Global social media users have passed the 3 billion mark in April, according to a Hootsuite report. It means about 45 percent of the world’s population uses the internet to surf social media, with over 200 million new active users for the first time since April 2018.
In Libya, the number of people spending time on social media is hiking, too.
Hootsuite, a social media management platform, revealed that 4.5 million Libyans use social media regularly in January 2019, with an increase of 18 percent, or 700,000 people, compared to January 2018. This figure represents about 69 percent of the country’s total population.
It added that about 4.3 billion people in Libya access social media via mobile phones, representing about 66 percent of total population.
Libya has seen great openness on social networks in the aftermath of 2011 following the removal of political restrictions that were imposed under the Qaddafi regime.
Libyans rely heavily on social media, especially Facebook, to follow news and developments in the country, and almost every government or private entity has a social media account to announce its updates and activities.
However, in many parts of the world, social media is playing a major role in encouraging violence, stigmatizing target groups, or recruiting militants.
