Inside Syria’s year of rule by hashtag

It took barely a year for Syria to shift from a state run through security checkpoints, intelligence reports and the ever-present fear of regime thugs, into a nation managed – almost proudly – via a “black screen” and a hashtag that rises and falls like a heart-rate monitor. In twelve months, Syrian politics has begun to resemble a live TV competition. The government announces a decision; the public votes on Facebook and X;  officials watch the numbers climb or collapse, then emerge to declare – with perfect confidence – that this was their plan all along. And if not, the public simply “misunderstood.” Cue apology. Cue new hashtag.In this new era, the “trend” has become the only authority that matters. No constitution. No parliament. No institutional process. No five-year plans.…