Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
use words like ''breast,'' if only in a medical context. Access attempts to banned
sites are logged by the state, which understandably encourages widespread self-
censorship.
Many Arab states follow the Saudi model to different degrees. In 2006, Bahrain
and Jordan blocked access to Google Earth and Skype, respectively, citing national
security concerns. In Syria, the government blocks access to Kurdish-language
news websites overseas and any domain ending in ''.il,'' i.e., Israel. In Tunisia, the
government forbids access to services such as Hotmail and human rights websites;
in addition, every ISP must submit a monthly list of subscribers to the state
censorship agency. In 2002, a Tunisian court sentenced cyber-activist Zohair Ben
Said al Yehiawy to 2 years in jail for criticizing the judiciary and corrupt police
practices (
www.hrinfo.net/en/reports/net2004/tunis.shtml
)
. Tunisia's suppression
of freedom of speech led Reporters without Borders to criticize the United
Nations' 2005 World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis as a joke. In
Iraq under the regime of Saddam Hussein, internet access was strictly limited
(Ghattas
2002
). In 1997, the Iraq government newspaper al-Jamhuriyya
denounced the internet as ''an American means to enter every house in the world''
(Anderson
1997
).
The growth of a new generation of tech-savvy Arabs—in contrast to their
frequently illiterate elders—may well portend significant changes in the future as
they rise to positions of prominence and influence within the state and the private
sector. As Kalathil and Boas (
2003
, p. 116) note, ''the current generation of Saudi
youth (which is large and growing rapidly) is better educated, more literate, and
more aware of the outside world than ever before and is likely to want increased
access to information on the Internet.'' Arab use of Facebook and Youtube was
widely evident during the Arab Spring of 2010, which brought down the gov-
ernments of Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, although it is simplistic to attribute these
revolts solely to the diffusion of digital technologies.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is often heralded as the internet star of the
Middle East, with relatively a high penetration rate and a government eager to
diversify the economy. However, here too censorship is the norm. All telecom-
munications passes through the government monopoly, Etisalat, which operates
the country's only ISP. Filtering of internet content at cybercafes blocks sites that
are blacklisted by the state, although leased lines in businesses and homes are
exempt. The UAE Minister of Transportation, Ahmed Hameed Al-Taier, claimed
that his government's filtering system ''was the main reason behind the spread of
the internet in the country. Many people allowed access to the internet inside their
homes upon the condition that there be some sort of censorship to protect their
families from websites offensive to their morality'' (Arabic Network for Human
Rights Information
2004
).
Some Arab countries, such as Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon, are relatively lenient
with regards to internet regulation. Typically such states are oriented toward the
West and at least grudgingly accept the need for democratic access to the internet,
such as in Jordan (Cunningham
2002
). Morocco is often included in this category,
although it assiduously blocks access to web sites promoting independence for the
