, former secretary-general of the Arab League, has been known to play the game. “It’s a new experience for Egyptians to get involved in politics.”

"Byt2abad 3alia" allows users to simply press a button when they are being arrested, which alerts the right person to the location of the phone, using GPS. Egyptian developer Badr Moharam, who released it in November, shortly before a new wave of protests which accompanied the first democratic elections, says the app serves an important function as it’s difficult to navigate Egypt’s security services, with their many various departments.

“My main motivation behind this application was to give knowledge – like doctors who help the wounded at protests,” Badr says. “If you have any skill, you can help someone.”

Indeed, mobile phone technology is becoming an increasingly integral part of the lives of ordinary people as they continue to demand their civil rights.

It has become an important source of news for anti-government activists, with cellphone camera footage giving TV viewers a glimpse of what is happening on the street at times when the traditional media often does not have access.

Still, long before there was Twitter and Facebook, for centuries regular citizens from around the world have taken to the streets to overthrow rulers they regarded as despots. Technology has only sped up the process.

Malkoun notes, “Human nature has not changed, it's just that people are more informed today, and thanks to innovations in technology and social media, more information is spreading wider and faster.”