Over the past ten years, governments of the Middle East have employed digital information and communication technologies as a tool to reinforce control over their citizens. Drawing inspiration from models provided by China, Russia and Israel, Middle Eastern governments have implemented policies and strategies aimed at censorship, digital deception and mass surveillance, worsening human rights records in the region.
BY Giorgia Piovesan
Imagine a linear city that runs for more than 100 km, consisting of two parallel, 500-metre-high, linear skyscrapers, all clad in mirrored facades. No, this is not the plot of a new emblazoned sci-fi novel - even though naming it THE LINE really makes it sound like the product of subterranean fiction authorship. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has announced the construction of the ‘Smart Gigacity Project’ which will be built in Tabuk Province [1]. This self-sustainable city based on renewable energies will host nine million of the richest people on earth. Beyond the severe anticipated environmental impact which scholars have thoroughly documented [2] and the violation of human rights of the Howeitat tribe as they will be forced to relocate [3] THE LINE will not be a citizen-driven utopia, but a model of urban surveillance. NEOM is the operating system that will harvest and process data from residents on a massive scale. This includes heart rates, bank details and facial recognition data [4]. Artificial intelligence (AI) will enable the automated performance of daily tasks, while also being a tool to identify threats, trends, and opportunities for state action [5].
Digital authoritarianism
The resulting invasion of citizens’ privacy will enable Saudi Arabia’s government to further perpetuate authoritarian and illiberal practices in the digital space. A 2019 report by the Brookings Institution defines digital authoritarianism as “the use of digital information and communication technologies by authoritarian and autocratic states to monitor, manipulate, repress, and control populations” [6]. According to Freedom House’s 'Freedom on the Net' report, the Middle East is one of the worst regions in the world for digital freedoms, with none of the 12 countries surveyed ranked as totally 'free' [7]. The striking differences in terms of resources reverberate in the digital world through the unequal distribution of ownership of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and the diverse outreach of social media across the region. While reports show that Yemen has the lowest internet penetration, with less than half of the population having a mobile phone, Gulf Coast countries have 100% internet adoption, and are also early adopters of 5G technology [8]. The relative wealth and influence of the Gulf States, combined with their shared language, allow them to shape and manipulate narratives of the region favouring Saudi Arabia and the UAE [9].
The models
From the ‘Golden Shield Project’ to the Great Firewall, Sky-Net and Sharp Eyes, China has been a model for digital authoritarianism and remains the main supplier of advanced mass surveillance technologies [10]. The making of a ‘Silk Digital Road’ has further favoured the export of technologies and knowledge towards the region: Egypt, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) started to build a digital totalitarian state, with the UAE investing in sophisticated programmes such as smart cities technology and the “Police without Policemen” programme.
Although the Russian government’s surveillance system may be less developed than the Chinese one, the System of Operative-Search Measures (SORM), has been sold to telecom companies in Bahrain, Iraq, and Qatar [11]. Moreover, the Russian model provided advanced solutions designed to conduct deliberate information manipulation operations through a pseudo-reality industry of troll factories and Twitter armies.
Israel is even more niche as it focuses on the development of offensive cyber capabilities and surveillance programs to use against the Palestinian population in order to collect information [12]. The Arab regimes then draw on this sophisticated spyware industry to target domestic and international activists, journalists, and human rights defenders. Forensics analysis has revealed that a UAE government agency installed Pegasus, a spyware made by the Israeli technology company NSO Group, on the phone of Hanan Elatr, Khashoggi’s wife, months before his death [13].
Cybersecurity companies and agencies in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France are also providing advanced surveillance technology to Arab regimes: the interests of surveillance capitalism and authoritarian regimes coincide in the acquisition of large amounts of data from citizens/consumers [14].
Intimidation and Censorship
The Arab regimes are using tactics which are aimed at intimidating and silencing dissents, both domestically and abroad. For instance, the website of Human Rights Watch was blocked by Egyptian authorities just a day after the organisation released a report on systematic torture in the country’s jails [15]. Other tactics include de-platforming, intimidating and threatening political activists. Under the guise of ambiguous cybercrime and anti-terrorism laws, countries such as Gulf States, Egypt, Iran, and Jordan continue to undermine human rights and repress free speech online: individuals who use technology to advocate for political reform, or arrange unlicensed demonstrations may face prosecution based on the legal grounds provided by Decree No. 5/2012 of the United Arab Emirates [16]. Moreover, the UAE has leveraged the same national law to prosecute and imprison Jordanian nationals for criticising their home government [17].
Deception and Disinformation
The extreme pervasiveness of social media in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt (KUBE countries) has resulted in regimes’ adoption of electronic armies, AI content generator software, bots armies, fake news pages and trolls.
After China, the states responsible for the highest number of fake or bot-based accounts removed by Twitter are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt [18]. Twitter was deemed as the pivotal social platform that facilitated the 2011 uprising in the MENA countries. A few years after those events, the narrative of social media as a vector of freedom of expression has been abandoned: internet creates a new battleground for democracy where the people shield themselves from those who seek to inhibit their right to information [19].
Western liberal democracies continue to have little presence not only in their analyses but also in their responses to the post-truth moment in the Middle East: the EU prioritises foreign policy matters like countering Daesh and Iran, while the US restricts its intervention to private foreign tech companies [20].
Conclusion
In conclusion, the year 2011 saw a worsening of surveillance, censorship, and dissemination of disinformation by Middle Eastern governments. Over the past decade, the region has developed a political, legal, and technological infrastructure that allows these regimes to engage in undemocratic and authoritarian practices, adding to the global trend of reduction of free and democratic digital spaces.
References
[1] NEOM, “What is Neom”, https://www.neom.com/en-us/about
[2] Algumzi A. Risks and Challenges Associated with NEOM Project in Saudi Arabia: A Marketing Perspective. Journal of Risk and Financial Management. 2022; 15(9):381. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15090381
[3] Kovachich Leonid, Kolesnikov Andrei, “Digital Authoritarianism With Russian Characteristics?” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 21, 2021 https://carnegiemoscow.org/2021/04/21/digital-authoritarianism-with-russian-characteristics-pub-84346
[4] Azadeh Akbari, “Authoritarian Smart City: A Research Agenda,” Surveillance & Society, Vol. 20 No. 4 (2022) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0214-0635
[5] Al-Hathlol, Lina, “Dictators in Egypt and Saudi Arabia love smart cities projects — here’s why,” accessnow (March 17, 2023) https://www.accessnow.org/smart-cities-projects/
[6] Polyakova, Alina and Meserole, Chris, “Exporting digital authoritarianism: The Russian and Chinese models,” Foreign Policy at BROOKINGS, (August 2019).
[7] Shahbaz, Funk, Friedrich, Vesteinsson, Baker, Grothe, Masinsin, Vepa, Weal eds. Freedom on the Net 2022, Freedom House, 2022, freedomonthenet.org
[8] Kemp, Simon, “#Digital2021 report for Yemen,” Hootsuite and We Are Social, 12, February, 2021 https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-yemen
[9] Jones, Marc Owen “How Israel uses disinformation to delegitimise the Palestinian cause,” Middle East Eye, May 21, 2021, https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/node/213421
[10] Xiao Qiang, “Chinese Digital Authoritarianism and Its Global Impact,” Project on Middle East Political Science, POMEPS STUDIES 43, August 2021 https://pomeps.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/POMEPS_Studies_43_Draft3-1.pdf
[11] Kovachich Leonid, Kolesnikov Andrei, “Digital Authoritarianism With Russian Characteristics?” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, April 21, 2021 https://carnegiemoscow.org/2021/04/21/digital-authoritarianism-with-russian-characteristics-pub-84346
[12] Priest Dana, “A UAE agency put Pegasus spyware on phone of Jamal Khashoggi’s wife months before his murder, new forensics show,” The Washington Post, 21, December 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2021/hanan-elatr-phone-pegasus/
[13] Shtaya, Mona “Nowhere to hide: The impact of Israel's digital surveillance regime on the Palestinians”, MEI@75, April 27, 2022, https://www.mei.edu/publications/nowhere-hide-impact-israels-digital-surveillance-regime-palestinians
[14] Hintz, Arne and Stefania Milan. “Authoritarian Practices in the Digital Age| “Through a Glass, Darkly”: Everyday Acts of Authoritarianism in the Liberal West.” International Journal of Communication 12 (2017), https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/115132/1/8537-33919-1-PB.pdf
[15] Aljazeera, “Egypt blocks Human Rights Watch website,” September 8, 2017, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/9/8/egypt-blocks-human-rights-watch-website
[16] O'Toole, Megan, “Digital authoritarianism: The rise of electronic armies in the Middle East”, Middle East Eye, 29 September 2022, https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/middle-east-digital-authoritarianism-electronic-armies-rise
[17] Shaheed Ahmed and Greenacre Benjamin “Binary Threat: How Governments’ Cyber Laws and Practice Undermine Human Rights in the MENA Region” POMEPS, Studies 43: Digital Activism and Authoritarian Adaptation in the Middle East, August 2021, https://pomeps.org/the-web-insecurity-of-mena-civil-society-and-media
[18] Jones, Marc Owen, “Marc Owen Jones, Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Deception, Disinformation and Social Media (New Texts Out Now),” BETA, 13, December 2022, https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/
[19] Jones, Marc Owen, “Tracking Adversaries and First Responding to Disinfo Ops: The Evolution of Deception and Manipulation Tactics on Gulf Twitter”, Project on Middle East Political Science, POMEPS STUDIES 43, August 2021 https://pomeps.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/POMEPS_Studies_43_Draft3-1.pdf
[20] Lyinch, James “IRON NET: DIGITAL REPRESSION IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA”, European Council on Foreign Relations Policy Brief, June 2022,https://ecfr.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Iron-net-Digital-repression-in-the-Middle-East-and-North-Africa.pdf
