ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Wael Ghonim - Internet activist and computer engineer
Wael Ghonim believes that the Internet can be the most powerful platform for connecting humanity, if we can bring civility and thoughtful conversations back to it.

Why you should listen

Wael Ghonim is a computer engineer, an Internet activist, and a social entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Parlio, a new media platform for public conversations that rewards civility, which has been acquired by Quora. Wael is a senior fellow at Ash Center for Democratic Governance at Harvard University.

Wael spent 6 years at Google during which he used to head up Marketing and Product in the MENA region responsible of driving the growth of Google's products across the region and evangelizing the use of the Internet and growing the Arabic content in the region.

In 2011, Wael was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was named one of Time 100's most influential and received JFK Profile in Courage Award. Coined the "keyboard freedom fighter," he used the power of the internet and social media to fight for social justice, democracy and human rights in Egypt.

He is the founder of "Tahrir Academy", a nonprofit online knowledge sharing platform for Arab youth. Wael received his Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering from Cairo University and earned an MBA from the American University in Cairo.

More profile about the speaker
Wael Ghonim | Speaker | TED.com
TED2011

Wael Ghonim: Inside the Egyptian revolution

Wael Ghonim: Dentro da revolução egípcia

Filmed:
1,115,757 views

Wael Ghonim é o executivo da Google que ajudou a acender a revolução democrática do Egito... com uma página no Facebook em memória de uma vítima da violência do regime. Discursando no TEDxCairo, ele conta a história por trás dos últimos dois meses, quando todos os dias os egípcios mostravam que "o poder das pessoas é maior que as pessoas no poder".
- Internet activist and computer engineer
Wael Ghonim believes that the Internet can be the most powerful platform for connecting humanity, if we can bring civility and thoughtful conversations back to it. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
This is Revolution 2.0.
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Essa é a revolução 2.0.
00:18
No one was a hero. No one was a hero.
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Ninguém foi um herói. Ninguém foi um herói.
00:21
Because everyone was a hero.
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Porque todo mundo foi herói.
00:25
Everyone has done something.
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Todo mundo fez alguma coisa.
00:28
We all use Wikipedia.
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Todos nós usamos a Wikipedia.
00:30
If you think of the concept of Wikipedia
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Se você pensar sobre o conceito da Wikipedia
00:32
where everyone is collaborating on content,
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em que todos estão colaborando no conteúdo,
00:35
and at the end of the day
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e no fim do dia
00:37
you've built the largest encyclopedia in the world.
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você construiu a maior enciclopédia do mundo.
00:41
From just an idea that sounded crazy,
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A partir de apenas uma ideia que parecia maluca,
00:43
you have the largest encyclopedia in the world.
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você tem a maior enciclopédia do mundo.
00:46
And in the Egyptian revolution,
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E na revolução egípcia,
00:48
the Revolution 2.0,
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a revolução 2.0,
00:50
everyone has contributed something,
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todo mundo contribuiu com alguma coisa –
00:52
small or big. They contributed something --
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pequena ou grande, eles contribuiram com alguma coisa –
00:55
to bring us
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para nos trazer
00:57
one of the most inspiring stories
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uma das histórias mais inspiradoras
01:00
in the history of mankind
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da história da humanidade
01:02
when it comes to revolutions.
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em termos de revolução.
01:04
It was actually really inspiring
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Foi realmente inspirador
01:06
to see all these Egyptians completely changing.
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ver todos os egípcios mudando completamente.
01:09
If you look at the scene,
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Se você visse a cena,
01:11
Egypt, for 30 years, had been in a downhill --
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Egito, por 30 anos, esteve ladeira abaixo –
01:14
going into a downhill.
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descendo uma ladeira.
01:16
Everything was going bad.
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Tudo estava mal.
01:18
Everything was going wrong.
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Tudo estava indo errado.
01:21
We only ranked high when it comes to poverty,
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Nós só ganhávamos quando se tratava de pobreza,
01:24
corruption,
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corrupção,
01:26
lack of freedom of speech,
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falta de liberdade de expressão,
01:28
lack of political activism.
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falta de ativismo político.
01:30
Those were the achievements
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Essas foram as conquistas
01:32
of our great regime.
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de nosso grande regime.
01:36
Yet, nothing was happening.
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No entanto, nada estava acontecendo.
01:38
And it's not because people were happy
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E não é porque as pessoas estavam felizes
01:40
or people were not frustrated.
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ou porque não estavam frustradas.
01:43
In fact, people were extremely frustrated.
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Na verdade, as pessoas estavam extremamente frustradas.
01:45
But the reason why everyone was silent
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Mas razão pela qual todo mundo estava quieto
01:48
is what I call the psychological barrier of fear.
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é o que chamo de barreira psicológica do medo.
01:52
Everyone was scared.
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Todo mundo estava amedontrado.
01:54
Not everyone. There were actually a few brave Egyptians
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Nem todos. Na verdade tinham alguns egípcios corajosos
01:56
that I have to thank for being so brave --
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a quem eu preciso agradecer por terem sido tão corajosos –
01:59
going into protests as a couple of hundred,
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indo a protestos em duzentas pessoas,
02:02
getting beaten up and arrested.
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sendo espancados e presos.
02:05
But in fact, the majority were scared.
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Mas na verdade, a maioria estava amedontrada.
02:08
Everyone did not want really
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Ninguém queria realmente
02:10
to get in trouble.
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entrar em encrenca.
02:12
A dictator cannot live without the force.
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Um ditador não pode viver sem a força.
02:15
They want to make people live in fear.
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Eles querem fazer as pessoas viver com medo.
02:18
And that psychological barrier of fear
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E essa barreira psicológica de medo
02:21
had worked for so many years,
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funcionou por muitos anos,
02:24
and here comes the Internet,
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e aqui entra a Internet,
02:26
technology, BlackBerry, SMS.
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a tecnologia, BlackBerry, SMS.
02:29
It's helping all of us to connect.
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Isso está nos ajudando a nos conectar.
02:32
Platforms like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook
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Plataformas como YouTube, Twitter, Facebook
02:36
were helping us a lot
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nos ajudaram bastante,
02:38
because it basically gave us the impression that, "Wow, I'm not alone.
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porque isso basicamente nos deu a impressão de "Opa, não estou sozinho.
02:41
There are a lot of people who are frustrated."
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Há muita gente que está frustrada."
02:43
There are lots of people who are frustrated.
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Há muitas pessoas que estão frustradas.
02:45
There are lots of people who actually share the same dream.
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Há muitas pessoas que realmente compartilham o mesmo sonho.
02:48
There are lots of people who care about their freedom.
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Há muita gente que se importa com sua liberdade.
02:51
They probably have the best life in the world.
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Elas provavelmente têm a melhor vida no mundo.
02:53
They are living in happiness. They are living in their villas.
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Elas estão vivendo com alegria. Elas estão vivendo nas suas vilas.
02:56
They are happy. They don't have problems.
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Elas são felizes, elas não têm problemas.
02:58
But they are still feeling the pain of the Egyptian.
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Mas elas ainda estão sentindo a dor dos egípcios.
03:02
A lot of us, we're not really happy
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Muitos de nós, não estamos realmente felizes
03:04
when we see a video of an Egyptian man
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quando vemos um vídeo de um egípcio
03:06
who's eating the trash
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que está comendo lixo
03:08
while others are stealing
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enquanto outros estão roubando
03:10
billions of Egyptian pounds
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bilhões de libras egípcias
03:12
from the wealth of the country.
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da riqueza do país.
03:14
The Internet has played a great role,
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A Internet executou um grande papel,
03:16
helping these people to speak up their minds,
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ajudando essas pessoas a expressar suas mentes,
03:19
to collaborate together, to start thinking together.
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a colaborar juntos, a começar a pensar juntos.
03:22
It was an educational campaign.
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Isso foi uma campanha educacional.
03:25
Khaled Saeed was killed
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Khaled Saeed foi morto
03:27
in June 2010.
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em junho de 2010.
03:30
I still remember the photo.
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Eu ainda me lembro da foto.
03:32
I still remember every single detail of that photo.
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Eu ainda me lembro de cada detalhe daquela foto.
03:35
The photo was horrible.
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A foto era horrível.
03:38
He was tortured,
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Ele foi torturado,
03:40
brutally tortured to death.
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brutalmente torturado até a morte.
03:42
But then what was the answer of the regime?
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Mas então qual foi a resposta do regime?
03:45
"He choked on a pile of hash" --
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Ele se sufocou com um ensopado.
03:48
that was their answer:
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Essa foi sua resposta:
03:50
"He's a criminal.
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"Ele é um criminoso.
03:52
He's someone who escaped from all these bad things."
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Ele é alguém que fugiu de todas essas coisas ruins."
03:54
But people did not relate to this.
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Mas as pessoas não pensaram assim.
03:56
People did not believe this.
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As pessoas não acreditaram nisso.
03:58
Because of the Internet, the truth prevailed
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Por causa da Internet, a verdade prevaleceu
04:01
and everyone knew the truth.
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e todo mundo soube a verdade.
04:03
And everyone started to think that "this guy could be my brother."
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E todo mundo começou a pensar que "esse rapaz podia ser meu irmão."
04:06
He was a middle-class guy.
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Ele era um rapaz de classe média.
04:08
His photo was remembered by all of us.
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Sua foto foi lembrada por todos nós.
04:11
A page was created.
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Uma página foi criada.
04:13
An anonymous administrator
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Um administrador anônimo
04:15
was basically inviting people to join the page,
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estava basicamente convidando pessoas a se juntar na página,
04:18
and there was no plan.
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e não havia plano algum.
04:20
"What are we going to do?" "I don't know."
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"O que vamos fazer?" "Eu não sei."
04:22
In a few days, tens of thousands of people there --
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Em poucos dias, havia dezenas de milhares de pessoas –
04:25
angry Egyptians
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egípcios raivosos
04:27
who were asking the ministry of interior affairs,
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que estavam questionando o Ministério do Interior:
04:30
"Enough.
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"Basta.
04:32
Get those who killed this guy.
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Peguem aqueles que mataram esse rapaz
04:35
To just bring them to justice."
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para trazê-los à justiça."
04:37
But of course, they don't listen.
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Mas claro, eles não escutaram.
04:39
It was an amazing story --
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Era uma história impressionante –
04:41
how everyone started feeling the ownership.
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como cada um começou a sentir a propriedade.
04:44
Everyone was an owner in this page.
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Cada um era dono dessa página.
04:46
People started contributing ideas.
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As pessoas começaram a contribuir ideias.
04:48
In fact, one of the most ridiculous ideas
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Na verdade, uma das ideias mais ridículas
04:51
was, "Hey, let's have a silent stand.
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era, ei, vamos fazer um protesto de silêncio.
04:53
Let's get people to go in the street,
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Vamos fazer as pessoas irem às ruas,
04:56
face the sea, their back to the street,
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encarar o mar, de costas parar as ruas,
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dressed in black, standing up silently for one hour,
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vestidos de preto, de pé silenciosamente por uma hora,
05:02
doing nothing and then just leaving,
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sem fazer nada e depois indo embora,
05:04
going back home."
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de volta para casa.
05:06
For some people, that was like, "Wow, silent stand.
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Para algumas pessoas, era como: "Uau, protesto de silêncio.
05:09
And next time it's going to be vibration."
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E na próxima vez vai ser de vibração."
05:11
People were making fun of the idea.
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As pessoas faziam graça da ideia.
05:14
But actually when people went to the street --
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Mas na verdade quando as pessoas foram às ruas –
05:16
the first time it was thousands of people
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a primeira vez que foram milhares de pessoas
05:18
in Alexandria --
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em Alexandria –
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it felt like -- it was amazing. It was great
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isso parecia – era maravilhoso. Era ótimo.
05:23
because it connected people from the virtual world,
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Porque isso conectou as pessoas do mundo virtual,
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bringing them to the real world,
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trazendo-as para o mundo real,
05:27
sharing the same dream,
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compartilhando o mesmo sonho,
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the same frustration, the same anger,
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a mesma frustração, a mesma raiva,
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the same desire for freedom.
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o mesmo desejo por liberdade.
05:34
And they were doing this thing.
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E elas estavam fazendo essa coisa.
05:36
But did the regime learn anything? Not really.
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Mas o regime aprendeu alguma coisa? Na verdade não.
05:38
They were actually attacking them.
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Eles as estavam atacando.
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They were actually abusing them,
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Eles estavam abusando delas,
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despite the fact of how peaceful these guys were --
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apesar da pacificidade dessas pessoas –
05:44
they were not even protesting.
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elas não estavam nem mesmo protestando.
05:46
And things had developed
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E as coisas se desenvolveram
05:49
until the Tunisian revolution.
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até a revolução da Tunísia.
05:52
This whole page was, again,
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Essa página inteira foi, novamente,
05:54
managed by the people.
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gerenciada pelas pessoas.
05:56
In fact, the anonymous admin job
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Na verdade, o trabalho do administrador anônimo
05:59
was to collect ideas,
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era coletar ideias,
06:01
help people to vote on them
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ajudar as pessoas a votar nelas
06:03
and actually tell them what they are doing.
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e contar a elas o que elas estavam fazendo.
06:05
People were taking shots and photos;
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As pessoas estavam fazendo videos e fotos.
06:07
people were reporting violations of human rights in Egypt;
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As pessoas estavam divulgando as violações dos Direitos Humanos no Egito.
06:10
people were suggesting ideas,
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As pessoas estavam sugerindo ideias,
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they were actually voting on ideas,
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elas estavam realmente votando nas ideias,
06:14
and then they were executing the ideas; people were creating videos.
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e depois elas estavam executando as ideias, as pessoas estavam fazendo vídeos.
06:17
Everything was done by the people to the people,
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Tudo era realizado pelas pessoas para as pessoas,
06:19
and that's the power of the Internet.
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e esse é o poder da Internet.
06:21
There was no leader.
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Não havia líder.
06:23
The leader was everyone on that page.
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O líder era todo mundo naquela página.
06:26
The Tunisian experiment, as Amir was saying,
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O experimento da Tunísia, como Amir estava dizendo,
06:28
inspired all of us, showed us that there is a way.
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inspirou a todos nós, nos mostraram que havia um caminho.
06:30
Yes we can. We can do it.
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Sim, nós podemos. Nós podemos fazer isso.
06:32
We have the same problems;
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Nós temos os mesmos problemas,
06:34
we can just go in the streets.
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nós podemos ir às ruas.
06:36
And when I saw the street on the 25th,
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E quando eu vi as ruas no dia 25,
06:38
I went back and said,
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eu voltei e disse,
06:40
"Egypt before the 25th
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"O Egito antes do dia 25
06:42
is never going to be Egypt after the 25th.
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jamais será o Egito de depois do dia 25.
06:44
The revolution is happening.
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A revolução está acontecendo.
06:46
This is not the end,
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Isso não é o fim,
06:48
this is the beginning of the end."
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isso é o começo do fim."
06:52
I was detained on the 27th night.
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Eu fui detido na noite do dia 27.
06:56
Thank God I announced the locations and everything.
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Graças a Deus eu anunciei os locais e tudo mais.
06:59
But they detained me.
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Mas eles me deteram.
07:01
And I'm not going to talk about my experience, because this is not about me.
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E não vou falar sobre minha experiência, porque isso não é sobre mim.
07:04
I was detained for 12 days,
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Eu fui detido por 12 dias,
07:06
blindfolded, handcuffed.
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vendado, algemado.
07:09
And I did not really hear anything. I did not know anything.
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E eu não escutei nada, eu não sabia de nada.
07:12
I was not allowed to speak with anyone.
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Eu não tinha permissão de falar com ninguém.
07:14
And I went out.
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E eu saí.
07:16
The next day I was in Tahrir.
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No dia seguinte eu estava em Tahrir.
07:18
Seriously, with the amount of change I had noticed in this square,
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Falando sério, com a quantidade de mudanças que eu percebi nessa praça,
07:21
I thought it was 12 years.
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eu pensei que fossem 12 anos.
07:24
I never had in my mind
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Em minha mente eu nunca tinha
07:26
to see this Egyptian,
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visto esses egípcios,
07:28
the amazing Egyptian.
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os egípcios incríveis.
07:30
The fear is no longer fear.
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O medo não era mais medo.
07:32
It's actually strength -- it's power.
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Isso era força – era poder.
07:34
People were so empowered.
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As pessoas estavam tão poderoas.
07:36
It was amazing how everyone was so empowered
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Era incrível como todo mundo estava poderoso
07:38
and now asking for their rights.
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e agora demandava seus direitos.
07:40
Completely opposite.
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Completamente o oposto.
07:42
Extremism became tolerance.
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O extremismo se tornou tolerância.
07:45
Who would [have] imagined before the 25th,
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Quem poderia imaginar isso antes do dia 25,
07:47
if I tell you that hundreds of thousands of Christians are going to pray
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se eu dissesse a vocês que centenas de milhares de cristãos vão orar
07:50
and tens of thousands of Muslims are going to protect them,
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e dezenas de milhares de muçulmanos vão protegê-los,
07:53
and then hundreds of thousands of Muslims are going to pray
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e então centenas de milhares de muçulmanos vão orar
07:55
and tens of thousands of Christians are going to protect them --
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e dezenas de milhares de cristãos vão protegê-los –
07:57
this is amazing.
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isso é incrível.
07:59
All the stereotypes
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Todos os estereótipos
08:01
that the regime was trying to put on us
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que o regime estava tentando nos impor
08:04
through their so-called propaganda, or mainstream media,
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através da sua chamada propaganda, ou mídia dominante,
08:07
are proven wrong.
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foram comprovados errados.
08:09
This whole revolution showed us
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Essa revolução inteira nos mostrou
08:11
how ugly such a regime was
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como o regime era feio
08:14
and how great and amazing
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e como é grande e incrível
08:16
the Egyptian man, the Egyptian woman,
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o homem egípcio, a mulher egípcia,
08:19
how simple and amazing these people are
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como essas pessoas eram simples e incríveis
08:21
whenever they have a dream.
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sempre que elas têm um sonho.
08:23
When I saw that,
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Quando eu vi isso,
08:25
I went back and I wrote on Facebook.
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eu voltei e escrevi no Facebook.
08:28
And that was a personal belief,
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E isso era uma crença pessoal,
08:30
regardless of what's going on,
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não importa o que acontecesse,
08:32
regardless of the details.
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não importa os detalhes.
08:34
I said that, "We are going to win.
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Eu disse que "Nós vamos vencer.
08:36
We are going to win because we don't understand politics.
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Nós vamos vencer porque não compreendemos políticos.
08:39
We're going to win because we don't play their dirty games.
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Nós vamos vencer porque não jogamos seus jogos sujos.
08:43
We're going to win because we don't have an agenda.
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Nós vamos vencer porque nós não temos um compromisso.
08:46
We're going to win because the tears that come from our eyes
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Nós vamos vencer porque as lágrimas que vêm de nossos olhos
08:49
actually come from our hearts.
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na verdade vêm de nossos corações.
08:52
We're going to win because we have dreams.
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Nós vamos vencer porque nós temos sonhos.
08:55
We're going to win because we are willing to stand up for our dreams."
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Nós vamos vencer porque nós queremos defender nossos sonhos."
08:59
And that's actually what happened. We won.
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E isso foi o que realmente aconteceu. Nós vencemos.
09:02
And that's not because of anything,
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E isso não foi por causa de nada,
09:04
but because we believed in our dream.
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mas porque nós acreditamos em nosso sonho.
09:06
The winning here is not
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A vitória aqui não são
09:08
the whole details of what's going to happen in the political scene.
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todos os detalhes do que vai acontecer no cenário político.
09:11
The winning is the winning of the dignity
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A vitória é a vitória da dignidade
09:13
of every single Egyptian.
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de cada egípcio.
09:16
Actually, I had this taxi driver telling me,
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Na verdade, um motorista de táxi me disse:
09:19
"Listen, I am breathing freedom.
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"Escute, eu estou respirando liberdade.
09:22
I feel that I have dignity
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Eu sinto que tenho a dignidade
09:24
that I have lost for so many years."
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que eu perdi por tantos anos."
09:26
For me that's winning,
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Para mim isso é vitória,
09:28
regardless of all the details.
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não importam os detalhes.
09:30
My last word to you is a statement I believe in,
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Minha última palavra a vocês é uma declaração que acredito,
09:33
which Egyptians have proven to be true,
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que os egípcios provaram ser verdadeira,
09:36
that the power of the people
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que o poder das pessoas
09:38
is much stronger than the people in power.
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é muito mais forte que as pessoas no poder.
09:40
Thanks a lot.
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Muito obrigado.
09:42
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Wael Ghonim - Internet activist and computer engineer
Wael Ghonim believes that the Internet can be the most powerful platform for connecting humanity, if we can bring civility and thoughtful conversations back to it.

Why you should listen

Wael Ghonim is a computer engineer, an Internet activist, and a social entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Parlio, a new media platform for public conversations that rewards civility, which has been acquired by Quora. Wael is a senior fellow at Ash Center for Democratic Governance at Harvard University.

Wael spent 6 years at Google during which he used to head up Marketing and Product in the MENA region responsible of driving the growth of Google's products across the region and evangelizing the use of the Internet and growing the Arabic content in the region.

In 2011, Wael was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was named one of Time 100's most influential and received JFK Profile in Courage Award. Coined the "keyboard freedom fighter," he used the power of the internet and social media to fight for social justice, democracy and human rights in Egypt.

He is the founder of "Tahrir Academy", a nonprofit online knowledge sharing platform for Arab youth. Wael received his Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering from Cairo University and earned an MBA from the American University in Cairo.

More profile about the speaker
Wael Ghonim | Speaker | TED.com

Data provided by TED.

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