Dave Eggers’ The Circle was written in 2013, only two years after the Egyptian revolution of 2011, in which citizens were protesting for the removal of President Hosni Mubarak. In The Circle, Eamon Bailey, the public face of the Circle’s progressive technology, reveals a camera the size of a lollipop, and references that he has had various employees discreetly place them within the streets of Cairo during the Egyptian Revolution. This camera is portrayed as a piece of new and revolutionary technology to learn more about the world around us, but the Circle is using these cameras and many of their other devices to learn as much about the world as they can. Due to the similar time frame between the writing of this book and the Egyptian revolution, I believe that the media portrayal would have been different if they had access to these cameras, and even could have kept various reporters safe, as they would no longer be required to go into the field, and would also allow for constant viewing, if desired.
During the Egyptian revolution in 2011, Egyptian citizens protested against oppression and government corruption, and to end the rule of President Mubarak, who had been in power for thirty years. Mubarak had created a web of mafia networks beneath the government, and consequently was oppressing groups across ideologies such as liberals and Islamists. Additionally, Mubarak’s connections were creating secrecy and overall government corruption for the goal of personal gain. On January 25, 2011, thousands marched into downtown Cairo, specifically in Tahrir Square and in various other places across the country, crying “Down with Mubarak!” Police officers were attempting to use tear gas and water cannons to drive the protesters from the ruling offices, but to little avail. Within this first day, three protestors and a police officer had been killed (Aljazeera.com). Day after day, furious protesters directly attacked police and their vehicles, continuing to fight for the removal of President Hosni Mubarak. On February 11, Mubarak transferred his power to the military, and protesters began to grow content with this situation. However, the connections established by Mubarak continued to hold, and therefore protesters continued to fight police forces in the streets. After this, the Muslim Brotherhood attempted to take power in this time of catastrophe, and protesters continued to fight their attempt of power. Within The Circle, Bailey asserts that “protesters on the streets of Egypt no longer have to hold up a camera, hoping to catch a human rights violation or a murder and then somehow get the footage out of the streets and online” (Eggers 65). Because of the size of these cameras, “They don’t know we see them, but we do. The world is watching. And listening”(Eggers 65). Just like with modern news media, the world is watching and listening, but this revolutionary technology introduced by Bailey will allow reporters to remain safe, but also discreetly observe happenings anywhere in the world. With the reported fluid movements of these cameras and their superb image quality, they would make for not only safer, but also more efficient field reporting on events such as this. Bailey even describes that if the journalists are removed for whatever reason, the cameras and the footage will remain. In addition, Bailey notes how any military individual committing a violent act would be recorded, allowing them to be tried in a court for his actions. Because people do not know of the exact placements of these cameras, Bailey hopes that they will prevent abuses of power. If we were able to have cameras like these installed around the world, especially in places such as Cairo during the Egyptian revolution, many of the rulers abusing their power may not have, and fewer civilians may have died due to military violence. On the other hand, the existence of these cameras would also warn the entire world, no matter where they are, or what time it is: Someone is watching. All that happens must be known. Works Cited Al Jazeera and Agencies. “Timeline: Egypt’s Revolution.” Last updated February 14, 2011. Accessed April 17, 2018. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/01/201112515334871490.html Eggers, Dave. The Circle. Knopf and McSweeny, 2013. Print.
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