At the beginning of the '90s, Tunisia became the first Arab and African country to connect to the Internet. Ben Ali’s regime invested heavily in new technologies, working on two fronts. On the one hand, it adopted policies aimed at promoting technological development. On the other hand, it enforced a rigid and articulated system of control. Nevertheless, by the end of the '90s, the first signs of politicization of the Net started emerging.
The story of the SfaxOnline helps us to gain a deeper knowledge of the use of the Internet for political contestation in pre-revolutionary Tunisia.