Oman

Routing the prosecution of political speech through a cybercrime law, rather than a direct censorship law, gives the government a technical-sounding cover.

ADHRB warns that Gulf states; data laws, framed as privacy reforms, are enabling widespread biometric surveillance through vague national security exemptions and weak enforcement that threaten personal freedoms.

GCHR warns new executive rules give authorities sweeping powers over licensing, content, and media suspension, reinforcing systematic repression and curbing freedom of expression.

An ADHRB report exposes how Gulf states use INTERPOL and the Arab Interior Ministers’ Council to target dissidents abroad and calls for reforms to protect free expression.

A new citizenship law that allows the authorities to use citizenship as a weapon to silence opponents and restrict opinions.

The oppressive law grants authorities unprecedented control over the media, threatening independent journalism and increasing self-censorship.

Repressive media laws in Gulf Cooperation Countries reflect concerning press freedom trends.

Security forces forcibly disperse protests and detain demonstrators protesting economic conditions in the country, as authorities restrict media reporting on the event.

With more online activists finding themselves detained for their tweets, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights calls on authorities to end their systematic campaign aimed at denying freedom of expression.

With the need to communicate and access information during the COVID-19 pandemic, rights organizations call on governments in the Gulf region to lift their ban on Voice Over IP platforms that facilitate voice and video internet calls.

Throughout Oman, freedom of speech is nonexistent as the government routinely detains activists, academics, and other critical figures for publicizing any dissent of the government.

Oman’s Internal Security Service (ISS) has started a new campaign against bloggers and Internet activists who are supporters of the Palestinian cause.

The coalition calls for the release of the writer, film critic and Internet activist Abdullah Habib who received a three-year sentence.

The new law contains several vaguely-defined articles that could easily be used by the Internal Security Service (ISS), known for its history of human rights violations, to target human rights defenders and Internet activists, and to suffocate public freedoms.