Lina Ben Mhenni (1983–2020), Tunisian activist blogger who helped inspire Arab Spring

Lina Ben Mhenni  was a Tunisian internet activist who maintained the blog “A Tunisian Girl,” where she documented a revolt against an oppressive regime and police violence. The images and articles Ben Mhenni shared helped drive the Tunisian Revolution of 2010–2011 and the Arab Spring that it jumpstarted. Ben Mhenni used her blog, as well as social media, to post photos of people who had been injured and killed by the police, as well as reporting news of a man who set himself on fire to protest police harassment as the revolution began. Her posts broke through the government media blackout, spreading information that enraged and inspired fellow Tunisians to demand an end to human rights abuses. Ben Mhenni’s reporting was also used by journalists abroad to gain information on the revolution.