VISUAL ACTIVITY The Internet In 1958, in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik, President Eisenhower created the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), which produced a system that routed digitized messages between computers to facilitate military communications. The technology spread beyond the military; by 2000, even the poorest countries had some access to what became the Internet. By 2011, Internet-enabled “smart phones” were abundant. Activists used digital networks to organize protests and broadcast their stories and images during the Arab Spring of 2011. © Ron Haviv/VII/Corbis READING THE IMAGE: What forms of technology do you see among these Egyptian protesters? What are some pros and cons of using these technologies for political activism? CONNECTIONS: How did the Obama administration respond to the Arab Spring revolutions?