Elie INATY
11/05/2024
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The Issue of Censorship in the Middle East: Understanding Its Reasons and Consequences
“Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the
books that nobody reads.”- Georges Bernard SHAW. Geopolitical censorship could be defined as
the supervision or control of ideas and information within a society or an official prohibition of
any type of expression believed to threaten the political order (Anastaplo, 2024). Nowadays,
political censorship has transcended the slogan of social security and is currently implemented as
a tool of political domination. Besides, Freedom of Speech, known as Freedom of Expression, is
guaranteed under Article 192 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and
considered as a “fundamental human right” (Antoni, 2021). It is the support of democratic values
and the only path for dissenting voices to enlighten a political information for the public. A modern
Geopolitical Censorship in the Middle East is implemented after the Arab Spring, generating a
pessimistic overview of the geostrategic assets of all the region by destroying democracy and
restricting political contents and data. Although Geopolitical Censorship and restrictions on
freedom of expression might be beneficial to protect the national security of the region, research
has shown that they may lead to lack of information, subsequent ignorance and stagnation in the
Middle East.
One significant reason validating the bad repercussions of Geopolitical Censorship is because it
failed to establish a good governance in the Middle East. In fact, people are not allowed to express
freely their opinions about their political leaders because restrictions on newspapers, websites,
magazines and other social media platforms are always ready to be implemented to protect the
political regime. A recent closure of the Emirati newspaper “Al Roeya”, shortly after they
published an article about citizens struggling with high fuel prices in 2022 raises concerns about
the future of freedom of expression in the Middle East. Briefly, the article highlighted how some
citizens living in the borders with Oman were crossing over to refill their tanks because they pay
half of the amount they pay in the United Arab Emirates (Al Jazeera, 2022). Cathryn Grothe, a
Middle East research analyst who joined Freedom House expressed: “Censorship is rampant,
online and offline… It limits the work that journalists are able to do.” (As cited in Al Jazeera,
2022, para. 2). Moreover, research has shown that the largest users of spyware is the United Arab
Emirates where the regime intended to harass and track government critics (Reporters Without
Borders, November 2023). Furthermore, restriction on newspapers could be indirect or hidden
under electronic armies who aim to advertise a political “ideology” or to defend a leader.
Alternatively, prominent media outlets owned by elite political families can participate in the same
campaigning ambitions. A vital example from Lebanon is the National Broadcasting Network
(NBN), owned by Nabih Berri, the Parliament speaker since 1992, is still practicing the same
intentions with Hezbollah’s electronic armies by harassing citizens with different political views
(Freedom House, 2023). Hence, this leads to believe that the new ideological “democratic” Middle
East is autocratic and sectarian, a new landscape with no vital transparency in which centralization
of power consolidates the central governments to combat unlimited challenges. As an illustration,
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can anyone deny that Lebanon is no more the “Switzerland of the Middle East”? It is a small
country facing extreme political polarizations divided along sectarian lines, in which historical
narratives are usually controlled by the same political leaders, making it impossible to strengthen
solidarity amongst the Lebanese multi-denominational community. The concept of “powersharing” in the Lebanese government validates the real intentions of a “handicapped” regime. In
other words, “It is a fake democracy. All human rights are being violated” said MP Najat Salibaa new elected political figure in 2022, opposing the traditional political parties in the Parliament(as cited in Hamouche, 2023, para.10). Additionally, the Democracy Index Report of 2023- a
comprehensive assessment of analytical studies related to politics compiled by the Economist
Intelligence Unit- ranked the Republic of Lebanon to be 112th globally out of 167 countries (as
cited Economist Intelligence Unit, 2023) and classified the country as an authoritarian regime
(Choueiri et al., 2024). Similarly, the political regime in Syria is another example of autocracy:
the Presidency may take exceptional key-decisions in the nation without referring to any
democratic standards, tightening the political life. Syria has never practiced a real democracy since
1970 when al-Assad family took control over the country (Warner, 2012) and the law No 20 of
2022 consolidated censorship in the country in April 2022, which criminalizes all types of criticism
of the authorities, enhancing further restrictions on cybercrimes (Euro-Med Human Rights
Monitor, 2022). Those restrictions were enlarged after the Syrian conflict in 2011, making it harder
to define Syria as a democratic state in the Middle East. Moreover, the country has marked the
highest number of journalists killed in the region (700 journalists) and an average of 63 journalists
killed per year (Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, 2022). Journalists and other media workers are
always oppressed, tortured or killed in the region. Besides, Lebanon was the center of numerous
political assassinations such as the Former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in 2005, Gebran Tueni,
Pierre Gemayel, Walid Eido, Antoine Ghanem and many others… (Ramadan, 2021). Those people
were mainly killed because of their political views. Thus, the Middle East is a place where the
right of “expression” is tightened and replaced by a new oriental “old-fashioned” theory: the
majority of a particular group will always have to implement its victory in the power.
Another issue demonstrating the dramatic repercussions of geopolitical censorship is that it might
contribute to a lack of social security. In other words, a strict censorship could limit the “deep
state” security, which may lead to a radicalization of many terrorist organizations because of a
huge marginalization. The main key is to understand the Middle-Eastern roots of extremism, which
are simply considered as bad consequences of indulging political grievances and ideological
indoctrination. In fact, the usage of a religious identity as a way to empower adults for extremism
is a well-known agenda to captivate attention. For example, the Islamic State of Iraq, considered
as a terrorist organization by the Counter terrorism guide issued by the Office of the Director of
National Intelligence (NCTC, n.d.) could be a vital source of promoting extremism. It has an
organized recruitment process for young adults by using social tension and “ISIS-ification”
(Dagher, 2022). The primary stage of this process is usually a consequence of a harsh economic
and social conditions within the autocratic regime, censoring all paths of expression. By losing
faith in the central government which lacks of sustainable goals, the terrorist group will be
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brainstormed by new ideological approaches that may be harsher than the oppressing regime itself
(Dagher, 2022). Furthermore, here comes what it is considered as a justification of action: it is just
a reason having detrimental multi-consequences. Hezbollah, classified as a terrorist organization
by the Gulf Cooperation Council (Aboudi et al., 2016) and by the US State Department (NCTC,
n.d.), used the same ideology in Lebanon and Iraq empowering youths and ensuring a political
domination for Iran in the Middle East. Supported with hundreds of millions of dollars each year
and provided with weapons, the Islamic Republic of Iran makes sure that Hezbollah’s political
control over the region is expanding (Robinson, 2023). Similarly, the Ansarallah, also known as
the Houthis, have used a similar ideological approach to expand in Yemen and participate in a
wide range of terrorist operations especially in Saudi-Arabia and hosting unprecedent attacks
against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea. It was also designated as a terrorist
organization by the US Department of State (Blinken, 2024). Furthermore, it is crystal clear to
conclude a causal effect of a big “public ignorance” resulting a political ideologization of many
controversial topics: in other words, people will not be able to understand the direct reasons and
consequences of a political narrative clearly. It is always analyzed from unofficial sources because
there is a huge restriction on the flow of information about a specific topic, with a huge intervention
of some digital platforms, mass surveillance and other cyber techniques affecting the digital
security (Lynch 2022). Subsequently, the lack of an international agreement for a public control
of information has created a dangerous conservative approach limiting the right of expression in
the Middle East.
On the other hand, supporters of the idea of censorship believe that censorship is crucial in the
Middle Eastern community as a direct way to handle all the religious complexities and diversities.
They also consider that it might safeguard a standardized national security and praise progressive
governmental initiatives to advocate the positive change in this region. In fact, those people
implement a general rule summarized by the “Harm Principle”: humans are generally free to
express their political thoughts unless they cause harm to others (Antoni, 2021). Meanwhile, this
political approach is compatible with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
mentioning its practicability with some limits related to the protection of the public order, or public
morals or the national security (Antoni, 2021). Briefly, they agree with a tightened freedom of
expression without spreading false information, or hate speech affecting the “prestige” of the
nation. In addition, the necessity for protection of all minorities is their vital slogan to spread a
peaceful language for solidarity especially with religious minorities in the Middle East, by
“advertising” a political democracy represented by some elections in different Arab countries like
Egypt, Iraq or Lebanon. They also believe in the responsibility of all the Oriental community to
protect the region from the Western imperialism as a call for patriotism (Kieh, 1992). However, it
could be comprehended that those people are working for a peaceful Middle East, but it is
undeniable that their approach may not be deep enough to handle such political complexities. As
an illustration, the will to change in the region was always limited by the same dictatorial political
regimes who practiced censorship for decades as an immunity for their control over the nations. In
fact, the protection of minorities was just a silly argument to justify the marginalization of those
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oppressed people by pretending of protecting them from the “unknown” or the “terrorism” that
was only a result of a fake democracy. This validates that although Western dominance may affect
a country’s stance, but this domination is limited with basic diplomatic conversations and could
never lead to a state’s failure. Censorship will be finally a weak argument to justify the failure of
a deep state, unable to provide the basic needs for its citizens, which will certainly lead to a lack
of trust in the political regime for an ideal change, and enlarge different political complexities
resulted by different political affiliations.
To sum up, the issue of censorship should be treated with caution the fact that it is typically
sensitive. The ideal approach is to have a good ambition to protect the region from any fake
democracy. The Middle East is full of political cramps and it is the duty of every Middle Eastern
to have a good cultural resource and a neat historical knowledge that will help him to avoid any
autocracy or dictatorship. Raising awareness in various universities would help to ensure a good
political knowledge and avoid any ideology. Moreover, political stagnation and ignorance will be
automatically combatted and every person must be totally independent and liberal. He should have
the courage to admit or reject or change his thoughts anytime because there can be no democracy
without truth.
Elie INATY
Elie INATY
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