Combating Corruption is a long marathon and a multi-round battle, which often does not finish with a victory in favor of one side over the other. This is not, of course, frustrating inception for the reader, rather, it is a preface for emphasizing that corruption is escalating at a faster rate more than the multiplication of the voices of change, it also means that we always need renewable and diversified strategies to combat corruption.

The problem of combating corruption in our societies is related to the consecration of the idea of "the recipient individual", consciously or unconsciously, by the concerned institutions, and that receiving information is an important thing for creating awareness. However, we always focus on building awareness that stimulates the adoption of self-commitment, at a time we need to build awareness that stimulates movement and resistance, not to become confined to the concept of “at the very least".

The idea of the recipient individual is responsible for the widespread belief that fighting corruption requires initiatives from higher levels and a governmental role, this is true on one hand, but surrendering to this belief is an implicit declaration of the death of the will of the people.!!, this popular belief has transformed the concept of "fighting corruption" into a "political" concept, which is dealt with except by the opposition political parties, and from the standpoint of the faults of power, and within the framework of the conflict for getting the power. It is true that addressing the corruption in the political form is of great importance, but this matter contributed to reducing the public sense of "the necessity of combating corruption" as a struggle for life to be a struggle for power.

This political reductionism of the concept of combating corruption has led the anti-corruption efforts being dependent on the orientations of the intellectual and cultural elites in our societies, and the extent of their ability to effect change, which resulted in the "seasonality" of these efforts, and their connection with the availability of the necessary support, and being satisfied with efforts of a nature devoted to the idea of the individual recipient. Considering that, any efforts of a greater nature are considered a form of political incitement that is not permitted within the framework of the Yemeni political game.

The idea of the “Individual Recipient" is a very frustrating idea, especially since Arab societies are young societies, and adaptation of such a trend is a dedication to more exclusion and marginalization, curbing the society's capacity for regeneration and vitality, deriving toward the paths of violence for changing civil paths devoted to a culture of non-violence. Non-receptive effective individual and a popular culture of change constitutes a flexible medium that stimulates movement and non-rigidity. These are basic requirements for activating the role of youth as a resource for development and as an effective force to bring about change. Based on these requirements and from the opportunities not crises, and from the gate of potential energies rather than the needs, we address the role that information and communication technology can play in providing opportunities capable to absorb the energies of young people in addressing the challenges that affect the development of their societies, on top of which comes the corruption.

The localization of information technology in our societies is not limited to its technical dimension, but extends to the political and social dimensions. However, talking about adhering to information technology as a resource for development in our societies collides with preconceived convictions, these convictions are explained by, the summary of UNESCO report, which states that" "Our political and social imagination is characterized by inactivity and completely far from the mutations achieved by our scientific imagination." As a step towards localization and parallelizing social, political and scientific paths, we deal with digital activity as a process that makes every opportunity to access the international information network “Internet" an opportunity for civic engagement and an opportunity to empower and to involve the individuals in bringing about social and political change.

The next pages are one of the attempts to formulate a digital vision to enable individuals to play more influential roles in combating corruption, and an attempt that requires more in-depth research, and experiment to reach the desired final form.

The concept of digital Activism

Digital Activism, in simple terms, is a process of individual or collective exploitation of the Internet with its various tools to serve society, influence it, broaden the extent of its members' involvement, and inclusion them in public issues, and is a process of sticking to the Internet as a resource for community development agonist the Internet attraction of the users and confine them in personal and entertainment usage of its tools, also It is true that many of the tools of the Internet are designed for personal and entertainment purposes, but they remain adaptable. These tools must be subject to adaptation, in order to enhance and activate the mission of the Internet in the comprehensive development of our societies.

Digi Active organization defines digital activism (Cyber activism) as the process of “using communication and information technology tools (mobile and the Internet in particular) by citizens to bring about a societal change".

Another definition, digital activism is a "virtual civil action in which a tool or a group of digital toolkits are used by an individual or group of people with the aim of bringing about social or political change on the ground".

The phrase of virtual civil action means “Upholding political and civil rights in this virtual democratic interaction,” and the word “Khaili” is Dr. Nabil Omar's translation of virtual word, which is contained in other Arabic translations as "virtual" or "electronic," which is derived from "Khali" which is the most convincing translation.

It should be noted that digital activism term is a concept more comprehensive than E-activism term, which is the subject our study, however, both concepts (digital activism activity and E-activism) are used in the relevant scientific contexts as synonyms.  We will use in this study the concept of digital activism instead of E-activism for reasons related to the generality of the term and its spread, although we are limited to dealing with the electronic dimension only,"Internet tools", to refer to the nature of the roles that can be played by "employing" the various Internet tools in making a specific impact.

The field of study here is limited to the impact related to anti-corruption, promoting transparency and accountability "Digital Tools are the "tools we use for our movement in the virtual world to bring about an influence on social or political reality" as previously referred to, we mean by them "digital resources" electronic sources of the different information and knowledge available on the Internet in its various forms, such as images, texts, videos as resources for information flow, and software applications available on the Internet for free individual or collective use, including:

1. Open-source applications/ software: it is free software applications developed by volunteers from different parts of the world, with the aim of breaking the commercial monopoly and empowering individuals and institutions that lack capabilities to benefit from information technology and create their own digital content. These applications are characterized by their rapid evolution, they require medium knowledge of technology. Full manuals are available on the Internet on how to use these applications and how to adapt them according to need. Applications include: ready-made interactive websites, forums, and platforms ... etc.
2. Open-use applications: they are software applications available on the Internet for free use, according to a use agreement and specific modification and development options. They are provided as a service by a commercial company or non-profit organization. It is characterized by ease of use and not required a technical knowledge, these applications include e-mail, blogs, social networks, forums, sharing content sites (sharing photos like Flickr Apps, sharing videos like YouTube) … etc.

A brief about digital activism

Digital Activism is one of the first uses of the Internet as a medium for activity. On April 10, 1990, when the American Lotus Company announced its intention to release a software Apps containing data of 120 million Americans people, in response to this announcement, which constitutes a violation of the privacy of people, a popular campaign was launched using e-mail and discussion forums to spread Information about the product and its violation of the privacy of people, and purplish the company's addresses. Thirty thousand people participated in the campaign and sent their requests to the company to remove their data. On January 23, 1991, the Lotus Company announced through a press release canceling the App. Afterward, the use of the Internet expanded as a medium for activism in various fields.

In the Arab world, human rights movements were the first to use the Internet for Activism. On June 30, 2000, the sociologist and human rights and democracy activist, head of Bin Khaldoun Center, Dr. Sa'ad Addin Ibrahim, was arrested, along with 27 of the employees of the center. As a result of the arrest incident, a special website was launched that constituted as a source of information about the proceeding of his case. It contained a petition to collect signatures, and worked to connect activists from different parts of the world, directing their support movements, constituted widespread international pressure.  Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, and Morocco are the first countries that witnessed widespread use of the Internet as a medium for Activism in the fields of human rights, media freedom, and development.

Recent years have witnessed widespread activity in using the Internet in Activism in various parts of the Arab world, a number of Arab digital activists have won international awards, as an appreciation for the prominent role they have made in changing their societies. Although the first usages of the Internet in Activism were in 1990, it did not gain its real impact only in recent years, with the emergence of the second generation of the Internet. Then it has been subjected to studies and researches as a phenomenon worthy of attention.

Digital Activism vs Digital Gap

Digital Gap: is the gap between those who have digital technology and those who do not have, between societies that have the ability to use technology tools (computers, the Internet, etc.) and have many services available through these tools (various electronic transactions - selling, buying, completing government transactions up to Social networks and blogging), agonist those societies, on the other hand, who are unable to use these tools (for reasons related to culture and education), who do not have access to E-services (for reasons related to the lack or poor of the infrastructure and information).This gap takes a variety of forms, such as a gap between the developed world and the developing world, a gap between rural and urban areas within a single state, a gap between the rich and the poor people, a gap between adults and young people, and a qualitative gap between males and females. Thus, in our societies in which the digital gap is embodied in its various forms, the most important question is:

1. Is promoting digital activism in our societies is promoting of more sophisticated alternatives? Is the digital gap sufficient to dispel our enthusiasm for digital activism?

Certainly, the digital gap has an impact on the effectiveness of the Internet in civic action (in terms of organization and output). It also works to exclude a wide range of participation. and although, digital activism remains limited to certain elites, digital activism is considered one of the means of bridging the digital gap and not a factor for arising it. While, digital activism is an opportunity to participate in bringing about social and political change, the digital gap represented in the inequality of these opportunities. While opportunities in the developed world are available to all, in the developing world are limited to specific elites. Therefore, our limited participation opportunities remain important and vital opportunities to establish alternative channels for the flow of information, to drive towards reducing the information gap through enthusiasm for the "popular" role in bridging the digital gap. In this context, it must be noted the difference between the digital gap and the disparity in owning IT infrastructure and digital activism, and the good use of IT infrastructure.

So, our enthusiasm for digital activism is an enthusiasm for good use of the available and limited information infrastructure, and Limited opportunities of the participation in a community does not necessarily mean limited opportunities to influence that community.

The universe nature of the digital activism arena that goes beyond the issues of geography, race and culture will create a global human dimension for our issues, which will result in raising our ability to influence our local communities, as a reflection of our ability to mobilize the support of global public opinion. As the power in the information era is the ability to exploit information resources, not a numerical preponderance.

So, our enthusiasm for digital activism is an enthusiasm for confronting social exclusion. If information is the raw material that cannot be depleted, the digital activism is a kind of "knowledge economy and information investment", it is also an investment process through which we create healthy climates for future generations who will undoubtedly rely on the Internet as the first source of knowledge. This is evidenced by the growing use of the Internet, especially among the youth, and the development of the information infrastructure in our countries, even if it is slow. So, our enthusiasm for digital activism is an enthusiasm for the present and the future.

Fighting corruption between digital activism and e-government

Talking about the digital fight against corruption calls dealing with the concept of e-governance, which is a concept that has a great role in promoting transparency and thus reducing administrative corruption, but it does not fall within the framework of this study. Therefore, the basic concepts related to information technology and development must be clarified, so that the boundaries and scope of the study become clear to everyone.

The term ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) refers to everything related to the establishment and development of infrastructure for communications and information technology, this includes the establishment of the infrastructure for the communications sector such as mobile and the Internet, as well as for media sector  such as radio and television ... etc., while the term ICT4D (Information and Communication Technology for Development) refers to all what is related to the uses of information and communication technology as means to achieve development goals this includes the use of fax / telephone / computer / radio / television /CD-ROM and the Internet to support and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of development projects.

The concept of digital activism and the concept of e-government fall within the framework of ICT4D as a software application that uses the Internet to reach citizens, and a mechanism for using information technology to enhance transparency and accountability (opening the decision-making process) and combating corruption. However, talking about e-government is a talk about a government role that requires a vision and a clear strategy that achieves transparency through a basic infrastructure with strategic planning, complete laws and legislation, regulating procedures in an electronic environment and simplifying and automating administrative procedures, which is not the field we cover by this study.

The importance of digital activism in the fight against corruption

Is involving the Internet represented by "digital activism” in addressing one of the most serious global challenges, if not the most, such as corruption, is a kind of imposing the “digital mood” of a generation where the Internet has become part of its daily culture, rather than an expression of one of the most influential forms of societal interventions?

Is talking about digital activism in fighting corruption considered talking about the art of the possible, practical and objective, or is it just a kind of preaching revolutionary patterns to make a difference in the future?

Corruption’s impact does not stop at the limits of exhausting the present in which we live, but extends to confiscating the future that we are supposed to work to secure for generations.

It calls for declaring open war, general mobilization, or declaring a state of a civil emergency reinforces mobility on all frontlines. The nature of this challenge necessitates noting that our success in combating corruption is a result of our choice and our will as a society, rather than a result of the type and nature of the technology we use. The more the societal will available, the greater the chances of success in combating corruption. Talking about digital activism is a talking about opportunities for creating the societal will more than a talk about the opportunities for success.

To answer the two previous questions, we will review the importance of digital activism in fighting corruption through four aspects, as follows:

The first aspect: digital activism as a process with a flexible medium stimulates action against corruption

The virtual reality on the Internet is the environment in which the digital activism grows, and it is a reality with diverse content that gives us elements of power, perhaps the most important of which from the perception of fighting corruption are:

High-speed/ wide-scale (universe), for dissemination of news and information

This means more information flow, wider spread, intensified and a stronger domestic and international response, which leads to curb the outbreak of corruption in a society like Yemen, which is considered one of the dark societies that create an ideal environment for the growth of corruption, so the flow of information is a kind of shading the light that impedes this growth.

Possibility of building electronic databases of information by individual or cooperative efforts that are easily accessible and reviewable

Availability of a lively and active memory, monitors and documents the corruption and the efforts of combat it, will promote the development of resistance strategies, as a cumulative process, and will act as an educational tool that provides a comprehensive picture, and drives toward the continuity of work on combating corruption.

The ability to mobilizing, networking and stirring

The Internet provides tools for guiding and moving and stirring in a virtual reality, and this is similar to the organization of the movement in different geographic ranges and for building wider networks that go beyond the borders of geography. This enhances capacity building and exchange of experiences and information, and will transform anti-corruption efforts into decentralization, as, anti-corruption efforts are concentrated wherever the concerned institutions are stationed, and the goal is to move towards the periphery regions, whose access remains limited to the availability of the necessary funding, and to limited and time-bound projects, and this is one of the problems.

Relatively low cost

Compared to any other means, the cost remains reasonable and acceptable, which provides an opportunity for continuous work, in a way that enhances the sustainability of anti-corruption efforts, as well as, digital activism tools are free and does not require high technical skills, which enhances the possibility of widespread use of these tools and activate their usage in the virtual civil activism.

The second aspect: digital activism as an empowerment process for individuals in combating corruption

The virtual reality provides democratic and open community incubators that contribute to the creation of alternative channels for participation in public life, the result of active involvement and participation in these incubators aim to influence the reality, this what is termed as digital activism. The most important things that embody the democratic nature of these community incubators is:

1. Equal opportunities for participation (through direct action with and for people), whatever the tendencies and trends, and these opportunities, in turn, are far from domination and polarization.
2. Availability of a kind of representation for the interests of marginalized parties, and enhancing their opportunities for presence and expression.

These open and democratic community incubators created a medium of empowerment, according to Patrick Butler from the International Center for Journalists: "Technology that becomes ubiquitous, even in poor countries, not only ensures a freer flow of information, but also encourages citizens, who have always felt powerless and helpless, to play a role in achieving change in their societies." The most important features of this empowerment are in combating corruption, in creating new paths for public participation that make the concept of the "silent majority", in light of digital activism, an imprecise concept, as millions of voices rise, and the circle of issues for discussion expands bypassing all traditional taboos, and it strengthens participation in fighting against Corruption by enabling individuals to:

Participation in uncovering corruption

The alternative channels of participation provided by the digital activism gave the individuals wide opportunities to monitor the performance of the government, to bring to the surface the concept of "Social Monitor", as digital activists act as sensors for the deviations in society as a result of government policies applied, and reflected in the form of articles, Pictures, videos, digital moves, represent a feedback on government performance, and a community-based mirror reflects the nature and extent of corruption in society, and this feedback of citizens on the practices of their governments is a reflection of the flow of information in closed paths linking decisions and practices with results and feedbacks, thus creating a new concept of transparency that can be called "counter-transparency" as we can call instead of "community transparency" as an expression of community sensing of the extent of deviations from the set goals or established standards, more than an expression of citizens' commitment to directing their governments to become more responsive to their demands.

The first definition is "community sensing." It is an expression that implies a defensive response in the face of corruption, and it results from the lack of paths for the flow of information, and these paths mean the pillars of the national integrity system, so they are "counter-transparency" and a mechanism to extract rights and uncover corruption,

While the second definition "citizens' commitment" is an expression of the normal practice of guaranteed political and civil rights in a way that enhances the vitality of the existing democratic interaction resulting from the availability of pathways for the flow of information, so it is "community transparency" and a mechanism for the exercise of rights, and the outputs of counter-transparency represent important sources for renewing social awareness. He revealed the enormity of the price that society pays as a result of corruption, which creates a basis for adopting vertical accountability, such as citizens electing their representatives based on their programs and performance, away from regional and sectarian considerations. Belief in transparency generates a willingness to be held accountable.

Participation in the fight against corruption

The pressure, advocacy and support are real opportunities for individuals to participate in confronting corruption and creating a supportive public opinion. The environment of imaginary societies is an environment of open civil protest that mobilizes supporters and moves them without colliding with the political complications on reality, and the effectiveness of lobbying, advocacy and support requires a parallel action on the ground, but the electronic confrontation was invented. There are still alternatives, such as organizing gatherings in democratic countries in front of the embassies of the country in question, or protesting in the manner of the April 6 movement in Egypt, "the electronic movement of emergence, action and mobility," and setting a specific day for activists to retire in their homes. Imaginary centers for mobilization represent crisis cells for mobilization, mobilization, open confrontation, and motivation. The permanent civil movement on the ground, which reflects the resilience and nature of the single globalized imaginary society, and the revolutionary and renewed innovation in digital activity, which makes confronting corruption digitally a dynamic and effective process.

Participate in preventing corruption

The opportunities offered by digital activism do not stop at creating an alternative media that presents messages of social and political change in a renewed and innovative manner capable of influencing and creating awareness, but extends to providing opportunities for learning and benefiting from the experiences of others, building the capacities of local activists, integrating new activists, and networking with activists from various On the one hand, these opportunities will enhance the capabilities of local activists in combating corruption, raising the effectiveness and efficiency of their various activities, on the one hand, and increasing anti-corruption digital content in a way that creates a strong presence for the cause of fighting corruption on the other hand.

The third axis: digital activism as a communication process for organizations and agencies concerned with combating corruption:

The efforts of civil society organizations and concerned government agencies will not succeed in combating corruption unless there is a real involvement of individuals in these efforts by diagnosing problems, developing strategies, and implementing programs and activities, in addition to the fact that the lack of transparency in these institutions is the real motivation behind the societal disregard of these efforts, for example, the Central Organization for Control and Accountability in Yemen, as its reports are not available on its website, how can there be enthusiasm to support his efforts, while at the same time its information is not transparent?

The environment of the digital activism represents a communicative environment, and civil society organizations and government institutions concerned should take into account the importance of their presence in this medium, and using of digital tools to establish direct channels with young people. The absence of communication is what gives the justification to the general impression of the marginality of its roles, and the formality of its actions, as well as leads to loss of credibility, and the widespread belief that they are no less corrupt than the government. In Societies like ours where corruption is endemic, "The less transparency there is, the more suspicions are given a justification to turn into firm convictions." The fact that we must realize is that the failure, or at least the ineffectiveness of the efforts of many anti-corruption institutions, is a reflection of our failure as a society to understand and appreciate the value of what these institutions do, and that the anti-corruption authorities’ adoption of the efforts of digital activists, and the Internet as a communication medium for development, will provide an opportunity to implement their strategies, and will achieve the required balance between their role in awareness and implementation, which is the balance necessary for the success of any anti-corruption strategy.

Fourth Axis: digital activism as a process to achieve sustainability of anti-corruption efforts

It is true that digital participation may not succeed in influencing decision-making in the near term due to the nature of the political regimes in our countries that see responding to the pressures of their people a form of self-disregard, but it remains an important participation as “The dissemination of knowledge and the availability of information increase the effectiveness, vitality, level of democracy, and immunity of societies against the methods of tyranny,” on the one hand.

On the other hand, disengaging the connection between change and the trends of cultural elites, and linking change to popular culture is the criterion by which we must measure the success or not in achieving the digital activism of its goals as the first step for empowerment and restructuring the forces that govern social balance.

On the third hand, youth are the source of nations' strength, and the combination of information resources with the component of societal power "youth" will constitute sustainable self-propelled for the advancement of our societies and their development.

On the fourth hand, digital activism gives the “silent majority” new paths that were not available before, to become a “speaking majority” with its concerns and aspirations, and to become a “progressive majority” pushing in the direction of modernization, And on the fifth hand, the trend for digital activism in combating corruption will increase the digital content in Arabic on issues of corruption and ways to combat it, a content that will encourage many, in light of the dominance of the English language on the Internet, to engage in civic engagement in anti-corruption social movements, and increase learning opportunities.

Uses of digital activism in the fight against corruption:

The use of the Internet as a medium for combating corruption in Yemen is still weak, in contrast to other issues such as democracy and human rights for reasons related to:

1. The relative recentness of the international approach to corruption (with the establishment of Transparency International in 1990), as well as the fact that the national approach to the issue of corruption in many countries came much later.
2. The absence of the concept of corruption, as an independent concept, given the overlap and confusion between the concept of good governance and the concept of corruption, where the corruption is considered one of the manifestations of the absence or fragility of the good governance, keep to mind that corruption may exist even in the presence of strong and effective good governance.
3. The focus of digital activists around the world, in general, on issues of democracy, rights, and freedoms as priorities for digital work, resulted in a gap in the digital theorization of anti-corruption, in contrast to the priority issues that have received wide digital attention, on the one hand, and led, on the other hand, to the launch of the digital approach to corruption from a political or legal ground, this is an important and effective approach, but it leads to the reduction of many concepts related to corruption as a phenomenon that has its own dimensions in handling and treatment.
4. Poor use of digital activism as a communication and mobilization process by institutions concerned with fighting corruption.

The poor of digital activism in the fight against corruption does not negate the existence of remarkable successes and movements that represented a real revolution in virtual civil movement for change, in addition to the great potential of digital activity promising more successes, that gives the individual real power to lead the change process. This prompts us to pay more attention to the use of the Internet as a medium for effectiveness in combating corruption, and to seek to crystallize a digital vision that stems from the specific concepts of corruption, and invests points of intersection with other issues, in order to deepen the societal perception on corruption as a phenomenon that stands mainly behind increasing poverty rates, undermining democracy, dismantling the social fabric, and the absence of freedoms, justice and equality.

These successes formed an inspiration and motivation behind this study, as an attempt to bridge the gap in digital anti-corruption theorizing, by collecting and studying the various activities of digital actors around the world, sorting out what belongs to anti-corruption efforts, and then to be presented in a systematic framework, and come up with basic tactical formulas that represent a guide to digital action, it included the uses of digital Activism  in combating corruption that we monitored, and we concluded that we have framed them systematically in three axes, under each axis falls the basic tactics that can be used in digital action to combat corruption by individuals. These tactics depend on case studies that have been framed within new approaches to combating corruption, including what is inspired by digital activities in areas other than corruption, including what is a digital modification of mechanisms, policies, strategies and tools to combat corruption in civil work on the ground, and can be clarified as follows:

Using digital power to liberating information

The revolutionary expression of “liberating information” in our opinion is not an improvisational expression, but rather an expression that emphasizes a very important concept, which is “the right to access to information” on the one hand, and “the legitimacy of reaction” on the other hand. Based on the right to obtain information, which includes providing information and facilitating access to it, the activists used monitoring activities in digital work. Monitoring government performance is one of the most important tools in the work of civil society to detect corruption and liberate information. This monitoring process can be defined as “A process carried out to detect faults in a particular aspect.” It is a complex process that requires strict standards in the ways of identifying defects, tools for measurement and evaluation, and specific outputs that often comes in a form of a report that evaluates the target situation of oversight, and reveals defects in such situation. However, electronic monitoring was characterized by a different nature, being a process implemented with the aim of general mobilization, establishing a culture of accountability, and a mechanism for involving the community in monitoring its government, rather than a process of producing an evaluation report on a specific situation.

The Internet has made it possible to integrate the monitoring process with publication on the one hand, and with advocacy on the other. This overlap is what gives electronic monitoring its importance, and thus bypassing the weaknesses in its methodology by activating monitoring itself as a tool for social and political change rather than as a tool for academic production.

Electronic monitoring is a process that may be linear or non-linear, in contrast to monitoring implemented by civil society organizations featured as a linear process with a special hierarchy that begins with the implementation of monitoring, then the outputs, then publication, and sometimes the publication is followed by an advocacy campaign that takes the monitoring outputs as a basis for its activity, but the monitoring process in the electronic sense, as one of the tools of "counter transparency", is a process carried out to discover the extent of the gap in the information we have about us, and then bridge this gap by mobilizing feedback from members of our society, which in turn reflects the level of corruption caused by the absence of information and accountability.

It should be noted that the link of e-monitoring with immediate publication and open interaction makes it, in the event of an echo on the reality through the local and international media, a deterrent tool for a body being monitored, thus reducing its practices of corruption.

First: E-monitoring Project

E-monitoring project is an activity to collect and receive information about a situation, during a long or medium-term period, with the aim of finding an alternative source of information that generally reflects the level of corruption, and encourages direct public accountability and vertical accountability (monitoring and advocacy).

The E-monitoring project relies mainly on collaborative efforts (electronic volunteers, visitors add-ons of stakeholders). E-monitoring project's data and information are published on a website dedicated for the project, which is subjected only to publication standards.

Second: E-monitoring activity

E-monitoring activity is an activity often carried out by an individual to document certain piece of information that constitute an indicator of corruption with the aim of direct accountability and shed light on corruption practices through publication as a mechanism for direct accountability and as a process for mobilizing public opinion for accountability at the same time,  In contrast to the e-monitoring project, in which the monitoring activities (the process of collecting information) highlight more than its outputs (the end result), while in the e-monitoring activity the outputs are shown more than the process of the information gathering during the implementation of the e-monitoring activity.

E-monitoring Project - Case Study (1): Mazlando-An eye on the Kenyan parliament

Mazlando is a “Swahili” word means “national”. The term became the title of a “civilian coup” project in Kenya against a government imposing severe restrictions on the circulation of information.

Ori Ohalo, founder of this project, says: “The people have the right to know and have access to information, and we must encourage them toward accountability and demand transparency.”

Ohalo went through a different path, instead of asking the government to disclose information, it launched a website called "Mazlando" to start a popular campaign for monitoring the information about the performance of the people's representatives in Parliament by documenting the information leaking through the mainstream media and through direct monitoring by activists.

Ohalo describes Mazlando as an e-monitoring project on the Kenyan Parliament, by saying: “It is a website that aims to shed light on the performance of members of the Kenyan Parliament to keep voters informed of all information related to the performance of their representatives in Parliament, so that they can make sound decisions during elections away from ethnic or personal views, this is what pushes towards adopting popular accountability, bureaucracy, and the domesticated opposition, and their alliance, which constitutes the appropriate environment for the growth of corruption. Therefore, the Mazlando Project represented an initiative in the direction of organizing a collective response to express the voices of opposition to this alliance by activating popular monitoring and documentation of government performance in general and Parliament in particular." through:

•              Organizing voluntary visits to the parliament building for bloggers, writing reports and sending them to the website.

•              Allowing citizens to comment and debate in the different electoral districts and add the information to the website.

The Mazlando project is one of the inspiring projects for activists around the world, and its importance lies in opening new horizons for what individuals can do through information technology in addressing the challenges of their local communities more than of being a success in reality and has influence on decision-making, Also Since 2006, Mazlando has continued to spread the message of mobilization against corruption, lack of transparency and accountability, a message that gives every visitor to the website an opportunity to reformulate her/his relationship with her/his community, and it is a message that includes an important and vital concept that "Each one is a changemaker".

E-monitoring Project - Case Study (2): Moroccan Bloggers' Monitoring in 2009 Elections

Moroccan bloggers launched a campaign called "Bloggers Against Electoral Corruption" in line with the various stages of the local elections in Morocco that took place on June 12, 2009, exposing what they described as "Manifestations of Imbalance" that may accompany elections.

The campaign launched by the "Association of Moroccan Bloggers" relies on various means. The bloggers created a collective blog for the campaign to publish the participants' contributions, which may be reports, news or analytical materials. They also created a group "Moroccans Against Electoral Corruption" on the famous social site "Facebook", and they launched the association's channel on YouTube to collect the visual materials that were captured on some aspects of electoral corruption. Moroccan bloggers said in a statement about the campaign: "This campaign comes from a sense of the association of the importance of blogging and informing the citizen and the role he should play to strengthen popular control over political practice and consolidate the authority of the media in order to democratize political life." They stressed the need to expose corruption in all its manifestations, and besiege and expose the corrupt, by quickly following up on the hot events from the spot in audio, video and writing; and because they saw the collective elections as an important national event, this calls for the comprehensive involvement of all bloggers, the youth of the popular press, and the active participation in order to inform the public about what is happening on the day of the election, before and after it. 26 bloggers participated in the campaign, during which many manifestations of corruption were monitored, and the campaign received wide media coverage.

E-monitoring Project - Case Study (3): Tracking the Tunisian presidential plane

Entrenchment of China behind its Great Wall did not protect from the invasion of the Mongols, but we often do not learn from history, and the social contract that regulates our relationship as a people with the ruler gives us full authority to hold him accountability, even with the control of the myth of the enlightened dictator does not forfeit our right to accountability, and this is exactly what is made by a Tunisian blogger, who takes the a nickname "Astrubal", who was able to track the Tunisian presidential plane using the website airliners.net.

This site allows amateurs to collect pictures of planes in various airports, and collect information about them such as type, number, and their transfer terminals.

The tracking of the presidential plane showed that it travels permanently in capitals such as Paris, Rome and Milan, which is unusual case in light of the lack of official announcement of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's visits to these countries, as well as being known to have little travel abroad, which prompted the Tunisian blogger to make a digital video clip contains pictures of the presidential plane during its movements in European capitals.

In addition to maps from the Google Earth program that determine the transportation line of the presidential plane, to raise questions about the use of the presidential plane on the flights of the first lady in Tunisia, "Leila Ben Ali", especially since the areas frequented by the presidential plane are the capitals of shopping and fashion in the world.

This video was broadcast on the Dailymotion website (a private video network similar to YouTube), which sparked wide reactions in the mainstream media, for example, Foreign Policy magazine published an article criticizing the first lady and providing an explanation of the way by which the presidential planes of some Arab leaders can be tracked.

E-monitoring Project - Case Study (4): Corruption in the Traffic Authority

Wael Abbas via "Misr Awareness Blog" in his various dealings with corruption in Egypt, used E-monitoring technique by showing video clips he had taken that documenting manifestation of corruption, one of them was a video scene that reveals the behavior of traffic police, and document corrupt practices, which reflects the power that digital technology gives in which the mobile phone is one of its tools for activists to uncover and document corruption incidents.

The second axis: use of digital activism in media liberation

Needless to say, Internet tools have provided free platforms for expression that override the problem of the state's domination on media and the low ceiling of freedoms.

These free digital platforms constitute sources of news beyond the mainstream media, which, although they raise some reservations by some people for reasons related to the unprofessionalism of their transmitters and the consequent low-quality information, they remain an important source of information and an alternative media will, with the passage of time, enrich the public discourse rather than degrade its level.

As new media technology enables people everywhere to create information on the Internet that the mainstream media does not discover, this represents a basis for unifying ranks, organizing efforts on common issues, establishing common popular foundations for local political and social participation, and establishing common popular foundations for activating international cooperation and humanitarian partnership.

The roles that citizens can play in achieving change through information technology represents a real entrance to media liberation, through the development of a free and effective alternative media on the one hand, and adherence to political and civil rights, on the other hand. The roles played by digital activists in liberating the media can be monitored as follows:

Information Sources

It is a role that includes the dissemination of corruption's information and circulation to the local and international public domain and contributing to the flow of information about corruption issues that are absent from the mainstream media or are taken up secondarily or are dealt with for informational rather than developmental purposes. Combating corruption by providing information has taken one of two forms:

First: Alternative Sources

Alternative sources mean the use of digital tools in creating media outlets such as blogs that aim to raise the ceiling of media freedoms in addressing corruption issues by publishing what the media ignore for reasons related to restrictions on freedoms or what the mainstream media does not reach for reasons related to their limited capabilities, for example, their lack of a network of correspondents for covering all geographical regions of the country. Thus, the inability to publish prohibited media materials, or to cross the imposed red lines related to corruption and open such issues for public debate.All of this reflects the nature of the label "Alternative sources" for being providing alternatives to the prevailing sources of information such as news agencies and satellite channels, providing sources that do not pass-through censorship and political guidance, as government censorship remains confined internally. Furthermore, the circulation of media material on more than one website makes internal censorship more difficult to be achieved. The creation of alternative sources plays an important role in using human rights as an anti-corruption mechanism, such as the right to freedom of expression including freedom of receiving and disseminating information.

Second: specialized sources

Specialized sources mean the use of digital tools in creating media outlets that aim to create media specialized in corruption and its various dimensions, such as creating a blog on bribery aimed at collecting and archiving bribery news and issues in the local media or creating a blog about anti-corruption efforts such as activities and events...etc.

Knowledge sources

Knowledge source is a role that includes collecting and categorizing sources, resources, experiences, research and studies related to corruption or a specific aspect of it, such as making an anti-corruption encyclopedia that includes researches on international laws and documents, international experiences, and related civil society projects in addition to similar media information. The difference between sources of information and sources of knowledge must be understood, as knowledge includes information, experiences, and wisdom derived from information. There are two types such digital sources of knowledges are:

First: open sources of knowledge

Digital collaborative tools (such as wikis) are used to create a source of knowledge on corruption, it is open to participation by all, and often requires membership registration to participate.

Second: closed sources of knowledge

Digital collaborative tools or media tools may be used to create a knowledge source in the field of Anti-corruption through specific efforts closed on an individual or a group. The importance of knowledge sources lies in providing resources that enhance the empowerment of individuals and build the capacities of local civil society organizations in the fight against corruption.

Handling of information by the media

The information on corruption is predominantly in the form of numbers, statistics, reports, and studies and they represent important inputs for academics and the media. However, the ordinary citizen needs to embody these numbers and statistics in an understandable way, so that he is able to influence them and, in the end, believing in the mission that they present. Here, the importance of the digital role in addressing corruption information lies, by taking advantage of digital tools in a way that contributes to reformulating the societal response against corruption.

Handling information by the media is the aspect related to the marketing of information, as it includes the media role such as news, awareness role, influence, and handling information which means the way we communicate ideas or clarify information through the use of digital richness “image, color, word, symbol.” Therefore, handling of information does not mean the formulation of information in an attractive and beautiful way, but rather it means the structure and formula capable of clarification and influence, and this role includes the following:

1. Cultural production of information: Within the framework of cultural production, the use of arts to communicate information related to corruption such as “cartoons, poetry, singing, animated films…etc.” in the form of “images, videos, texts, etc.”, which summarizes information and presents the idea by utilizing the emotional side of the recipient.
2. Digital embodiment of information: It includes the use of digital technologies in the embodiment of corruption information such as "Digital Maps, Satellite imagery", and it presents corruption information as it is but in a more clear, convincing and impactful way.

Information sources (alternative sources) - a case study: The Egyptian Awareness Blog

The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) chose the Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas to grant him the Knight International Journalism Award for the year 2007, to be the first blogger to award this award throughout history. The blogger Wael Abbas published a video of the torture of an Egyptian citizen in a police station this represented the beginning of opening the file of torture in Egyptian prisons, which reflects the corruption level of the police apparatus and the abuse of power. The Egyptian Awareness Blog also received an anti-corruption website award from "Egyptians Against Corruption" for all of his writings that contributed to raising the ceiling of freedoms and revealing many issues.

http://misrdigital.blogspot.com

Information sources (specialized sources) - a case study: The Corruption Blog.

The Corruption Blog adopts, as a center of its work, to collect and publish what is covered by the mainstream media in the various Arab countries with a focus on the Kingdom of Morocco, "the blogger's homeland." It is true that there is a lack of dealing with corruption as a separate concept, but it is a good example of a specialized source of information.

http://aljil3.wordpress.com /

Knowledge Resources - Case Study: The Internet's Second-Generation Blog for Accountability

Three anti-corruption activists have launched an e-blog specializing in the use of digital media tools to enhance accountability and combat corruption. The blog includes articles by the activists themselves on the same subject and reviews international anti-corruption experiences, which they reviewed, as well as the prospects for future uses of these experiences, furthermore, the blog includes information on the workshops and conferences conducted for activating the use of digital media tools in the fight against corruption. During preparing this study, we found it difficult to search for digital information related to combating corruption, due to the recent dealing with the issue around the world.

Therefore, because it is often dealt with casually and under different headings, we found this blog a very useful blog, which gave a general perception to understand the nature of what was reached and in order to realize whether what we offer is just a translation or a new vision that adds to the previous efforts.

Moreover, the launchers of the blog are well-known international activists, and they organized a workshop within the framework of the International Anti-Corruption Conference held in Greece 2008 on the same issue, which makes this source, in addition to its specialization, a reliable and scientifically accurate source.

http://socialtransparency.wordpress.com

Media handling of information - Case Study: Property of the Royal Family in Bahrain

In the kingdoms of the third world, many still derive their authority from the concept of "divine mandate" to remain beyond the scope of accountability and responsibility. History mentions that Al-Waleed bin Abdul-Malik was asking, "Does the Caliph subject to accountability?!", wondering in a surprising way, how can the Caliph of God be held accountable? until his brother Yazid bin Abdul-Malik brought to him forty jurisprudents who testified to him that “there is no punishment nor accountability for the Caliph” to calm the Caliph’s mind!

It seems that the Bahraini citizen, Mahmoud Al-Yousifi, does not believe in the testimony of the forty jurisprudents, so he decided to ask a question that the mainstream media would not dare to ask. Despite everyone ignores the answer, his way of communicating this question was more convincing of the necessity of adopting his question, "See the attached image." This image was distributed via e-mail through Mahmoud's blog, and it is a satellite image of Manama (provided by Google Earth).

Mahmoud Al-Murabba, referred to on the sidelines of the image, explains “This is a private property belonging to the members of the ruling family,” followed by a comment on his previous phrase, “Let it be…But, don't we notice that it is equivalent to twice the area of the village of Sadad”, and then he concluded his simple, clear and remarkable narration by saying “Is this Private property purchased? To whom the payment was made?

http://mahmood.tv

Third axis: using digital activism in protecting corrupton victims

All citizens in the countries suffer from corruption are corruption victims. The public money that goes to the pockets of the corrupters instead of investment in the development projects are directly reflected in the increase in poverty level, poor education, and the low level of medical services...etc. just remember! How many times you looked for a "Mediation", how many times you had to pay a "bribe", and how many times you have complained about poor education and the catastrophic situation of public hospitals, the list is long. At the end, the victims we are. Therefore, anti-corruption mechanisms and strategies are necessarily mechanisms and strategies to protect victims of corruption.

However, our approach to protecting victims of corruption comes in the context of “organizing immediate and unified responses to support a specific individual or a group of individuals, against whom or against them some forms of corruption is practiced,” and in the context of developing social mechanisms to advocate for victims of corruption by making their voices heard and raising the value of their opinions. The digital roles in protecting victims of corruption have taken one of two forms:

Solidarity

Solidarity is an activity executed with the aim of showing support and advocate for a victim or group of victims who are exposed to corruption practices, the importance of solidarity with victims of corruption lies in being a counteraction campaign that enhances the fight against corruption mentality and reformulates the social concept of integrity values in a way that raises its value.

Lobby

Lobby is an activity executed with the aim of influencing decision-makers to bring about a change in public policies characterized by corruption. This activity involves calling the public for organized responses and positive interaction. The nature of this response and interaction varies according to the objectives of the lobby campaign and its mechanisms of action. These responses have the form of:

Participation

Participation means a specific contribution in the context of expressing solidarity such as signing a petition or participating in a specific event.

Commitment

Commitment means a continues adoption of the issue through a continuous series of relevant participations and taking a permanent and interactive role during the campaign.

The reparative line between solidarity and lobby is that the solidarity may ends with a lobby, which is often the case. As well, the solidarity process focuses its activities on showing wide support as an indirect way to influence decision makers, while the lobby does not stop at the limits of showing solidarity, and goes directly towards direct influence on decision makers.

Solidarity- case study- Jayashree

Jayashree is an Indian lady assisted her son- who was studying Computer Sciences - in designing a website calling for the solidarity with her husband against corruption, the story of Jayashree against corruption started when her husband was threatened to be killed as a result of his reveal of the corruption of some employees who were working with him in a Governmental Indian Authority. He had to move out for seven times during nine months for protecting his life and his family's life. Since moving out and escaping are the only support that the government can offer, which is not enough for Jayashree to be reassured on her family. Since the corruption is the God of Silence, the Religion of collusion, and one of its sacred principles " I don't see, I don't hear, I don't talk ", Jayashree decided not to sacrifice her husband and not to see her husband sacrifice his life for his detection of the corruption, and to join him in the fight against corruption. She established its website on "Weki Dot" which offers free spaces in the same form and mechanism of "Collaborative Encyclopedias" to talk about her issue to the world, to publish instigation messages against corruption and to show the stories of those who subjected to murder after revealing corruption. 

Jayashree said: " I decide to face corruption and mobilize the support of those people who share with me the same vision. A lot of people around the world visited her blog, she drew the attention of The US New York Times Magazine to her case, her case topped the pages of the magazine, her case drew the world's attention more, became more globalized, and gained the support of international organizations such as "Transparency International".

The coincidence that led Jayashree to take action against corruption out of fear for her family taught her that there is a lot for a one can do in the virtual world to defend the life on the Earth and she realized that we do not need to be direct victims in order to be persuaded to take action against corruption. Nowadays, Jayashree is leading an active movement to enhance the right to access to information in India.

http://jayashree.wikidot.com/start

http://fightcorruption.wikidot.com

lobby - case study: higher education students in Azerbaijan.

In higher education field in Azerbaijan, the university admission is subjected to the mediation standard and the university degrees has its black market, so everything related is possible as long as you have the money. Therefore, creating paths beyond the hegemony circle was a choice for a group of students to combat corruption, they launched a website entitled "Say No for Corruption" to become a stronghold of e-combating the university corruption.  For their voices to reach the officials, they designed an e-petition, and within weeks, thousands of signatures and enthusiastic voices for change participated enthusiastically in the petition. This unexpected momentum pushed the university corruption to the top of public opinion issues, sparked a wide societal controversy, and produced popular remedies proposed for a solution, so that corruption in the higher education became an issue outside the scope of the government’s neglect.

As an immediate response from the government, a hotline has been allocated in the Ministry of Higher Education to receive students’ complaints, and the government promised to cooperate with the organizers of the electronic campaign, and the photos posted by the website had a prominent role in the industry of public anti-corruption opinion, and created a state of public sympathy with the campaign

www.rushveteyox.de

Proposed mechanisms for digital activism in combating corruption

Globalization

Digital Activism provides an opportunity to highlight the local issues and to arise them among millions around the world, what will lead to curbing the corrupter under the weight of the widening circle of domestic and international criticism.

Direct democracy

The Internet promises a growing democracy and a reformulation of the existing political process as a whole, which is confirmed by the growing trend of countries for using digital activism tools as tools for communicating with citizens, and as a new path for the flow of information away from the traditional routes for discussing the issues and providing solutions. For example, the Swedish Tax Authority implemented a seminar via the Second Life website for its citizens, and the French government used wikis, videos and forums as channels for encouraging citizens to participate directly in decision-making. At the beginning of 2009, there were 500 American state agencies subscribing in Twitter, which reflects that the individuals' exercise of direct roles is no longer a matter of imagination, which will enhance the effectiveness of popular monitoring and evaluation of the performance of governments, not only governments but also the private sector, and thus dedicate a culture of transparency and accountability as societal values rather than administrative values that govern the administrative system of their governments.

Parallel civil society

Civil engagement no longer requires an institutional presence, and the effectiveness of civil action is no longer depends on the availability of the necessary capabilities. The virtual community has developed a new concept of activism and created parallel channels for the industry of active local f, which works to strengthen the capabilities of civil society and to expand the circle of civil movement in local communities.

Alternative mass media

The Internet has provided citizens with free mass media channels that are not subject to the theory of low ceilings, far from the hegemony of the state, and provide equal opportunities for expression opinion for various societal structures.

Digital censorship

The censorship in the digital era is no longer a task assigned to representative oversight bodies, but it extended to everyone in the society, and this is reflected by the monitoring activities carried out by digital activists, to monitor and to question directly.

Within the framework of this virtual digital system, we will try to formulate mechanisms for digital action in the fight against corruption, which constitute an initial general framework for digital action in the fight against corruption, as follows:

Measuring corruption

The existing problem in many indicators of corruption is that they do not provide a clear perception of what can be done. For example, the fact that Yemen is ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index is 141 in 2008, this number provides the reader with only one meaning that this is a “Bad ranking.” However, the extent of its negative impact reflected directly on the life of the individual and society cannot be deduced from that, nor what interventions are required to improve this arrangement? nor what are the implications if this arrangement deteriorates further? which reflects the need to measure corruption as a process that answers the following questions:

1. Where does corruption come from? and how?
2. What is the nature of the interventions required to combat corruption?

What should be noted that the term “measuring corruption” is a metaphorical term, as corruption is practically immeasurable, in addition to the fact that there are strict methodologies used in this field and reflects the indicators of corruption. “The indicator is a measure used to reflect the level of manifestation of corruption in a society." By measuring corruption, we mean the process of extracting indicators and societal assessments that reflect the societal perception of corruption by organizing and directing citizens’ feedback about their governments and/or organizing and directing feedback of specialized institutions “mass media, civil society organizations, government agencies” on the same government agencies. The importance of measuring corruption through digital activism lies in several aspects, the most important of which are:

1. Measuring corruption and its methods depend on collecting data in a closed research framework, while digital measurement of corruption is an open process that, in addition to collecting data, works to open societal discussion about corruption, propose solutions, participate in relevant movements, and create a supportive public opinion.
2. The digital measurement of corruption works to consolidate the values of good governance as societal values more than being local governance values by raising the level of the community’s confidence in itself as a tool for change; creating a kind of digital equality in expression through virtual community work; and opening channels for the flow of societal visions about planning, and the necessary government visions and its necessity, opening channels for direct accountability through digital channels, pushing towards vertical accountability, strengthening societal commitment to integrity, raising the ceiling of freedoms, consolidating democratic values in society, and enhancing the belief in the rule of law as the most important determinants of civil society.
3. The digital measurement of corruption seeks to find local indicators of corruption that are compatible with local privacy, which represent important materials for the mainstream mass media, indicators of corruption that are understandable to ordinary citizens, through clear means with results that reflect the nature of the required interventions, which in turn will create a supportive and motivating public opinion to adopt a role in combating corruption.

 In order for activists to implement interventions that answer the previous questions and contribute to measuring corruption in the local community, the following must be taken into consideration:

1. Adopting methodologies and tools for measuring corruption with the necessary adaptation to suit the nature of digital work and to maintain the quality of outputs at the same time.
2. Seeking to come up with local indicators of corruption that reflect the daily corruption practices experienced by the citizens, and realizing the nature of the necessary interventions from the point of view of the citizens themselves.
3. Broad knowledge of the mechanisms of the work of state institutions and what related to.

From this standpoint, we can focus on two methods which can be used in the digital measurement of corruption, namely:

The first method: the citizens' feedback

Previously, we discussed the citizens' feedback mechanisms provided by the digital activism tools, and the ability to act as alternative channels for the flow of information. Investing feedback information in measuring corruption should come within the framework of a special project, such as collecting citizens’ feedback from personal E-channels such as blogs and websites, sorting them according to specific goals, and placing them in an analytical context, which falls within the means of monitoring mass media as a method of measuring corruption.

This project takes the form of the monitoring project that we discussed earlier, and it relies on measuring corruption based on the output-indicator and the experience-indicator, i.e. monitoring the quality of public services from the perspective of the daily impact on the citizen on the street to come up with a general indicator of societal awareness of corruption and a clear picture of the areas of imbalance, its causes, and the type of interventions necessary for the solution, which means that the means of feedback of the citizens in measuring corruption is often not compatible with the big goals such as measuring corruption in health services at the state level, since the citizens’ feedback does not necessarily reflect the level of corruption in the health sector, but rather reflects only the participants’ level of awareness about the corruption in health services which is an important problem that must be taken into account by the digital activists when adopting the projects of monitoring within the framework of the process of measuring corruption. Therefore, the means of citizens' feedback must be used to measure corruption according to the following:

First, small goals

It is preferable to use the citizens' feedback method to measure corruption in a small geographical scope such as a city or constituency and it must be focused on a specific issue such as health services in the same geographical scope for reasons, the most important of which are:

1. Project volunteers will be able to present a realistic picture of corruption that will represent a basis for action within the community.
2. The presence of a local group that combats corruption will enhance the societal loyalty toward the individuals and will create a local elite that defends its interests, reformulate the individual's relationship with the society, and devote civic culture.
3. The possibility of influencing decision-makers in the local community to implement the recommendations that have been reached.

Second, broad goals

Using the citizens’ feedback for the broad goals, such as measuring corruption at the national level, requires strong networking and more volunteers to ensure outputs that actually represent the level of corruption as perceived by the citizens who represent the target geographical scope. It is preferable to rely on small goals, and then, media exchange networks are established between these groups on wider scales. The citizens’ feedback for big goals can be used effectively in specific cases, the most important of which:

1. The notable governmental events: such as elections, as an event that provokes a large popular movement and is time-bound, for ensuring that the enthusiasm of volunteers does not slow down.
2. Dynamic sectors: such as the higher education sector because the actors in this sector are young and enthusiastic for change and they will activate the monitoring process enthusiastically.
3. As a supportive mechanism for projects: Using the feedback to enrich a reality-based project.

Whatever the nature of the goals, within which the level of corruption is to be measured, it is necessary that the process of measuring corruption take the form of a series of monitoring activities, so that from time to another, it reflects a specific form of corruption, and works to present it through the mainstream mass media.

This gives the process of measuring corruption an initial assessment by the community which is reflected in the mass media interest and the feedback from the concerned authorities or public figures which helps those in charge of the digital measurement process to improve their performance and it is a feature that the digital environment provides for the work.

The second method: Monitoring mass media

One of the important means of monitoring and measuring corruption is monitoring media coverage, as the media publish news and investigations for informational purposes not for developmental purposes. Therefore, collecting these media materials in a specific context and analyzing them will present an integrated picture of corruption which is a good tool that serves the broad goals. We must realize the difference between monitoring mass media of corruption to create a specialized mass media source and monitoring mass media of corruption in order to extract and measure a corruption indicator. Where the first is to collect relevant mass media materials and republish them in a specific space, while the later is to collect the relevant mass media materials and publishes them in a dedicated corner, and then puts them in an analytical framework through which it benefits from the opinions of specialists and citizens so that the final result forms a picture that reflects the level of corruption, its causes, and the nature of the required intervention. This can be used to monitor the following:

1. Government programs and commitments (for example, reducing unemployment, the state's development plan).
2. Anti-corruption efforts.
3. Performance of public sector institutions such as (health, education, etc.).

The mass media is the main source for the relevant international and local reports, and its availability on the Internet will make this source subjected to re-production by the concerned citizens, and its outputs will constitute a report for the concerned authorities, relevant organizations, and the mass media. It is a linear process (open collection, assessment, production a report, taking action and accountability), thus serving as a source of information and a monitoring project at the same time.

The societal awareness of corruption

Working on developing a societal orientation toward fighting the corruption and promoting the integrity is the most effective way to combat corruption. The presence of the issue of corruption on the Internet in a strong manner and in various interactive forms will enhance the societal orientation against the corruption.

Therefore, the Internet must be invested as a communication medium to enhance the community's understanding of corruption and to broadcast the messages of change. The impact of digital tools in the development of such an approach can be understood through the theory of the two-step model on information flow which developed by the scholars, Katz and Lazardsfeld, which were used to clarify the great impact of the Internet in countries where the Internet is used only by a limited number of people, such as Ukraine, in which the Internet played a major role in the Orange Revolution (Pomarancheva Revolyutsiya), although 2% to 4% of the total population amounting 45 million people use the Internet, according to 2004 estimates. This theory assumes that information has two paths:

1. Direct path between the mass media and members of the community.
2. A path between opinion-makers associated with groups of citizens.

The societal awareness of corruption is to create a kind of societal motivation to confront corruption and creating a permanent argumentative presence about the various corruption practices, which contributes to put the fight against corruption as a priority that governs the concerns of public opinion and its political choices and to expand the circle of societal integration in the fight against corruption. Digital activism activists can rely on:

1. International Corruption Perceptions Indexes: which issued by the International Transparency Organization, WB, and Global Integrity Organization, as well as other indicators by reproducing them in popular formats capable of providing ordinary citizens with a clear and stimulating image for action.
2. Outputs of government control institutions and local civil society organizations: These outputs are often subjected to a kind of concealment or rapid media coverage at best that cause them to lose their value over time, thus, no government responses to treatment occur, which requires a digital role to highlight these outputs, promote them, consolidate the awareness of the public with its repercussions, and sparking a digital momentum toward popular accountability.
3. Relevant information: which can be gleaned from the mainstream media, the daily reality, and any other sources. There must be a constant motivation to capture any information, publish it or subject it to media handling of information to occupy a prominent space in the public mind, and for expanding the popular activity in monitoring and documenting issues of corruption.

To deepen and develop the societal anti-corruption orientation, the aforementioned information must be presented, according to the two-step flow of information theory paths, as follows:

The first path: the mass path

The mass path means to create an informational environment about corruption surrounds the citizens who use the Internet, wherever they go, in innovative and renewable ways that succeed in drawing the attention and mobilizing supporters by accessing to the various digital services that are popular to Internet users and employing such digital services to disseminate this information. As examples, we include the following:

1. Mashup Services: it is an application through which information from various sources such as Google Earth can be displayed, and images, videos, and texts can be added to certain websites that help in displaying corruption cases according to geographical locations. For example, Google Maps helps in making interactive maps in which geographical locations are linked to information from Blogs, videos, and photos.
2. Content-sharing networks: Video-sharing networks such as YouTube, or image-sharing networks such as Flickr.
3. Digital Games: Designing games based on anti-corruption ideas, concepts, and information.
4. Social media networks: Facebook, Take8 Global, MySpace, and others to create social actors in the fight against corruption by creating digital workgroups for media exchange and expanding the launch of digital initiatives concerned with fighting corruption with a purpose to attract Arab youth and motivate them to work to confront corruption.

The second path: the opinion-makers path

The opinion-makers path means to implement digital activities that constitute good inputs for mainstream media in particular; to be discussed, discussed and presented to the public; targeting intellectual and cultural elites by communicating and coordinating with them, involve them in the activities being carried out, so that contributing to enriching the general societal interaction on corruption issues, on the one hand, and exchanging information and coordinating with digital activists to implement parallel actions on the ground such as coordinating with local activist groups, on the other hand.

Digital Activity Against Corruption

The presence of intensive, active and continuous movements is the only guarantee for influencing public policies in the direction of curbing corruption practices, and activating efforts to combat the corruption through real and effective policies. Digital activists can play important roles that contribute to supporting the continuity and intensification of such movements through all the above-described tactics and mechanisms for digital activism in the fight against corruption, which represent advocacy activities that the nature of the Internet to allow its continuation, effectiveness, and sustainability, in contrast to the movements that are implemented in reality and are linked to a specific time frame.

The Internet is a protest environment, an environment of civil disobedience, and a revolutionary environment by all standards, so that, these characteristics must be exploited to motivate advocacy groups locally and internationally in implementing actions capable of influencing the general policies of the government. Various means can be used for digital mobilization against corruption such as the use of electronic messages, electronic signatures, and organizing advocacy gatherings in different countries. The goals that can be targeted by digital mobilization against corruption, to exert a specific influence, are the following:

Foreign companies:

Combating Corruption in the private sector and achieving more government transparency in business transactions and uphold the right to access to information and accountability are important goals that can be affected by digital activism more than any other means. As these companies often have interests in many countries, thus, anti-corruption activists can activate popular pressure not only in the concerned country but even in other countries. As well as, using e-mail campaigns and digital petition campaigns are important and effective means. Furthermore, coordination with activists in the countries to which these companies belong can be done to extract full information about these companies as these countries often guarantee their citizens the right to access information.

Donors

It is no secret to many that those governmental efforts in many Arab countries come in the context of donor pressures and requirements more than being a true and honest national orientation in response to popular demands. This gives the activists a real opportunity to pressure for more of these efforts and ensure their seriousness by using digital tools to organize campaigns directed at donor country officials and to organize gatherings in front of different donor bodies. Targeting donors is a politically sensitive process but it remains a confrontational option.

Relevant international organizations

International organizations concerned with combating corruption provide special channels for communicating with citizens, which can be exploited to implement popular campaigns to pressure the state to adopt more influential roles. Corruption can also be reversed in the country concerned by publishing incidents of corruption in the local community through special channels, the results of which are published in reports.