The Battle for Tunisia's Future: Protecting the Minds of its Youth
As Tunisia grapples with its growth, competitiveness, and sovereignty, another, more discreet but equally crucial battle is being waged on the screens. The battle for attention, the formation of minds, and the control of imaginations.
Between dependence on platforms, the economy of clicks, and the decline of reading, the impact of social media on Tunisian youth raises a central question: that of human capital, its protection, and its ability to think about the future.
The Silent Enemy: Algorithms
What is happening in our country today is of a different order. Deeper, more silent, more devastating. A underground battle where the enemy has no face or flag, but a formidable power of engineering: that of algorithms.
We are witnessing, powerless or distracted, a systematic reprogramming of collective consciousness. A youth whose desires are shaped before they even discover themselves. Generations are being swallowed up every day by fluid, rapid, and voracious content that devours time, attention, and what's left of our long-term thinking. According to recent studies, Tunisians now spend an average of 61 hours per month on Facebook, compared to just 5 hours and 16 minutes devoted to reading.
The True Danger: The Architecture of Futility
The true danger is not futility itself, but its architecture. The content is dangerous, and the machine that produces it is even more so.
A global, cold, and efficient machine, born from the economy of attention and behavioral engineering, has become, in just a few years, the most powerful tool of influence in modern history.
In this economy of clicks, humans are no longer citizens, students, or dreamers... They become units of time sold to the highest bidder. Their eyes are a currency, their emotions are fuel, and their fragility is a rent.
Uncontrolled Flow, Decorative Media
Meanwhile, the majority of young Tunisians consume content from foreign platforms every day, without real control, without structured regulation, and without solid safeguards. Their attention is fragmented into micro-sequences, captured by the continuous flow of notifications.
Their cultural horizon is shrinking: the overwhelming majority of the most consumed content is instant entertainment, self-promotion, and viral reproduction, while thought, art, and knowledge remain marginal in dominant uses.
We are not losing a digital battle. We are losing the battle of meaning!
The Role of Media and Education
The role of the media should have been to erect a bulwark. They have chosen to be decorative. Hollow programs, ghostly debates, ephemeral content that evaporates in five seconds.
As for schools, they no longer transmit immunity, but vulnerability: no digital hygiene, no understanding of algorithmic logic, and no cognitive defense against the toxicity of the flow.
The state is moving at a pace that borders on renunciation. No policy to protect minors, no content observatory, and no strategy linking education, media, and research.
We are leaving our youth at the mercy of mental control multinationals, and we are transforming into mesmerized spectators. But this battle is not lost.
Protecting the Minds of our Youth
Like China, Tunisia can rise again if it finally accepts declaring a state of emergency for knowledge and consciousness, according to researcher Imed Aouissaoui. If it dares to build a national strategy from kindergarten to digital platforms.
If it creates a Tunisian algorithm observatory, an educational reform that forms the mind rather than filling it, a true local content ecosystem capable of replacing the starization of emptiness.
We need an intelligent law that protects, measures cognitive health like blood pressure. We need to understand that sovereignty is not lost only on borders, but in notifications.
The true peril is not inflation, poverty, or deficit. The true peril is that we become a people who think in someone else's place. A future fabricated for us, without us.
If we do not protect the minds of our youth today, there will be no homeland, no identity, no sovereignty, and no future tomorrow. The time for comfort is over. The time for battle is now, and it's slipping away!
