The international reactions to the Tunisian revolution were generally supportive of the Tunisian people's right to protest, though several governments continued to voice support for President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali up to and even after his government's largely peaceful overthrow in January 2011.
The International Federation for Human Rights, which is headed by Tunisian journalist Souhayr Belhassen, condemned "the use of firearms by the Tunisian security forces, and calls for an independent inquiry to cast light on these events, to hold those responsible accountable and to guarantee the right to peaceful protest."[28]
The Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb voiced support for the demonstrators against both the Tunisian and Algerian governments in a video released on 13 January 2011. AQIM leader Abu Musab Abdul Wadud offered military aid and training to the demonstrators. He also called on them to overthrow "the corrupt, criminal and tyrannical" regime and for "retaliation" against the Tunisian government. His statement was denounced by Tunisian members of parliament, journalists, students, and residents.[29][30]
The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt commented on the events in Tunisia in relation to that of Egypt: "Muslim Brotherhood has asserted that the group believes immediate reform is necessary if Egypt is not to follow suit in Tunisia's historical uprising witnessed worldwide."[31]
On 2 January the hacktivist group Anonymous announced 'Operation Tunisia' in solidarity with the protests by targeting a number of Tunisian state-run websites[32][33] with Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. In a statement Anonymous announced:
The Tunisian government wants to control the present with falsehoods and misinformation in order to impose the future by keeping the truth hidden from its citizens. We will not remain silent while this happens. Anonymous has heard the claim for freedom of the Tunisian people. Anonymous is willing to help the Tunisian people in this fight against oppression.[34]
Within 24 hours of the announcement, multiple Tunisian governmental websites were made unavailable, including: Bourse de Tunis (the Tunisian national stock exchange), Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Industry, Tunisian Government Commerce, The Carthage Palace (home to the President), presidential election commission and a government website that is a portal for various ministries.[35][36]