Social Media Exchange (SMEX)

Global content platforms operating in authoritarian countries throughout the region should prioritize free expression over financial profits.

Reintroduced legislation would give authorities the right to monitor and prosecute citizens for their social media posts and suppress free expression, reports Social Media Exchange (SMEX).

Parent company Alphabet rejects a civil society-backed shareholder proposal calling on Google to uphold human rights principles.

Amidst the ongoing pursuit for accountability for the 2020 Beirut Port explosion, rights groups stress the need for an independent judiciary and an independent media delivering accurate information on judicial proceedings.

Abdel Fattah has been held in pre-trial detention for the past two years and continues to face dehumanizing conditions in prison.

A wave of arrests during the country’s COVID-19 health crisis has seen journalists, doctors, and social media users falsely accused of disseminating misinformation about the pandemic, reports SMEX.

A new report from SMEX examines the vague legal framework of device seizures in Lebanon that security agencies have exploited to target protesters in violation of their privacy rights.

On the 10th anniversary of the Arab Spring, activists, journalists, and rights organizations voice frustration and dismay at how platform policies and content moderation procedures all too often lead to the silencing and erasure of critical voices from marginalized and oppressed communities across the region.