Stories about Middle East & North Africa
29 March 2019
#WelcomeHomeAlaa: Egyptian revolution activist Alaa Abd El Fattah released after five years in prison
Alaa was a leading voice among Egyptian bloggers and technology activists in Cairo approaching and during the Egyptian Revolution.
26 March 2019
Two years after completing his sentence, Emirati activist Osama al-Najjar remains in detention
Al-Najjar was arrested over tweets calling for the release of prisoners of conscience in the Emirates.
19 March 2019
Activists speak out against Iraq's cybercrime bill
The bill prescribes lengthy prisons sentences, including life imprisonment, for speech-related offences.
14 March 2019
Scheduled release of Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah delayed by 10 days
The #FreeAlaa campaign reassured supporters that the delay is not a cause for concern for now.
4 March 2019
Photojournalist Mahmoud ‘Shawkan’ Abu Zeid walks free, after more than five years in prison
Shawkan, who was working for Demotix at the time of his arrest, spent almost four years in pre-trial detention.
1 March 2019
Netizen Report: Two of Egypt’s leading digital activists await their release from prison, after years behind bars
Alaa and Shawkan are still waiting to get out, Algeria's internet is faltering, and Nepal has a new IT bill.
25 February 2019
How Saudi leaders are using religion to consolidate power and silence critical voices
''Oppression is a comprehensive system, and [in our country] it is enabled by religion.''
18 February 2019
EU proposal pushes tech companies to tackle ‘terrorist content’ with AI, despite implications for war crimes evidence
AI tools can assess whether a video is violent or graphic. But can they determine the video’s intended purpose?
12 February 2019
Iranian environmentalists fear death penalty after a year behind bars
Public prosecutors built much of their case against the group from a forced confession made by one of the activists.
31 December 2018
Censored in 2018: Protest videos, court verdicts, real news — and Peppa Pig
From blocked websites to revoked media licenses to account shutdowns, censorship comes in many forms. Here are a few we saw in 2018.
