Featured stories about Middle East & North Africa
Stories about Middle East & North Africa
9 August 2019
UAE frees activist Osama al-Najjar after 5 years in detention
Despite serving his three-year sentence in March 2017, al-Najjar remained in arbitrary detention.
18 May 2019
Netizen Report: Amid WhatsApp attacks, advocates launch legal challenge against Israeli malware maker
Spyware makers exploit a security flaw in WhatsApp, Singapore bans false information and Somalia plans to shut down social media during school exams.
8 May 2019
Mauritanian blogger escaped the death penalty, but remains behind bars
Ould Mkhaitir was prosecuted for writing an article in which he criticised the role of religion in Mauritania’s caste system.
2 May 2019
‘Envision a new war': the Syrian Archive, corporate censorship and the struggle to preserve public history online
Social media companies are censoring images of war. The Syrian Archive is working to preserve them.
30 April 2019
Jailed Emirati activist Ahmed Mansoor's life is at risk, after six weeks on hunger strike
Mansoor was awarded the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2015. He has been jailed multiple times since 2011.
27 April 2019
Netizen Report: Saudi Arabian authorities arrest three bloggers and execute 37 prisoners, several of them protesters
Saudi Arabia's assault on free speech continues, Careem might be sharing your number with drivers, and the internet is still shutdown in Chad.
15 April 2019
Jailed UAE activist Ahmed Mansoor continues hunger strike
Mansoor is serving ten years in jail after a court convicted him of publishing false information and rumours on social media.
12 April 2019
Free by day, jailed by night: Egyptian activists speak out against conditional release
Activists, who have recently been released from prison, only enjoy freedom from 6am to 6pm.
8 April 2019
Morocco’s Hirak movement has gone quiet, but the crackdown on independent media continues
The movement triggered a backlash for independent journalists and people who wanted to document the protests and ensuing crackdown.
5 April 2019
Netizen Report: As water levels rise, Iran’s ban on messaging apps is slowing emergency relief for flood victims
Iranians ask for censorship pause in face of fatal floods, Indians suspect Facebook of election meddling and Australia tries to ban violent videos.
