Middle East: A bad month for media freedom

15 Oct 10 | Egypt

It’s not going well for maverick, boundary-pushing journalists this month.

In Morocco edgy magazine Nichane closed its doors, with the publisher claiming it was the victim of an advertising boycott ordered by the royal palace.

In Syria, a young female blogger who was mysteriously arrested 10 months ago, has officially been accused of being a spy for an unnamed foreign power. It remains unclear whether Tal al-Mallohi’s arrest or the espionage accusation has anything to do with her blogging activity.

Several journalists are facing jail time in Turkey, and the murder of a prominent journalist three years ago remains unresolved with no convictions.

Finally in Egypt Al-Dostour newspaper publisher Ibrahim Eissa, Egypt’s best and most provocative political columnist, was abruptly pushed out of his job and potentially blackballed.

There are two national Egyptian elections on the horizon — parliamentary next month and a crucial presidential vote next year. The authorities seem to be tightening the screws in preparation. The latest sign: new restrictions on SMS text messaging, which is frequently used as a mobilisation tool by activists. Independent newspaper Al Masry Al Youm (disclosure, I work for its English language edition) speculated that the new restrictions would,

hinder the logistical capabilities of Egypt’s political opposition, which has come to depend on SMS messaging to mobilise supporters for public protests and demonstrations.

A government spokesman’s priceless response? “We are not making life difficult. We are making life organized, that is all.”

The very next day, the exact same telecommunications regulatory agency struck again. This time it moved to establish firmer control over all live television news broadcasts from Egypt.

In Saudi Arabia, the religious police have ominously started training on how to monitor Facebook, Twitter and other digital forms of social media. The Saudis, along with fellow Gulf monarchy the United Arab Emirates, continue to block the Blackberry messaging service.

Syria: 19 year-old blogger accused of espionage

06 Oct 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost

A teenage blogger who has been detained for nine months has been accused of spying for the American Embassy in Egypt. Tal al Mallohi, who is currently being held in Duma women’s prison near Damascus, was arrested by Syrian Intelligence Services in December 2009, in connection with a street attack on security services. She is accused of providing information that led to the incident. Mallohi has been denied access to a lawyer, and has had her computer and other personal possessions confiscated from her parents’ house. Her family have not been allowed to contact her. She is expected to appear in court in the next few days.

Syria: Human rights activist jailed for three years

25 Jun 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost

Lawyer and human rights activist Muhannad al-Hassani was sentenced to three years in prison by the Damascus Criminal Court on Wednesday 23 June. Having publicly called for the immediate release of political prisoners and condemned their unfair trials, al-Hassani was convicted of “weakening national sentiment” and “conveying within Syria false news that could debilitate the morale of the nation”. In May 2010, al-Hassani was the winner of the prestigious Martin Ennals Award in recognition of his human rights work. An appeal is being considered.

Microsoft Bing filters gay and lesbian search terms

17 Mar 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized

A recent report by the OpenNet Initiative has revealed that search terms in both Arabic and English relating to homosexuality are censored in some Middle Eastern countries. The study showed that the level of censorship on Microsoft’s Bing ranged from ‘substantial’ to ‘pervasive’ and ‘selective’ in Algeria, Syria, Jordan and United Arab Emirates. Other sexually explicit search terms were also found to be censored.