Saudi Arabia

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Spotlight: International Saudi Arabia Digital Rights Censorship

How should companies like Netflix respond when repressive governments order the removal of critical content?

5 January 2019
Freedom House

Netflix's decision to comply with a censorship request from Saudi Arabia has renewed an ongoing debate about how international companies should respond to politically motivated censorship demands when operating in repressive countries.

Saudi Arabia Free Expression & the Law

Prominent rights defender Dr. Mohammad Al-Qahtani placed in solitary confinement

GCHR is concerned for the health of Dr. Al-Qahtani in solitary confinement. He is serving a 10-year sentence for his peaceful human rights activities.

‎ Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)‎23 December 2018

Saudi Arabia Attacks Free Expression & the Law

Report: Detained women activists in Saudi Arabia tortured

"While the world is seeking answers to the savage murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the fate of women and human rights activists in Saudi prisons continues to hang in the balance."

‎ Human Rights Watch (HRW)‎30 November 2018

Saudi Arabia Digital Rights Free Expression & the Law Gender

Reformist talk, repressive action: Stop the assault on Saudi women activists, online and off

Israa Al-Ghomgham stands to become the first woman in Saudi Arabia to face capital punishment for human rights activism - one 'first' that has received scant media attention.

‎ Sarah Al-Otaibi for IFEX ‎26 November 2018

Latest from Saudi Arabia

Hackers posing as journalists target dissident Saudi reporter Ali Al-Ahmed

‎ Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

Saudi Arabia Attacks Digital Rights 10 November 2018
Hearing of woman rights defender Israa Al-Ghomgham, who faces execution, postponed

‎ Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Saudi Arabia Free Expression & the Law Freedom of Assembly 31 October 2018
AFEX calls on UN to take action against Saudi Arabia for brutal murder of Khashoggi

‎ African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX)

International Impunity Saudi Arabia Attacks 30 October 2018
RSF unveils portraits of journalists arbitrarily detained in Saudi Arabia

‎ Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

Saudi Arabia Digital Rights Free Expression & the Law 28 October 2018
Arrested in Saudi Arabia, and then disappeared: Yemeni writer Marwan Almuraisy

‎ Global Voices Advox

Saudi Arabia Attacks Free Expression & the Law 26 October 2018
The path(s) to justice in Jamal Khashoggi's murder

‎ Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

Saudi Arabia Turkey United States Attacks 25 October 2018
Turkey urged to seek UN inquiry on Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi

‎ Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Impunity Saudi Arabia Turkey Attacks 20 October 2018
Saudi attorney general says Jamal Khashoggi was killed during fight in consulate

‎ Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

Saudi Arabia Turkey Attacks 20 October 2018
Jamal Khashoggi is not the first Saudi journalist to disappear

‎ Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

Saudi Arabia Turkey Attacks Digital Rights 11 October 2018
Dissident Saudi journalist not seen since entering Istanbul consulate

‎ Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

Saudi Arabia Turkey Free Expression & the Law 4 October 2018
'New' Saudi Arabia ushers in even more repressive climate for journalists

‎ Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

Saudi Arabia Free Expression & the Law 27 September 2018
Saudi airstrike hits Yemeni radio station

‎ Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

Attacks Saudi Arabia Yemen 20 September 2018
Saudi Arabia must implement UPR recommendations protecting free expression

‎ Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)

Saudi Arabia 10 September 2018
Saudi security forces arrest two more women human rights defenders

‎ Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Saudi Arabia Gender 2 August 2018
Waleed Abulkhair: A lawyer vs the Saudi establishment

‎ IFEX

Saudi Arabia Free Expression & the Law 17 July 2018
Raif Badawi: A fearless and principled writer and activist

‎ IFEX

Saudi Arabia Digital Rights Censorship 17 July 2018
Women's rights defender Hatoon Al-Fassi arrested the week after driving ban lifted

‎ Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Saudi Arabia Free Expression & the Law Gender 30 June 2018
Crackdown on Saudi women human rights defenders sets off alarms

‎ Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Saudi Arabia Free Expression & the Law Gender 7 June 2018
Saudi Arabia arrests 10 activists for their work promoting women's rights

‎ Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)

Saudi Arabia Free Expression & the Law Gender 24 May 2018
Saudi Arabia sees dramatic increase in detention without trial

‎ Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Saudi Arabia Free Expression & the Law 7 May 2018
Saudi Arabia: UN Human Rights Council member blatantly violates human rights on a daily basis

‎ Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Saudi Arabia Censorship Gender 2 March 2018
At least 15 journalists held arbitrarily in Saudi crackdown

‎ Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

Saudi Arabia Digital Rights Free Expression & the Law 10 February 2018
Saudi activist Naima Al-Matrood sentenced to six years in prison

‎ Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Saudi Arabia Digital Rights 19 November 2017
Saudi human rights defenders brought to trial for protesting violations

‎ Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Saudi Arabia Digital Rights Free Expression & the Law 14 September 2017
Saudi Arabia: 14 protesters facing execution after unfair trials

‎ Human Rights Watch

Saudi Arabia Free Expression & the Law 7 June 2017
Saudi Arabia's counterterrorism apparatus targets rights activists

‎ Human Rights Watch

Saudi Arabia Free Expression & the Law 29 May 2017

At a glance

Saudi Arabia

Most covered free expression issues in this country

More from Saudi Arabia

Freedom on the Net 2017: Saudi Arabia

A court increased an activist’s prison sentence for advocating for human rights online from 9 to 11 years on appeal

Freedom House 16 November 2017
Freedom of the Press 2017: Saudi Arabia

The Saudi government continued to shape media coverage of its war in Yemen, cracking down on critical local reporting and restricting access to Yemen by foreign journalists.

Freedom House 28 April 2017
Roads to Reform: The Enduring Work of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights

In this report, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) examines the contributions of ACPRA within the larger context of the movement for civil and political reform in Saudi Arabia.

Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain 1 March 2017

Take Action!

Tell UN that Sri Lanka's government must investigate wartime killings

Rights groups are asking the public to endorse their call to the UN to pressure on Sri Lanka's government to investigate the many unresolved killings of journalists during the Sri Lankan war.