Challenges of Digital Activism in : The case of Raif Badawi

Taghreed Alshehri Abstract Newcastle University The digital world is not as a universally free space as Newcastle upon Tyne, UK we might think. For instance, expressing one’s beliefs [email protected] and calling for of religions might not only be deemed as disturbing cultures, status quo, politics and religions, but also considered as a criminal offence. Thus, in this paper, I argue that the role of digital civics researchers and practitioners is more challenging as they do not only have to design and build technical solutions for activism but also to ensure activists safety when applying these solutions.

Author Keywords Digital activism, social justice, freedom, social media, digitalcivics

ACM Classification Keywords Paste the appropriate copyright/license statement here. ACM now K.4.1 Public Policy Issues supports three different publication options: • ACM copyright: ACM holds the copyright on the work. This is the historical approach. Introduction • License: The author(s) retain copyright, but ACM receives an exclusive publication license. • Open Access: The author(s) wish to pay for the work to be open In the past few years, more citizens have opted for the access. The additional fee must be paid to ACM. online platforms where they can be active members in This text field is large enough to hold the appropriate release statement changing their cultures and communities. Activists, in assuming it is single-spaced in Verdana 7 point font. Please do not change the size of this text box. particular, have made use of the digital world to Each submission will be assigned a unique DOI string to be included here. practice their activism online, in order to have their voices heard and to reach a wider range of audience. Although this “online activism” might have been

successful in some contexts, it is not in others. The majority includes close family members to the activist digital world is not as a universally free space as we such as his father “Muhammed Badawi” who has might think. For instance, expressing one’s beliefs and appeared on social media accusing his son and his son calling for freedom of religions might not only be deemed as disturbing cultures, status quo, politics and in law “Raif’s lawyer” Waleed Abu Elkhair of being religions, but also considered as a criminal offence [8]. atheists. Thus he requested the court to divorce his In the light of this, I would like to discuss a case in daughter “” from her husband, and that Saudi Arabia which represents a series of challenges resulted in divorcing her “by force”. In his account on that online activists might face when attempting to , the father tweeted “Thank God, Samar is now praise what they believe is “justice”, whereas it is not divorced from the atheist spy Waleed Abu Elkhair”[7]. in their communities. On the other hand, there is a minority of publics who

advocate Raif’s call for freedom of religions, but the fear of being accused of disrespecting or being Raif Badawi arrested for a minor word they might say makes it In January 2015, Raif Badawi, a Saudi online activist, challenging to disclose their identities or their views. was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and one thousand lashes[3]. This penalty was for establishing an online forum called “Saudi liberal network” where he Risks of online activism praised and religious , which are contradictive views to Islamic beliefs and Saudi culture. This fear of being in trouble, however, has not stopped Raif’s wife Insaf Haider, who has been given asylum in some activists who believe that disclosing their with her three children, has appeared on media identities is an essential part of being an activist. calling on governments and publics to demand Raif’s Wajeeha Alhuwaider, a Saudi activist, has stated that it release [6]. She has appeared on BBC news pointing is a part of being activists to disclose our identities out that Raif had not insulted religions or mocked any even though many activists in Saudi Arabia are using politicians or religious clerics [6]. Yet, what might she, Nicknames and sometimes computer software to and Raif, think is ethical, might be unethical or even change IP addresses to avoid being tracked [5]. illegal in the culture and law under which they However, even when anonymously using digital media, expressed their view. In fact, according to Saudi law, it does not necessarily block the authority from promoting for atheism is just as criminal offence as tracking. In fact, it is common in Saudi Arabia for violent terrorism [2]. What is more interesting in this activists to be arrested by tracking their activities case, is that the majority of publics in Saudi Arabia online. This is due the to the Saudi regulations that seem to take their stance against Raif and other control online content; For instance, YouTube videos activists who are accused of disturbing culture and made in Saudi Arabia are monitored and some websites disrespecting Islam. According to a leaked YouTube and social media accounts are blocked [2]. Also, video of flogging Raif in public, people were clapping and circulating blocked content in any form is considered to seemed happy to see him flogged[4]. Surprisingly, this be a cyber crime; and all blogs, forums, chat rooms are

required to obtain a license from the Ministry of Culture barriers which should be taken in consideration by and Information [2]. As a result, websites owners have digital civics researchers. to self-regulate the content added to their websites to avoid being arrested or having their websites blocked Finally, in order to support online activism, we also [2]. Therefore, it is evident that anonymity is not need to think of how to overcome cultural and political guaranteed in online world. That is due to the lack of barriers for activists, and how to help them use digital freedom in digital media which limits the freedom of media to build a rapport between their activism and the thoughts. According to Eban Moglin, freedom of social milieu they are active in. thought requires freedom of media, as he explained in FOSDOM conference

Where he announced that he was working with his References colleagues on a project called “freedom box” which is a 1. Eben Moglin: does he trust twitter and facebook? . smart router that connects the user to the net without (2013). Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BptXYEIRLc. going through mediators [1]. 2. Freedom on the net: Saudi Arabia. (2014). Retrieved November 26, 2015, from This sounds quite promising, However, such a technical https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom- solution might take a decade or more to be completely net/2014/saudi-arabia developed and deployed, despite other limitations it 3. Howard, A. (2015, May 26). In Saudi Arabia, may pose. Thus it is crucial now to define free Embracing New 'Freedom' On Social Media May approaches, especially for online activism, in order to Come With Serious Risks. Www.huffingtonpost. ensure users freedom and safety. Retrieved November 27, 2015, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/26/saudi- Conclusion arabia-social-media_n_7444742.html 4. MailOnline, Simon Tomlinson for. "Flogging of Jailed So Here, The role of digital civics researchers and Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi Who Nearly Died from practitioners is more challenging as it is not only having His First round of Lashes for Insulting Islam Will Resume 'soon', Says His Wife." Mail Online. to design and build technical solutions for activism but Associated Newspapers, 28 Oct. 2015. Web. 13 also to ensure activists safety when applying these Dec. 2015. solutions. To conclude, it was evident from the 5. Mrs Wajeha Al-Huwaider's ultimate cause. (2010) previous cases, that the risks of being an online activist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYZB5VGkZ58 could be intimidating, and the cost could span from 6. Raif Badawi: Wife of Saudi blogger calls for his carrying a bad reputation to a death penalty. The case release. (2015). of Raif Badawi highlighted the limited freedom in the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz8biOSk7gY& the online world due to religious, social or political list=FLRNhveYrbjHtS-Q4WTzh4LA

7. Tweet: https://twitter.com/0k__1/status/66635048911464 4481 8. Zuzan, L. (2015). Cases of Contention: Activism, Social Media and Law in Saudi Arabia. Www.arabmediasociety. Retrieved November 27, 2015, from http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=859