One Year Since the October 17 Uprising in Lebanon: Summons and Arrests for Online Speech It’s been one year since the October 17 uprising in Lebanon, which was ignited over the imposition of a “WhatsApp tax.” During this time, Lebanon witnessed an increase in summons and arrests resulting from online[...]
Governments in various Arab countries are increasingly investing in financial and human resources to control internet content and the free flow of information. They exercise systematic censorship of information by targeting different aspects of communications technologies. By contrast, several civil society organizations and activists in the Arab region are countering[...]
Over the past couple of weeks, state agencies, international organizations, and local initiatives have launched applications to track housing damage, provide food assistance, and offer health services in the wake of the Beirut explosion. These are incredibly important initiatives, but they should also take the necessary steps to protect users’[...]
As the Covid-19 virus continues to spread across the world, governments are adopting surveillance measures to track patients, raising privacy concerns. Lebanon, like many other countries, has launched digital tools to help diagnose and monitor the spread of the outbreak. The tools launched by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health[...]
With the spread of COVID-19, many firms, organizations, and universities have adopted work from home policies and more people than ever are using online conferencing tools. Zoom, one of the platforms that has gained the most popularity recently, has a number of privacy issues, including monitoring computer activity and collecting[...]
With more countries announcing a state of emergency in response to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, organizations have begun adopting “work from home” policies. The number of organizations taking this approach will likely increase going forward and users and organizations must pay attention to their digital safety while working from[...]
SMEX recently conducted research to assess the transparency of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Lebanon. Upon gathering information regarding licensed service providers in Lebanon through the Ministry of Telecommunication, we found that there are 114 licensed ISPs in the country: 39 ISPs have websites4 ISPs have a privacy policy on[...]
The National Council for Women (NCW) has demanded that Google ceases the broadcast and promotion of the Salmonella song – which was released by Tameem Youness on YouTube on the first day of 2020. The NCW based its demand on the Anti-Cyber and Information Technology Crimes law, according to the[...]
After security forces detained an estimated 300 people last night and security forces and militias attacked protestors both yesterday and today, we want to provide tips on how to safely and securely document human rights violations during demonstrations. Documentation of violations contributes to the protection of victims’ rights and enables[...]
In December 2017, the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications, headed by Minister Jamal Jarrah, started taking steps to mandate biometric registration of prepaid SIM cards, allegedly for security reasons. The proposal to register SIM cards with biometric data was announced without providing a policy assessment to the public, or conducting a[...]
