Social Media Exchange (SMEX)

Articles by Social Media Exchange (SMEX)

Objectionable speech: New report on the state of online free expression in Lebanon

In a new report analysing online freedom of expression in Lebanon, Social Media Exchange (SMEX) highlight the various authorities and factors that continue to restrict free expression.

A Lebanese woman tries to connect to the internet without success at a cafe in Beirut, 5 July 2012, JOSEPH EID/AFP/GettyImages

SMEX launches Muhal, its freedom of expression-related case online database

Muhal is SMEX’s ongoing, evidence-based campaign to document detentions and arrests related to online freedom of speech in Lebanon.

A school boy looks at a burning barricade during a shutdown demonstration in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, 14 January 2019, after the president announced a more than a 100% hike in fuel prices, ZINYANGE AUNTONY/AFP/Getty Images

#KeepitOn: Joint letter on keeping the internet open and secure in Zimbabwe

More than 170 organizations from over 60 countries that make up the #KeepitOn Coalition reacted to a reported internet shutdown in Zimbabwe.

A Syrian man and his family who have found refuge in Bloomfield Township, MI, speak to their daughter in Turkey using WhatsApp video chat, 29 January 2017, Fabrizio Costantini for the "Washington Post"

Will Syria follow in the UAE’s footsteps and censor VoIP services?

The Syrian Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) announced that it may soon begin blocking voice and video calls on WhatsApp and other Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

An Iraqi youth stretches his eye as a US soldier scans his iris using a biometrics digital system camera in Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, 5 May 2008, MAURICIO LIMA/AFP/Getty Images

A snapshot of digital rights coverage in the MENA region

SMEX interviewed 15 MENA journalists and civil society researchers to discuss challenges and opportunities of covering digital rights.

A young woman checks her smartphone as people pass by on a busy street in the old part of the city of Tehran, Iran, 21 April 2017, Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images

ZooPark: New spyware campaign targets Android users in the Middle East

A cyber espionage campaign active since at least June 2015 is stealing private data from Android mobile devices in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Iran.

Protest in front of the Medicine Syndicate in Cairo, Egypt, in solidarity with 22-year-old student and political prisoner Ahmed el-Khatib, 30 March 2017 , Ibrahim Ezzat/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Life after sentencing for MENA’s political detainees

In December, MENA activists focused on the plight of political detainees serving lengthy and unjust sentences in obscurity.

Houthi fighters pose in front of a damaged building on a street where Houthis have recently clashed with forces loyal to slain Yemeni former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanaa, 6 December 2017, REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Why Yemen’s internet shutdowns are so dangerous to civilians

Blocking of news sites and internet shutdowns follow renewed attacks on journalists.