THE IMPACT OF INTERNET USE ON SAUDIS IN TERM OF TRUST IN THE POLICE AND ARMY

Abstract

The Egyptian police played a major role in fighting the protesters during the Egyptian Spring. In contrast, the Egyptian army played a major role in maintaining stability during the revolution (Frisch, 2013). The current study takes those facts into account and examines the impact of the internet on Saudis in terms of trusting the Saudi police and the Saudi army as well as the impact of the political news through the internet in terms of trusting the police and the army. This study relies on a 2011 survey by Arab Barometer of a representative sample of 1,404 Saudis, during the Arab Spring movement. The results of this study found that the internet had no impact on the trust that Saudi Arabian citizens have in their police and army. In contrast, the political news through the internet had a negative impact on the trust that Saudi Arabian citizens placed in their police and army.