Securing internet rights in

Rafid A Y Fatani visit ). Women under 25 account for 48% of SASIconsult all internet users in the kingdom.4 When it comes to the information society, Saudi Background Arabia is a place of contradictions. While the Saudi Saudi Arabia is a theocratic monarchy that some1 government has been spending heavily on the ICT have argued does not recognise freedom of ex- sector, Saudi Arabia, along with , is widely considered to have one of the most restrictive inter- pression and association, a presumption more 5 recently fuelled by the development of internet net access policies. Before granting public access policy in the country. It has become a popular as- to the internet in 1999, the Saudi government spent sumption amongst commentators that the internet two years building a controlled infrastructure, so will help to drive political liberalisation throughout that all internet traffic would pass through govern- the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. ment-controlled servers. With the huge expansion For instance, Al-Jazeera’s first Managing Director in public network and wireless access, government Mohamed Jassim Al Ali has stated that “democracy policy is changing to allow the development of new is coming to the Middle East because of the com- technologies while maintaining the same security munication revolution”.2 However, the relationship and control of media use that is part of Saudi socio- between the internet and the Saudi political sphere political culture. as a liberalising force in the country is profoundly The country’s filtering system is run by the inter- ambiguous. While a casual link between the internet net services unit at King Abdulaziz City for Science as a liberalising medium and a backdrop to politi- and Technology (KACST), and regulated by the Com- munications & Information Technology Commission cal reform might be the case in some states in the 6 Middle East, Saudi political and socio-economic (CITC). It blocks clear-cut violations – including fabric is historically very different. Although the criminal activity, porn and gambling – by assessing internet does have a transformative agency, some all incoming web traffic to the Saudi Kingdom. This have overlooked the fact that this agency might be passes through a proxy farm system running con- conservative in nature. tent filtering software – a system commonly used by many governments to ensure internet content in While Saudi Arabia’s internet penetration has 7 been growing at a very slow pace – 39% in 2009 in- their sovereignties comply with national laws. A list creasing to 40% in 2010 (during the Arab uprising of addresses for banned sites is maintained by the the number of internet users spiked significantly) filtering system. This unpublished list is updated penetration still remains an extremely low rate daily based on the content filtering policy team. A considering that almost 60% of the population are list of sites deemed to be “pornographic” is also pro- under the age of 24.3 The number of Facebook users vided periodically by the filtering software provider. in the country was logged at 4,534,769 users on De- KACST is a scientific institution reporting to the cember 2011 (29% of internet users in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz and the Prime Minister. It includes both the Saudi Arabian na- tional science agency and its national laboratories. 1. See the Arabic Network for Information, “ANHRI Condemns Ongoing Stifling of Freedom of Expression by Authorities”, The Global Network of Free Expression, 18 October 4. Ibid 2011, www.ifex.org/saudi_arabia/2011/10/18/show_staff_ 5. OpenNet Initiative, “China”, 9 August 2012, opennet.net/research/ detained; and , World Report 2012: Saudi profiles/china-including-hong-kong Arabia, www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-saudi- 6. For more information on what is deemed “clear-cut” by the Saudi arabia authorities, please visit: Rafid Fatani, “Saudi Arabia” in Global 2. Mohamed Zayani, “Introduction - Al Jazeera and the Vicissitudes Information Society Watch, 2009, www.giswatch.org/country- of the New Arab Mediascape” in The Al-Jazeera Phenomenon report/2009-access-online-information-and-knowledge/saudi- (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2005) arabia 3. Internet World Stats – Usage and Population Statistics, “Saudi 7. OpenNet Initiative, “China”; and OpenNet Initiative, “Global Arabia”, www.internetworldstats.com/middle.htm Internet Filtering Map”, map.opennet.net

Global Information Society Watch The functions of the science agency include policy- Engineering at the King Fahd University of Petroleum making on science and technology, data collection, & Minerals in Dhahran, that control and censor- funding of external research, and services such as ship in Saudi Arabia is an historical phenomenon, the patents office. As a result, KACST is responsible and is motivated by socio-political reasons.12 Email for developing and coordinating internet-related and chatrooms are also reportedly monitored by policies and managing the connections between the Saudi Telecommunications Company,13 and it is the national and international internet. All privately not uncommon for the Saudi Arabian government owned service providers are linked to the country to temporarily block BlackBerry and other smart- gateway server at KACST. phone messaging services.14 The government’s lack In spite of the fact that Saudi Arabia is consid- of transparency in not publishing a list of offending ered to be one of the world’s main internet content sites only highlights the need for change. “over-regulators”,8 the Saudi government devotes very few resources to regulating internet content. Internet-related human rights issues There are only 25 government employees managing in Saudi Arabia the censoring of content. The kingdom, however, en- In March 2007, Saudi Arabia’s legislative body, the courages citizen control by relying on a bottom-up Council of Ministers, issued a set of laws15 affect- approach to censorship, allowing citizens to report ing policy and regulations for internet users in the what they deem inappropriate content.9 KACST kingdom. The new policy measures and regulations maintains a web-based form that users can fill- prohibited internet users from out to report sites they feel should be blocked for whatever reason, and CITC receives roughly 1,200 [P]ublishing data or information that could requests a day from the public to have sites blocked contain anything contravening the Saudi in- (as of early 2012, blocking and unblocking requests terpretation of Islamic principles (directly or are made through the CITC website). While this is implicitly) or infringing the sanctity of Islam arguably not the most efficient way to safeguard and its benevolent Shari’ah, or breaching pub- the interests of citizens, it is a system in which the lic decency, anything damaging to the dignity of government relies heavily on a very conservative heads of states or heads of credited diplomatic citizenship, and in doing so does not safeguard the missions in the Kingdom, or harms relations interest of all citizens. with those countries, the propagation of sub- The small team of full-time employees at KACST versive ideas or the disruption of public order study the citizen requests and implement them or disputes among citizens and anything liable based on personal evaluations of the request. Sites to promote or incite crime, or advocate violence of various kinds are also blocked based upon di- against others in any shape or form among many rect requests from governmental security bodies.10 other things.16 KACST has no authority in the selection of these While some on this list mentioned above tend to se- sites and its role is limited to carrying out the direc- curity matters and are arguably clearer to identify, tions of the security bodies. most clauses are very ambiguous and come down to While the UN Special Rapporteur on the right interpretation. to freedom of expression and opinion Frank La Rue While Saudi Arabia’s history and culture is unique suggests that any restriction to the right to freedom in its contribution to Islam, understanding this his- of expression must meet the strict criteria under in- tory and culture holds the key to understanding the 11 ternational human rights law, the Saudi authorities government’s relationship with the religious right. justify the limitation on access to internet content The kingdom is host to Mecca and Medina, cities of from a cultural, religious and national security perspective. However, it is claimed by Khalid M. Al- Tawil, from the College of Computer Sciences & 12. Khalid Al-Tawil, “The Internet in Saudi Arabia”, College of Computer Sciences & Engineering report, at the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in Dhahran, 2007, www.faculty.kfupm.edu. 8. Fatani, “Saudi Arabia” sa/coe/sadiq/.../Internet%20in%20SA-update1.doc 9. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Internet Portal, “General Information 13. , Freedom of the Press 2011 - Saudi Arabia, 17 on Filtering Service”, www.internet.gov.sa/learn-the-web/guides/ October 2011, www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4e9bec2fc.html content-filtering-in-saudi-arabia 14. Josh Halliday, “BlackBerry Service Back in Saudi Arabia”, The 10. Ibid Guardian, 6 August 2010, www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/ 11. Frank La Rue, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion aug/06/blackberry-saudi-arabia and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, 15. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Council of Ministers Report 11561/B, A/HRC/17/27 (Geneva: United Nations General Assembly, Human “Electronic Transitions Legislation”, 27 Mar 2007, www.ncda.gov. Rights Council, 2011), www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/ sa/media/low21/7.pdf (in Arabic) docs/17session/A.HRC.17.27_en.pdf 16. Ibid

saudi arabia immense religious significance to nearly two billion According to the Freedom House report, the Sau- Muslims globally, and the royal family comes under di authorities also continued to attempt to block frequent pressure from religious bodies to maintain websites, and pages on the micro-- the sacredness of the land. In most cases, the Saudi ging service that comment on political, social, government is under pressure not for being intoler- religious, and human rights issues. Despite the ant, but for not being intolerant enough. As a result, cultural and religious context, this is a clear ex- when internet legislation is taken on face value, it ample of criminalising legitimate expression, as is no surprise that human rights activists describe imprisoning individuals for seeking, receiving and the current status of freedom of expression and as- imparting information and ideas can rarely be justi- sociation in Saudi Arabia to be repressive. However, fied as a proportionate measure to achieve one of a religious-political context must be applied to the the legitimate aims under Article 19, paragraph 3, debate in order to fully examine the reasons behind of the International Covenant on Civil and Political the status quo. Rights.20 Additionally, government censorship on inter- net users in Saudi Arabia, while invading internet Content “over-regulation” users’ privacy and right to information, is not a new While some Saudi youth and human rights activ- concept – nor is it a concept that is only available in ists agree that the authorities over-regulate internet the East. Most, if not all, governments censor their content in the kingdom, government censorship has internet content depending on local laws, norms a lot of support amongst the wider Saudi popula- and customs. Government censorship generally tion. This public pulse can be assessed via debates highlights an important debate on the right to pri- on online forums and reactions to liberalisation vacy, and access to content over citizen security, projects. This said, there is still a struggle between and many countries tend to abuse such powers and socio-religious groups, human rights activists and over-regulate internet content. This by no means is the few civil society organisations in the kingdom an excuse to over regulate internet content, but promoting freedom of expression. The public out- puts the issue of censorship in Saudi Arabia in cry against the arrest and execution of those with perspective. opposing opinions has turned to the internet as One core element that the Saudi Arabi- the new battle ground of choice, and different so- an authorities have to deal with is balancing cial media campaigns such as the ‘Free Hamza’, the modernisation – including access to and use of the Mannal Al-Sharif and the Josoor campaigns, have internet – and local cultural values and traditions. been using social media tools such as Twitter, Face- The religious establishment in the country has been book and YouTube, while conservative groups have leading a mass call to “purify” Saudi society from been doing the same. any entity that could destabilise the monotonous To reflect on the type of support that religious structure it currently holds, often campaigning authorities have in the country, one only needs to for further censorship, and encouraging people to look at the interest and support Islamic scholars report material they deem “inappropriate” – includ- enjoy online and compare this to local music artists ing what individuals deem “offensive” and might and celebrities. Some preachers have in the excess consider “vulgar”17 – thereby legitimising the cen- of a million followers on Twitter, with similar figures sorship process. on Facebook, compared to the tens of thousands Given the restricted environment for print and local celebrities have. For instance, the religious broadcast media, there has been a significant rise scholar Mohamed Al-Arifi has just under two million in the number of Saudi in recent years. A re- followers on Twitter and over a million ‘likes’ on his port from Freedom House estimates the number Facebook page, and the scholar Salman Al-Oda has to be 10,000 in 2011.18 The Saudi government has 1.2 million followers on Twitter. This compared to the increasingly responded by blocking select blogs most popular non-religious celebrities and public and in some instances, such as the case of Foad figures such as Fahad Al-Butairi who has just under Al-Farhan, by harassing and detaining bloggers.19 340 thousand Twitter followers and Omar Hussein with just under 200 thousand followers. 17. OpenNet Initiative, “Saudi Arabia”, 6 August 2009, opennet.net/ With the Saudi Arabian authorities responding research/profiles/saudi-arabia to what might be considered “overzealous” cries of 18. Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2011 – Saudi Arabia protection from modernisation, and the government 19. Claire Soares, “Blogger Who Dared to Expose Saudi Corruption Is Arrested”, The Independent, 3 January 2008, www.independent. co.uk/news/world/middle-east/blogger-who-daredto-expose- saudi-corruption-is-arrested-767807.html 20. Frank La Rue, Report of the Special Rapporteur

Global Information Society Watch attempting to play a balancing act in order to sus- ior royal family members.27 In other instances of tain the status quo in the kingdom’s governance censorship, in August 2009 prosecutors charged structure, arguably more human rights are being de- Nasir Al-Subai’i under unspecified articles of a law nied to minorities, particularly those opposing the against cybercrime with making allegedly libellous Saudi interpretation of Islamic teachings. comments against the Saudi consul in Beijing. Al- In September 2010, the Ministry of Information Subai’i had written on his website about his ordeal proposed a new law21 that would require online trying to secure funding for his brother’s medical newspapers, blogs, and forums to obtain licences care abroad.28 On the 13 November 2010 Facebook from the government in order to operate (the new was blocked for a day after some users published legislation took effect in January 2011). In 2012, the content that was deemed to “cross a line”, accord- same ministry introduced a new law22 making it il- ing to Saudi authorities.29 legal to be an internet journalist without a licence In response to the use of the internet by hu- issued by the government. It is still not clear how man rights defenders the Saudi authorities have the Saudi authorities intend to define journalism, also issued several detentions without trails and and what will eventually fall under that category, or travel bans on activists. In 2012, public prosecutors how they intend to regulate it. banned foreign travel to two human rights activists, To cause further confusion, according to the Hu- Mohammed Al-Qahtani and Walid Abu Al-Khair. This man Rights Watch annual report of 2011, the Saudi was after they used the internet as a way to gather Arabian Ministry of Culture and Information spokes- momentum in highlighting some of the country’s hu- person made conflicting statements regarding the man rights shortcomings. requirement that blogs and news websites obtain Abu Al-Khair, who founded the internet page a licence.23 The report highlighted that journalists Human Rights Monitor in Saudi Arabia, was due and bloggers strongly condemned the proposed to leave for the on 23 March 2012 to legislation, which would significantly increase the participate as a fellow in the Leaders for Democracy government’s oversight of online expression.24 Fellowship, the US State Department’s flagship in- Despite these arguably draconian laws, Saudi ternational engagement project. However, he had to Arabia has the largest number of Twitter users per decline participating due to the ban. capita in the Middle East. The Saudi billionaire Al-Qahtani is a university professor, and the Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal recently bought USD300 president and co-founder of the Saudi Association million in shares of Twitter, which will give him a 6% of Civil and Political Rights (ACPRA), for which the stake in the company. Surprisingly, the country is Saudi authorities have denied an operating licence. said to have amongst the highest YouTube usage in Since mid-February 2012, ACPRA has filed more than the world.25 three dozen court cases against the Ministry of In- While the balancing act of maintaining security terior’s intelligence service and the Department for and freedom of expression is not new to almost all General Investigations for arbitrary detention, and governments, the Saudi authorities use security in some cases torture. To date, all attempts to over- concerns as an excuse to over-regulate and control turn court rulings have been lost. content. In his report, La Rue was concerned about There have also been online campaigns calling the emerging trend of timed (or “just-in-time”) for the closing of some of the few cultural venues blocking that prevents users from accessing or dis- in Saudi Arabia, where young people meet to dis- seminating information at key political moments, cuss and talk openly about a variety of topics. For such as times of social unrest.26 In Saudi Arabia, example, Jusoor (literally meaning “Bridges”), a when an Arabic website published US diplomatic bookstore and café where young people hold lec- cables obtained by WikiLeaks, the site was blocked tures, workshops and run book clubs, was closed in as some of the content was embarrassing to sen- April 2012 after another “religious” campaign, sup- ported by the Ministry of Interior. There have also been a notable number of so- 21. The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Information, “Media Legislation”, cial events cancelled, mainly those promoting public 2011, www.info.gov.sa/Files/activities.doc (in Arabic) 22. Ibid 23. Human Rights Watch, “Saudi Arabia” in World Report 2012 (New 27. Committee to Protect Journalists, “After Running Leaked Cables, York: HRW, 2012), www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report- Websites Face Harassment”, 10 December 2010, cpj.org/2010/12/ 2012-saudi-arabia after-running-leaked-cables-websites-face-harassme.php 24. Ibid 28. Human Rights Watch, “Saudi Arabia” 25. According to interview with YouTube spokesman Aaron Zamost 29. Jorge Cino, “Saudi Arabia Temporarily Blocks Facebook”, (2012). All Facebook, 13 November 2012, allfacebook.com/saudi- 26. Frank La Rue, Report of the Special Rapporteur arabiatemporarily-blocks-facebook_b23072

saudi arabia intellectual debate. Some of these show the influ- Without transparency or accountability mechanisms ence the kingdom has on its neighbours. For example, included, this law could be used to stop anyone Multaqa Al-Nahda is a forum held annually for young from practising journalism. people to meet with different intellectuals in the Arab Saudi Arabia has been added to the Committee world. This was supposed to be held in Kuwait re- to Protect Journalists’s (CPJ) 2012 list of most-cen- cently and was reportedly cancelled by a royal decree sored countries, ranking at number eight.33 CPJ’s issued by the Prince of Kuwait, allegedly due to pres- staff judged all countries according to fifteen bench- sure from the Saudi government, backed by the far marks. They included the blocking of websites; right religious establishment. restrictions on electronic recording and dissemina- Another event cancelled was the Choose Your tion; the absence of privately owned or independent Career Conference (CYCC) – a conference that was media; restrictions on journalists’ movements; li- to be held in the Western region city of , with cence requirements to conduct journalism; the the intention of young people meeting professionals monitoring of journalists by security services; jam- from different sectors to get an idea of the different ming of foreign broadcasts; and blocking of foreign career paths they could follow. However, it was can- correspondents. All of the countries on the list met celled one day prior to the date it was supposed to at least ten benchmarks. be held, with no official reasons given as to why. Again, these are all signs of non-proportionate The Case of Hamza Kashgari and Twitter content censorship, and a lack of transparency in Under Saudi Sharia law, insulting the Islamic proph- the system. et Mohammad is considered blasphemous and is punishable by death. The criminalisation of apos- Online journalism and citizen media tasy is incompatible with the right to freedom of The internet has had a significant impact on human thought, conscience and religion as set out in Article rights when it comes to the new role of citizen and 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.34 online journalism. However this has not discour- In this context, there was a furore when a 23-year- aged the continuation of the over-regulated system old Saudi columnist and blogger Hamza Kashgari, that exists when it comes to old media. who was a former columnist for the daily newspaper As mentioned, in September 2010, the Minis- Al-Bilad, posted his reflections on the occasion of try of Information proposed a new law that would the Prophet’s birthday on 4 February 2012. He wrote require online newspapers, blogs, and forums to three tweets on Twitter about the occasion in a very obtain licences from the government in order to sarcastic manner in response to a series of articles operate.30 The new legislation took effect of Janu- by the Saudi (the highest religious au- ary 2011, making governmental journalist licences thority in the land). In his tweets he depicted the subject to several restrictive conditions including: Prophet as a human, and not in the sacred state that Saudi citizenship, a minimum age of 20 years, a high most Muslims observe him in. His supposed offence school degree, and “good conduct”. The final con- was to have tweeted part of an imaginary conver- dition is so general and ambiguous that it could be sation with the prophet : “I have loved used to prevent anyone from practising journalism.31 things about you and I have hated things about you In 2012, the Ministry of Information also im- and there is a lot I don’t understand about you”, he posed a new law making it illegal to be an internet tweeted; and: “I will not pray for you.” journalist without a governmental journalism li- Fuelled by Saudi religious scholars, over 30,000 cence.32 The 2012 amendment to the media law tweets about Hamza’s comments flew through cy- suggests that first-time violators could face fines berspace within hours. Many “scholars” accused of 500,000 Saudi riyals (USD135,000), while sec- him of being an apostate. Different groups with ond-time offenders could draw a one million riyal tens of thousands of followers formed on Facebook, fine (USD270,000) and a potential life-time ban on calling for his execution. Others suggested that his working in journalism. The new law also suggests upbringing was at fault, and the number of hate that editors-in-chief of online newspapers must be crimes towards him and his immediate family grew approved by the Ministry of Culture and Information. fast. A far right Saudi scholar Nasser al-Omar used YouTube as a platform and wept during a lecture, 30. The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Information, “Media Legislation”, 2011, supposedly over the “harsh” words that Hamza had www.info.gov.sa/Files/activities.doc (in Arabic) 31. Ibid 32. Mariam Abdallah, "Saudi Ties the Tongues of Its Journalists", 33. cpj.org/mideast/saudi-arabia Alakhbar, 2 June 2012, english.al-akhbar.com/content/saudi-ties- 34. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18, www.un.org/en/ tongues-its-journalists documents/udhr/index.shtml

Global Information Society Watch dared to say about Prophet Mohammad. This clip re- only choice is for Kashgari to be killed and crucified ceived over 1.5 million views. in order to be a lesson to other secularists”. The After seeing this reaction on the social media Saudi information minister even tweeted that he platforms, within hours Hamza removed the tweets had burst into tears when he read Hamza’s tweets: and issued a lengthy apology, but to no avail. Hours “When I read what he posted, I wept and got very after that he removed his account from Twitter and angry that someone in the country of the two holy fled for his life to late at night on 6 Febru- mosques attacks our Prophet in a manner that does ary. In the early hours of 7 February, Saudi Arabia’s not fit a Muslim...”; and “I have given instructions king reportedly called on the Saudi Arabian Ministry to ban him from writing for any Saudi newspaper or of Interior to arrest Hamza and to hold him account- magazine, and there will be legal measures to guar- able for the statements he made. Hamza arrived in antee that.” on 7 February, and was arrested two The religious “scholar” Al-Arifi, has, along with days later as he was trying to continue his journey other religious icons, led an aggressive campaign to . Under the request of the Saudi against liberals37 and anyone calling for freedom Arabian authorities, some claim an arrest of expression and belief, in an attempt to “rid” the warrant had been issued, and the Malaysian au- Saudi society from secularist thoughts and liberal thorities deported him back to his home country lifestyles that their “opponents” advocate. Al-Arifi is (however Interpol has denied its involvement). To a young populist who appeals to a young audience. date, he is still detained in a Saudi Arabian jail. He is the most popular Saudi on any social media According to , court site by far. proceedings in Saudi Arabia fall far short of interna- His followers are called Al-Arifi “soldiers”, tional standards for fair trial.35 Defendants are rarely and they follow his every word as doctrine with- allowed formal representation by a lawyer, and in out question. Al-Arifi soldiers frequently request many cases are not informed of the progress of le- CITC to block and censor websites. Any criticism gal proceedings against them. This was not the case of Al-Arifi usually results in personal attacks by his with Hamza. According to local sources, on 7 March followers. This ranges from verbal written abuse, to the court accepted Hamza’s apology and his life is the illegal hacking of personal emails and Twitter ac- no longer in any danger, but they cannot release him counts – including those of Hamza supporters. due to the grave danger he faces from the general public. His mother is allowed to visit him and, under Awareness the circumstances, Hamza is doing well. It is impos- The role of civil society sible at this time to predict how long they will keep It is illegal to form a civil society group without prior him there. There are measures that could be put in permission from the Saudi Arabian authorities. In place to protect Hamza – however that would put general the government takes little notice of civil the Saudi government in a difficult political situation society activities, as long as they do not cross what with the public who have been calling for the death it deems as political or religious boundaries. As a penalty. According to Hamza’s close supporters, al- result, the official and unofficial civil society organi- lowing the dust to settle would allow time for public sations that do exist participate in various cultural, anger to cool down, however it would be difficult social, professional and some religious activities for the 24-year-old to continue to make a living as a only. writer in Saudi Arabia.36 The need for permission to form a civil society Ever since the Hamza incident, there have been group means that there is no legislative framework several campaigns launched against “liberals” and governing unofficial civil society organisations in those “calling for atheism” on Twitter. To highlight Saudi Arabia. Because of this, they cannot register the conservative reaction of the general public, the or ask international organisations for cooperation or BBC reported that many Saudis phoned their broad- funding. Moreover, the Saudi authorities, via differ- cast service to complain that reporting on the Hamza ent bodies, also interfere in the management of civil case showed that the Saudi media were controlled society groups, including in their governance and fi- by a liberal elite, given that they did not call for the nancial management, limiting their role and impact death penalty to be imposed on Hamza. In the com- where necessary. ments in one Saudi newspaper a writer said: “[T]he Licences granted by the Saudi authorities to civil society groups are issued only in very limited cases 35. Amnesty International, “Saudi Arabia” in Annual Report 2012, 2012, www.amnesty.org/en/region/saudi-arabia/report-2012#ai-reports 36. Source from Kashgari’s support group 37. A term used for anyone influenced by the West

saudi arabia and under extreme exceptions, and are usually per- and cultural values. However, there is still a lot to be mitted by special royal decrees issued by the Saudi done before gender equality is achieved. King himself. Furthermore, there is no official public Women’s rights issues recently came to the intent to relax or increase the number of permits to fore in the ‘Women2Drive’ campaign, led by Manal new civil society associations, or expanding their Al-Sharif. On 17 June 2011, around 40 women with activities. Currently, the law is still the biggest international drivers’ licences participated in the obstacle in the way of increasing the number of or- campaign by recording Saudi female drivers driving ganisations and the scope of their activities. through the streets of Saudi Arabia and upload- There are two main human rights institutions ing the pictures and videos on YouTube. Officially, officially working in Saudi Arabia. These two in- no law bars women from driving, but senior gov- stitutions work on observing, documenting and ernment clerics have ruled against the practice, a responding to human rights violations by reporting ruling generally supported by the public. Saudi them to the authorities. They also hold general hu- Arabia is the only country in the world to tacitly man rights educational programmes and publish prohibit women from driving. The campaign is still reports and studies. The first is an official research active after over a year since its inception. institute called the Human Rights Commission Al-Sharif’s video of the social protest received (HRC). The second, the National Society for Human over 700,000 views just before she was arrested in Rights, was granted special permission under a May 2011 on charges of “disturbing public order” royal decree. It has a broader scope than the HRC, and “inciting public opinion”.38 Although Al-Sharif and organises workshops, public lectures and con- was released nine days later, her release was on the ferences on human rights issues. conditions that she post bail, return for question- There are also some smaller and “non-official” ing upon request, and refrain from driving and from human rights groups that act as civil society de- speaking to the media. fenders in their own capacity and through their own Al-Sharif recently spoke at the Oslo Freedom private networks. These include Human Rights First Forum 2012 about the campaign, mentioning the Society, Association for the Protection and Defence positive effect the YouTube video of her driving had of Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Civil in Saudi Arabia. She used the opportunity to talk and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), the Hu- about how social media and the internet changed man Rights Monitor in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi her life, and the lives of many women in Saudi Liberal Network. Another organisation founded in Arabia. Her speech was a trending topic online for the Eastern Province is the Society for Development days, with both positive and negative results. Dis- and Change that campaigns for equal human rights cussions went as far as attempting to disown her as for the Shia minority in the Eastern Province (the a Saudi citizen, while others applauded her for her organisation calls for a constitution and elected courage to speak openly and freely. legislature in that province). The New York Times described Al-Sharif’s cam- Despite their size, the role played by these civil paign as a “budding protest movement” that the society groups using social media networks has Saudi government tried to “swiftly extinguish”, had an important effect on human rights awareness attributing Al-Sharif’s detention to the Saudi au- in Saudi society. The Facebook page of the Human thorities fear of a wider protest movement in the Rights Monitor in Saudi Arabia has almost 5,500 country.39 fans and its supervisor, Waleed Abualkhair, has almost 40,000 followers on Twitter. Other human New and emerging advocacy strategies rights defenders have similar figures on Twitter, While the internet has helped to improve awareness making Twitter a real battlefield between cam- of human rights issues, it has, as mentioned, also paigns aimed at raising the awareness of rights, been used by religious icons, such as Al-Arifi, to democracy and violations, and the conservative create a new public-driven approach to censorship masses fuelled by the religious right. by their supporters. During the Hamza Kashgari case, human rights activists only provided limited Gender: internet and human rights issues support to his case, and advocated support for the The socio-economic empowerment of women has emerged in the last few years as a priority in the 38. The original video was removed, but this is a copy: kingdom. There has been an emphasis on national www..com/watch?v=sowNSH_W2r0 (video). policies and strategies aimed at increasing women’s 39. Robert Mackey, “Saudi Woman’s Driving Video Preserved Online”, The New York Times (blog) – The Lede, 24 May 2011, thelede.blogs. participation in the economic and social develop- nytimes.com/2011/05/24/saudi-womans-driving-video-preserved- ment processes, without contradicting Islamic laws online

Global Information Society Watch case indirectly. This was out of fear of religiously traditional media, which is tightly controlled by the led campaigns against Hamza – as they would be government. personally attacked if they supported his case. Freedom of expression has also been felt in Many activists fear to be seen as sympathetic to other quarters online. On YouTube, around a dozen what is deemed as unforgivable crimes by many in filmmakers are gaining thousands of followers with the country, weakening their effect on Saudi society their shows, mini-series of 15-minute episodes, when it comes to human rights issues. which they post regularly. These deal with a wide As the religious icons make huge gains on so- variety of topics ranging from urban poverty to re- cial media networks as well as traditional media, cent local news. it diverts the human rights struggle. However, ex- amples of campaigns led by human rights activists Conclusions and recommendations do manage to gain a foothold. These include the The internet has become a vital tool for social change Twitter campaigns #Saudi, #WhatWeNeedInSaudi, in Saudi Arabia, in reporting human rights violations #SaudiWomen, and others where Saudis have been and acting against them. Moreover, the internet is a expressing themselves freely and openly in an un- key resource for activists in reporting either to the precedented manner. outside world, or in raising awareness amongst the Detention without trial remains a big issue in local population at very little cost. The internet also the country, mainly due to the Saudi authorities helps them avoid traditional media regulations. absolute denial of such detentions. However, the International human rights organisations de- public, through the internet, is becoming more pend on the internet to access local news directly aware of these cases, with video footage often be- from the source, and in doing so avoid the distor- ing leaked using YouTube. tion of government censorship. In light of the Arab At times, the liberty with which these cam- uprising in the region, social networks have proved paigns can operate is surprising. The Saudi hashtag to be a very important tool for spreading news and a #tal3mrak, which can be translated as “your maj- faster method of communication. esty”, has served as a way for citizens to express The Saudi Arabian government has often re- themselves to the Saudi King in an open way, and sponded to external calls to change its heavily has become so famous that even non-Saudi’s have censored system by suggesting most censorship is started using it to express dissent against the Saudi self regulated by citizens, and, in doing so, suggest- government. Such venting on a large scale in Saudi ing a quasi-democratic self-imposed regulation in Arabia is unprecedented, and highlights the role its place. However, this response is too simple, as the internet has on modern day Saudi society. This there is no policy in place to protect minorities from venting is one of limited ways in the country to test the wider religious community, led and often fuelled the political waters, since public policy polls are by conservative religious “scholars”. Most censored limited. websites are not filtered automatically by software, Another important role the internet has played but are blocked based on requests made by govern- in relation to Saudi human rights activism is e-peti- ment bodies. These requests lack transparency, and tioning. In the Hamza case, 25 thousand signatories are sometimes only in the interest of the ruling elite. were raised worldwide in his support, while Al-Shar- The general public has often been accused of if’s campaign received over 12 thousand supporters blind support of religious icons, empowering the on Facebook. E-petitions have not been used by the authority to control those who oppose them in the conservative far right, possibly because they would process. While citizen self-censorship is supported not gain much momentum abroad compared to hu- and encouraged by religious-led campaigns that re- man rights campaigns and causes. press human rights to free speech and association, A further interesting development is an anony- marginalised groups such as women, Shia minority mous Saudi Twitter account with the name @Mujtahid and liberals are sidelined in the governance process. – which translates to “assiduous” – that has been The Saudi government, like many other states, set up, which now has nearly half-a-million Twitter is burdened in its attempt to balance internal secu- followers. This regularly denounces various excess- rity concerns and human rights commitments, with es of princes, ranging from those who earn huge broad support from the masses pushing for more commissions on government contracts, to those censorship. Religious icons and personalities, who who have huge palaces. It is revealing that some enjoy growing popularity, have made their battles of the princes have even responded to the accusa- personal, making it harder for activists to support tions, by joining Twitter and defending themselves specific causes without losing the support of the personally, something that would never happen in wider public. This limits public campaigns, and

saudi arabia diverts their efforts into spending much of their time Human rights activists have been remarkably defending themselves. successful in stopping injustices occurring in Saudi To a large degree, the regulation of the internet Arabia by highlighting issues for a wider audience. in Saudi Arabia reflects the approach to regulation The internet has been promoting great opportu- elsewhere. However, Saudi human rights activists nities for progressive change. However, while it and liberals40 have also found the internet a great provides further opportunities for young people to platform to express themselves freely and openly, learn about their rights, it has also been used as a especially using Twitter. platform for many conservative right wing groups to On occasion, the Saudi government has been expand their majority in the country. accused of not being neutral, more often than not This said, there are approximately 150 thousand supporting the religious right. This is embodied Saudis currently studying in North America, Europe in the fact that it is almost impossible to register and Australasia on scholarships from the Saudi gov- civil society groups legally in order to report hu- ernment. Many human rights activists hope that man rights abuses and hold governmental bodies this group of young Saudis will return in a couple accountable for such behaviour. This is also preva- years and support human rights causes, changing lent in travel and writing bans. Activists promoting the shape of Saudi society and its views on issues and association face arbitrary related to freedoms and equality. detentions and travel bans, and journalists are ar- Some of the main issues Saudi Arabia needs rested with no charges brought against them. to confront include allowing civil society groups to If Saudi Arabia wants to be a leader in the form and freely associate around human rights is- region, it needs to promote the free-flow of informa- sues. Additionally, it needs to adjust the current tion without infringing on the rights of individuals laws to allow freedom of expression, both online on the internet. In order to do this, the government and offline. Civil society organisations could also censorship system needs to be reviewed. Checks form stronger partnerships with foreign NGOs in and balances need to be made when content is order to establish best practises on human rights filtered on religious or national security grounds. issues. n Furthermore, transparency in content regulation needs to be encouraged by publishing a list of all filtered websites, with reasons for their filtering. The introduction of privacy and individual rights laws is overdue.

40. This term is used to identify citizens who are more accepting of Western influences.

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