Abstract Several laws regulate and influence reporting on crime in the United Arab Emirates, a country in which journalism functions within a Loyalist Press environment. These include elements in the 1980 press law and the recently updated penal code and cybercrimes laws. This legislation can secure the confidentiality of police …
Read More »Trump, Twitter, and Regulation of Big Tech: Perspectives from the Arab World
The suspension of the Twitter account of former U.S. president Donald Trump after violating the platform’s publishing policies brought forth significant controversy and aroused many questions about the right to freedom of expression and its boundaries, not only in the United States, but across the globe. In the Arab region, …
Read More »Rami Khouri on Lebanon’s Outlook and What Has Happened to the Country’s Media
On October 17, 2019, protests began in Lebanon with angry and largely disenfranchised citizens calling for a complete overhaul of the country’s unique political system. In the year that has followed, Lebanon has suffered through one disaster after another, with seemingly unending political shifting. On October 22, 2020, former Prime …
Read More »Analyzing Journalist Perceptions of Democracy and State Corruption: The Case of Iraq
Abstract The aim of this paper is to explore Iraqi journalists' perceptions of state corruption and democracy in order to deepen the understanding of the journalist’s role in democratic participation. Survey interviews were conducted ona sample of Iraqi journalists, using the theory of participatory democracy to design the instrument. The …
Read More »Al-Jazeera’s relationship with Qatar before and after Arab Spring: Effective public diplomacy or blatant propaganda?
Abstract Since its foundation in 1996 until the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011, the Qatar-based and funded channel, Al-Jazeera, was considered by many media and politics scholars as a major element of a “pan-Arab public diplomacy” and even a “virtual state.” The main reasons behind Al-Jazeera’s success as an effective …
Read More »Combating Hate Speech and Youth Radicalization
On December 30, the UK's Security Minister Ben Wallace harshly criticized tech giants like Google, Facebook, and YouTube for not doing enough to combat "terrorism online". He called on them to remove online content that could lead to radicalization. "2018 is a time to deliver. We know they can do …
Read More »Libya’s UN-Installed Government Cracks Down on Media as Opposition Protests Rage
July 30, 2016—Angry protestors marched in Martyrs’ Square yesterday, defying government measures to ban such gatherings. Outraged by the passivity of the new UN-installed government, protestors denounced al-Sarraj and demanded that he leave office.
Read More »Imprisoned Egyptian Photojournalist Receives Award
July 19, 2016—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) awarded one of its four 2016 International Press Freedom Awards to freelance photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid “Shawkan” yesterday. The other recipients are journalists from India, Turkey, and El Salvador who have also faced “threats, legal action, and imprisonment” in the course of their work.
Read More »Court Rejects Motion to Suspend Egyptian Novelist’s Prison Sentence
July 16, 2016—A local court denied the request for a stay of execution for novelist Ahmed Naji today. Naji is currently serving a two-year prison sentence.
Read More »Lebanese Talk Show Host Arrested After ONTV Contract Terminated
June 27, 2016—Lebanese broadcast journalist and TV host Liliane Daoud was arrested today, mere hours after she ended her contract with Egyptian television channel ONTV.
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