Set them free

摘要

"COULD Beirut become the Silicon Valley of the Middle East?" So asked a Lebanese news website in 2015. With an educated population, relatively liberal culture and large banking system, Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, seemed well-placed to become a hub for internet startups in the region. But there was at least one glaring problem. "Let's face it-the internet in Lebanon [is] abysmally bad!" wrote Tony Fa-dell, the Lebanese-American co-creator of the iPod, in November. Due to government mismanagement, the country has some of the slowest download speeds in the world.