Picture of jailed Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil Suleiman by Flickr user 3arabawy
The Middle East is seldom associated with robust protection of freedom of expression and press freedom. Indeed, many nations in the region score near the bottom on the Media Independence and Freedom of Expression metric in the Freedom House Countries at the Crossroads report. Print and broadcast media have long been closely watched and tightly controlled by governments in the region. Alarmingly, the repression of digital media is now an accelerating trend in the region, as states attempt to exercise control over modern means of content distribution, such as satellite television and the internet.
One key area in the move to restrict digital content is satellite television. Authoritarian regimes in the Middle East have recently taken bold steps to suppress criticism beamed into homes across the region from over 500 sources, recently adopting a common plan to penalize individual satellite television providers that exert “negative influence on social peace and national unity and public order and decency.” According to the agreement, signatories will be permitted to withdraw operating permits, confiscate equipment, and close offices of media companies that violate the new charter. The move was overwhelmingly adopted by a council of information ministers from 22 Arab states, with only Lebanon and Qatar – home to the popular Al-Jazeera network – dissenting. The Committee to Protect Journalists immediately issued a statement condemning the restriction of satellite content, blasting Arab governments for their attempts to “rob viewers of the already small amount of broadcast freedom they have enjoyed on private television.” In response to the controversial measure, the Toronto-based International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) mobilized a coalition of 34 Arab human rights organizations to protest against the satellite broadcasting regulations, highlighting the threat to the reporting of corruption and repression posed by the agreement.
Middle Eastern countries also have stepped up their efforts to restrict the flow of information through cyberspace. Internet filtering has long been in the censorship toolkit of repressive Middle East regimes, though the campaign to limit Web access has intensified as the technology becomes more widespread in the region. However, the Middle East is the world’s fastest growing region in terms of Internet usage, which is posing challenges to authorities’ ability to restrain free expression in cyberspace, notes the Initiative for an Open Arab Internet in its report, “Implacable Adversaries: Arab Governments and the Internet.” However, as Human rights Watch observes, Internet censorship in the Middle East continues to advance unabated, with no shortage of arrests and imprisonment of violators in the news. Reporters Sans Frontières, the Paris-based press watchdog, identifies five Middle East states among its thirteen “Enemies of the Internet” – Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Tunisia. Even corporations have joined the movement against Internet censorship, with giants like Google – perhaps chastened by criticism of their cooperation with the Chinese government - pushing back against authoritarian regimes, particularly in Asia and the Middle East. Regardless of international pressure, many Middle Eastern states continue to act with increasing impunity in attempting to exercise control over the Internet.
One of the most important specific fronts in the battle over the internet is the blogosphere. With blog-hosting services proliferating throughout the world, this has become a critical tool to escape the dictates of official censors. In addition, the visceral nature of blog prose often provides a sense of immediacy that adds to the medium’s power. Unsurprisingly, governments have taken a harsh line against dissident bloggers. One of the first cases to draw attention was that of Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil (see picture above), who was sentenced in February 2007 to four years in prison for his railings against his conservative university. This and other violations inspired a revealing two part series (one, two) about the dynamism of the Egyptian blog movement (note that each part contains a wealth of further links). Activists are drawing also drawing attention to the issue. Just last month a protest occurred outside the Saudi embassy in Washington, DC in solidarity with a blogger arrested for criticizing the Saudi government. For some of the most in-depth analysis of Middle Eastern blogging and the Arab media in general, see Marc Lynch’s Abu Aardvark blog, which has a specific Arab media category. In a separate piece, Lynch provides a lengthy exposition of where blogging fits into dissent and reform strategies in the Middle East, while in a Middle East Report article he describes the use of blogging by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Unfortunately, several weeks ago the head of the MB’s online operations was arrested by Egyptian security forces.
Finally, despite the emphasis on digital media in this post, it is critical to note that repression against traditional journalists continues undiminished. Newspapers and other outlets in the Middle East are subjected to a welter of regulations that are enforced inconsistently and arbitrarily. Just so far in 2008 there have been numerous examples of government abuse in countries covered by Countries at the Crossroads.
- In Algeria, a journalist’s prison sentence for defamation was recently confirmed; in addition, the government has taken more direct control over printing presses that were already state-owned.
- Egypt shut down four foreign newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, for reprinting cartoons.
- Iran freed two arrested journalists on bail, but sentenced two others to prison terms. The government also shut down a feminist magazine as well as a Kurdish weekly publication.
- A Tunisian journalist sentenced to a year in prison in December appears to be in ill health following a hunger strike, while the government has refused to issue a passport to the Committee to Protect Journalists’ local representative.
- Article 19 notes that the Yemeni government seems to have stepped up attacks on freedom of expression within the country.
