Relax, Protesting Against an Internet Law Will not Hurt our Currency

So get this: Some officials are actually getting in touch with us asking us to change the name of the protest against the Lebanese Internet Regulation Act (L.I.R.A), because our movement’s name can potentially harm our national currency, the Lira.

I understand volatility in financial and currency markets. I know how rumors can sometimes cause havoc to stock prices, and I’ve seen the “herd mentality” at work many times. But this doesn’t make these official requests any less laughable.

What kind of currency’s reputation is so tenuous that an online protest about a completely unrelated matter can hurt it? Which currency trader will have his calculations altered by a tweet? Actually, the acronym works because it creates a dissonance with people who initially think we are protesting against the currency but then find out the real truth.

#StopLIRA is always well contextualized as a protest against the proposed internet regulation law, and there’s no way in heaven for someone to think that this is a protest against the currency. Besides, it’s not like there’s any pressure on the Lebanese Lira. Our banks are so awash with liquidity these days that they’re trying hard to find ways to spend the cash.

The people making these requests are not threatening or fear-mongering, and I’m sure they’re genuinely well intentioned and concerned. But they are wrong. They are guided by the same primal emotions that cause many Lebanese to avoid uttering words like “cancer” out loud: Emotions like superstition and fear of the unknown, two emotions that have no place in the world of the Internet.