There is yet to be a single Middle Eastern government that proves completely tolerant of social media dissent. News of arrests, trials and abuse of citizen journalists and social media activists have crossed the line of being an occasional event to be a news staple.
Israel, which claims to be the “only democracy” in the Arab world, is now a leader in targeting journalists and the media in general, and as of late, social media has fallen victim to it as well. To be fair though, the Palestinian National Authority has also adopted a policy of cracking down on media voices that refuse to conform.
Israel’s arrest, trial and sentencing of 22-year-old Majid Yousuf Atwan, from the small village of Al Khader near Bethlehem, ushered in an even lower level of intolerance and targeting of individuals. Atwan had just graduated from beauty school and was active on Facebook. Apparently, Israeli agents are also active on Facebook, and a post by Atwan was deemed “incitement” by the Israeli Ofer military court, which led to the Bethlehem beautician being given 45 days in a military prison.
Atwan’s is neither the first case nor will it be the last. The practice of arresting citizen journalists because of a single tweet or a Facebook post is considerably common. However, every time such a violent reaction is recorded, a social media storm follows, galvanising yet more social media activism and pushing the limit of dissent still further.
The seemingly hyped sensitivity to social media dissent can be attributed to two factors: One is that the mobilisation that accompanied the so-called Arab Spring more than five years ago was first largely attributed to social media. Naturally, Middle Eastern countries are now well-versed in how a single tweet can lead to a trending hashtag that can be followed by street mobilisation.
The second factor is that while formal media can be tightly monitored and controlled, social media cannot. Citizen journalists, young bloggers, active tweeps and the like are not governed by the same relationship of the carrot and stick, which has defined the relationship between the state and media professionals since the first newspaper was printed in Antwerp, Belgium, in the early 17th century.
It will be years before the implications of digital media on politics and society as a whole are fully understood by states, and there may never be a situation in which opinions are censored with the same kind of efficiency as those in traditional media of a bygone era.
Burgeoning internet technologies
This reality will not only continue to generate conflict, but also opportunity. The conflict stems from the near-total hegemony of self-serving governments and empowered elites on overall media discourses. The opportunity, on the other hand, is a result of burgeoning internet technologies and social media platforms that are available to a growing number of people across the region.
The accessibility and openness of the new technology-based media have ushered in the rise of citizen journalism — a new media content producer which is able to counter, and at times overtake dominant traditional media narratives.
However, as with all forms of media, that too comes with its own challenges. The agendas of many media platforms are generally controlled by a well-funded few.
One challenge faced by independent citizen journalists is the lack of independent media platforms that offer them a free, neutral stage and space for their work, without them being coerced into tailoring content to fit existing media agendas.
Social media is difficult to control, in that it is a relatively free space. However, since it offers a degree of anonymity to its users, it has opened up a completely new challenge in attempting to authenticate information through the endless stream of content and to extract genuine voices from those deemed ‘voiceless’.
Although many attempts at an equitable media platform in many Arab countries have been quelled, numerous voices, however small, continue to fight for space and raise their cries against the brazen attempts at silencing those who do not agree or conform.
Once more, truly independent Arab intellectuals have found themselves having to navigate an impossible media terrain.
However, the failure to allow an authentic and just media presence is not a problem specific to Arab countries. Western mainstream and corporate media have failed dismally at presenting an accurate picture of the reality in the Middle East. The core of this failure is exemplified in the coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, during which Israel is repeatedly presented as the victim, and Palestinians the aggressors — this misrepresentation being itself a transgression against facts and reality.
The Arab Spring complicated an already difficult and convoluted media scene. While physical maps remained largely intact, the geopolitical map of the region was in a state of constant flux. Following and reporting on these constant changes without a deep and compassionate understanding of the region achieved little except predictable and lacklustre content that offered only recycled ideas and stereotypes.
Biased spectacles
Ultimately, there was a mix of media agendas throughout the Middle East: Arabs dedicated their platforms to hailing the ruling class and demonising their enemies; Iranian media pushed a government line whether right or wrong; Israeli media grew more blatant and right-wing; Turkish media fought a political war between the ruling party and the opposition; and western media remained true to form, promoting whatever war deemed necessary, and insisting on viewing the Middle East and its conflicts through the very same biased spectacles of the ever-present past. In the midst of it all, a majority of the people of the region were neglected, misrepresented, stereotyped, criminalised and at times entirely overlooked. But things have begun to change in recent years, especially following the massive shift that the internet, and independent and social media have brought about. When the internet was first introduced, it quickly made its way towards greater participation from people around the globe, thus challenging traditional media and its over-arching control over the Middle East, as well as similar discourses across the world.
Of course, the internet has not fully closed the inequality gap, democratised society or put to an end the dominance of traditional and mainstream media. It has, however, launched a process that has revitalised society sufficiently to seek its own alternative in any area pertaining to information, which various segments of society felt was deceitful or tightly controlled.
While much progress has been made in the field of effective social media, there is still a long way to go before mainstream, corporate and self-serving media are fully challenged, if not sidelined. Unfortunately though, the unmistakable trend has already been unleashed, ushering in a new kind of thinking and of information that was once either wholly unavailable, and if available, inaccessible.
The conflict within the media is likely to continue for years to come, but the battle lines have been drawn and are in a process of constant change and expansion. The reality is that more and more favour and resonate with the new media platforms, empowered by a new generation whose priorities reflect those of the majority of people, not just the privileged few.
Dr Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. He is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant, an author of several books and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com
