From the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s attempt to criminalize online speech to its development of advanced facial recognition technology, we ask, are critical views able to be expressed in the kingdom during its current internal power struggle? In this month’s roundup of the latest digital rights-related news from the[...]
Despite criticism from free expression and digital rights groups, such as IFEX and AccessNow, the Iraqi government appears increasingly reliant on blocking access to the internet as a tactic to deal with social, political, and security concerns. There have been 25 shutdowns since the beginning of 2017, including[...]
The Facebook page “Where is the state? (وينية الدولة؟),” which has over 250,000 likes, regularly posts high-quality videos or pictures documenting alleged crimes in Lebanon, garnering hundreds of thousands of views. While Facebook suspended the page on Tuesday, September 26, because it posted personally identifiable information about two individuals,[...]
The SMEX Fellowship for Reporting on Digital Freedoms is a three-month stipend-supported fellowship based in Beirut, Lebanon. The program is designed to encourage, facilitate, and disseminate research on digital rights in Lebanon, with the goal of advancing evidence-based public debates. Two fellows will be selected to investigate a topic of[...]
Feature image via Smex.org: Participants, partners and organizers of the 2016 Middle East and Adjoining Countries School on Internet Governance in Beirut. While the Internet has long been recognized as a space for learning, self-expression, innovation, commerce, and sharing, it’s less understood as a political and contested space, where stakeholders[...]
Feature image via U.S army: Iraqi school students, Basra University. SPOTLIGHT ON INTERNET SHUTDOWNS In early June, Algeria’s Baccalaureate exams were leaked, prompting authorities to temporarily shut down mobile internet access. As a result, the Ministry of Education ordered a retake of some of the exams. During the retake, the[...]
Feature image via literalis.net: Podcasting” by Nicolas Solop CC BY 2.0. SMEX is pleased to announce the launch of its Arabic-language digital rights podcast series under the name of “Net-Wasel” or نِت-وَاصِل which means “to be connected through the Internet”. It will be presented by the blogger and digital media trainer[...]
Feature image: Leaked email from an Iraqi ISP alerting recipients of an impending Internet shutdown on May 16, 2016. Iraq is shutting down its Internet again, but this time not for security reasons. A leaked email that originated from an Iraqi Internet service provider (ISP) and was shared with[...]
We are excited to announce that SMEX is now a full member IFEX, the International Freedom of Expression Exchange. The exchange, founded in 1992, is a network of 104 organizations from around the world connected by a shared commitment to to defend and promote freedom of expression as a fundamental[...]
Fetaure image via Marcie Casas, CC by 2.0 Digital Citizen is a biweekly review of news, policy, and research on human rights and technology in the Arab World. Subscribe here! BAHRAIN The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with 40 human rights and press freedom groups, has called on Bahraini authorities to[...]
