World Day Against Cyber Censorship is a yearly event that happens on March 11 to rally support for a single, unrestricted Internet that is accessible to all and to draw attention to the ways that governments around the world are deterring and censoring free speech online. But companies these days[...]
Join us at 6 PM on Wednesday, February 27 for the launch of Muhal, an open database that documents online freedom of expression violations. We have collected data, including the charges, the punishment, and a description of each case, from local news articles and independent sources. By aggregating and publishing[...]
On November 20 and 21, around 200 people from over 20 countries gathered together in Beirut for 35 panels, talks, and workshops at Bread&Net, the region’s digital rights unconference. Hosted by SMEX and organized collaboratively with supporters and partners, Bread&Net created an offline space for discussion about technology and society, in[...]
Feature image via SMEX: Who controls what we see online? Who controls what we see online? SMEX screened the documentary “The Cleaners” and hosted a discussion yesterday, Sunday 18 November, before the start of regional unconference Bread&Net. “The Cleaners” sheds light on the hidden world of content moderators – thousands of[...]
Feature image via the cleaners: Who is controlling what we see… and what we think? The Web that was once created to be public, free, and open is not the same anymore. Almost everything we do online these days is controlled by private companies; whether we are sending an email (through[...]
Feature image October 26, 2017: The Great Departed playing in Zurich. On May 11, SMEX and Lebanese band Al-Rahel Al-Kabir (The Great Departed) launched a petition demanding that iTunes Middle East release a public explanation for its refusal to upload five of the band’s songs, which mock religious fundamentalism, political[...]
Feature image via SMEX,Geneva, December 19, 2017: SMEX Executive Co-Director Jessica Dheere welcomes participants to our interactive workshop on data, digital rights and law co-hosted with HURIDOCS. The relationships between digital technologies and networks, and their national and regional legal frameworks, are rapidly evolving. Poorly drafted and arbitrarily applied legislation[...]
Feature image via Lebanon IGF, Friday, December 8, 2017: Left to right: Jessica Dheere, Roula Mikhael, Dr. Charbel Chbeir, and Layal Bahnam discuss digital rights and responsibilities during the Lebanon IGF pre-launch event, “A Step Towards Achieving Sustainable Goals,” . On Friday, December 8, the multistakeholder advisory[...]
Feature image viaOxfam/The Media Booth, November 24, 2017, Beirut, Lebanon: Arab feminists discuss how to counter online violence. Is the internet providing more space for women to liberate themselves, or expanding the space for gender-based violence? To mark the international “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” campaign, Oxfam,[...]
Applications for the program are closed. SMEX is launching a new program to empower youth with the knowledge and tools needed to safely navigate the internet. “Abtal el-fada’ el-raqmi” (أبطال الفضاء الرقمي) aims to create a community of tech-savvy youth committed to using the internet for social change, and we’re[...]
