On World Press Freedom Day, ARTICLE 19, as part of the MENA Alliance for Digital Rights (MADR), expresses deep concern about the ongoing deterioration of freedom of expression and media freedom across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The region remains one of the most hostile environments in the world for journalists, and media workers continue to be censored, attacked, persecuted, and killed for doing their jobs. We urge governments across the MENA region and tech companies to uphold their international human rights obligations and take immediate steps to protect press freedom.
Journalists deliberately targeted in conflict zones
Journalists in Palestine and Lebanon face ongoing harassment, threats, and attacks, with many targeted for their reporting. As the genocidal war on Palestine escalated, the death toll rose alongside documented violations against media workers across Gaza, the West Bank, and southern Lebanon. Several reports indicate that Israel may have deliberately singled out journalists in these areas. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), over 211 journalists have been killed in Palestine since October 2023, while Israel is still not allowing foreign journalists to enter the Gaza Strip.
We call for an independent international investigation into the circumstances of the killings of all journalists in Palestine and for the International Criminal Court to investigate them as potential violations of the Rome Statute.
In Sudan, the war that erupted in April 2023 has devastated the country’s media landscape. Most press facilities in Khartoum have been destroyed or seized, dozens of journalists have been killed, and many more have been forced into exile, according to the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate. The conflict has left a communications vacuum filled by propaganda and disinformation, while independent voices are silenced through intimidation and violence.
Since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Syria has been experiencing a historic opening for press freedom, with journalists able to work openly for the first time in years. However, independent media outlets, crucial for democratic reform and public accountability, now face an acute economic crisis and the threat of collapse just as their role is most vital. The dwindling international support, especially with recent funding cuts, the sanctions still in place, and the collapse of state institutions have left an information vacuum. The new regime currently uses WhatsApp and Telegram to communicate with citizens, leaving room for significant amounts of disinformation to take hold. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, risks to journalists remain high, with journalists in northern Syria and southern Syria ‘facing the greatest risks including abduction, detention, or murder’. Journalists reporting on the recent deadly clashes in Syria have been subjected to severe violence, effectively preventing them from covering the conflict. Simultaneously, Syrian authorities have implemented strict restrictions further hindering independent reporting by barring international journalists from accessing the Sahel region.
Without urgent international action to support independent journalism, Syria risks losing the fragile gains in media freedom, undermining hopes for democracy and allowing unchecked power and sectarian divisions to persist.
Cybercrime laws weaponised to silence dissent online
Cybercrime laws continue to serve as tools for silencing dissent and criminalising online expression. Vague and overly broad legal provisions are frequently used by governments in the region to suppress any form of criticism and dissent online, often to prosecute journalists, activists, and human rights defenders.
In Jordan, nearly two years after the enactment of the new cybercrime law, authorities are increasingly using it to punish critics and stifle expressions of solidarity with Palestinians. On 13 May 2024, journalist Hiba Abu Taha was arrested and, on 11 June 2024, she was sentenced to one year in prison under the cybercrime law for a Facebook post criticising Jordan’s foreign policy with Israel. She was freed on 13 February 2025. In Tunisia, Decree-law No. 54 of 2022 on cybercrime is being used to prosecute critics, fostering a climate of fear and self-censorship and further eroding press freedom.
Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has significantly increased the number of detained journalists since 2017. The government employs counter-terrorism and anti-cybercrime legislation to stifle online expression, and journalists have been targeted with Pegasus spyware. In 2024, Saudi Arabia continued to imprison numerous writers, with 23 total cases reported, including several new ones. Harsh sentences against social media users demonstrate the authorities’ intent to eliminate all forms of unauthorised expression. Bloggers and online commentators constantly face online harassment, smear campaigns, arrest, and incommunicado detention.
Ongoing arrests and prosecutions across the region
Across the MENA region, journalists and media workers continue to be subjected to arbitrary detention and politically-motivated charges within a legal framework that is already inconsistent with international standards.
In Egypt, satirist Ashraf Omar and journalist Khaled Mamdouh have been held in pretrial detention since July 2024 on charges such as ‘spreading false information’, ‘belonging to a terrorist group’, and ‘misusing social media’. In July 2024, the Supreme State Security Prosecution referred researcher and journalist Abdelrahman Mahmoud Abdou to the criminal court. He and others face terrorism-related charges with no credible evidence. According to the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, over 20 journalists remained in pretrial detention in 2024, some for more than two years, most facing charges related to terrorism or spreading disinformation.
In Libya, journalist Salehin Al-Zarwali has been detained since May 2024 for Facebook posts critical of the authorities. He is currently being tried by a military court in Benghazi.
Since President Kais Saied’s power grab on 25 July, 2021, press freedom has been steadily plummeting in Tunisia. The crackdown hit a peak with the introduction of Decree-law 54, drafted under the pretext of protecting information and communication systems, but which has been widely employed as a tool for silencing dissent. The state’s crackdown intensified ahead of the 2024 presidential election, including the effective shutdown of the Independent High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HAICA). As of January 2025, over 50 people were being held on political grounds or in connection with their public statements perceived to be critical of the government. According to the annual report by the National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) on the State of Press Freedom, 167 violations against journalists, photojournalists, and media correspondents were documented between April 2024 and April 2025. The violations included police violence, censorship, denial of access to information, digital threats and incitement, arbitrary prosecutions and imprisonment. Most alarming, Tunisian courts issued 10 prison sentences against journalists during this period, the highest number recorded for more than three decades, with six sentences carried out and four journalists remaining behind bars.
International organisations, including the United Nations, have condemned Tunisia’s pattern of arbitrary arrests and persecution of journalists, activists, and political opponents, urging respect for freedom of expression and the immediate release of detainees.
Repression of free expression remains widespread in Gulf countries, where authorities continue to silence independent voices, including journalists and online activists. In Qatar, internet activist Umm Nasser was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for social media posts criticising judicial corruption; reports indicate she was physically assaulted and ill-treated in detention. Her case highlights an intensified crackdown on online dissent, particularly following recent data-sharing agreements between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Another Qatari activist, Ahmed Abdullah Al-Saad Al-Kuwari, received a 13-year prison sentence for challenging the Emir and allegedly inciting discord online. Arrested in Saudi Arabia and deported to Qatar, he began a hunger strike in protest, resulting in hospitalization.
In Kuwait, blogger Mansoor Al-Muhareb was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison with hard labor for tweets authorities deemed offensive.
According to a recent report by the Bahrain Press Association, the Bahraini government persists in harassing online critics, those calling for the release of political prisoners, or those demanding reforms. In Bahrain, authorities committed approximately 100 violations against journalists and activists, including interrogation, imprisonment, and trials. Many individuals were summoned to cybercrime units immediately after posting criticism of the government and were pressured to remove it through threats or blackmail. One lawyer received a two-month sentence. Numerous arrests and sentencings followed complaints from members of parliament or government entities.
The UAE Federal Supreme Court has upheld the convictions and harsh sentences, including life imprisonment for 43 people and lengthy prison terms for others, against 53 defendants, including prominent human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, following a mass trial widely criticized for serious due process violations and lack of fair trial standards. Human rights groups have condemned the verdict as a blatant attempt to silence dissent, highlighting concerns over the use of anti-terrorism laws to suppress peaceful activism and the ongoing repression of critics in the UAE.
These cases illustrate the ongoing repression of digital expression and the targeting of those who challenge official narratives in the Gulf region.
Independent media under attack
Independent media outlets across the MENA region face escalating threats, including legal harassment, financial pressure, and smear campaigns.
In Lebanon, media organisations, notably Daraj and Megaphone, are increasingly targeted by mass media campaigns and legal suits for their investigative reporting and accountability work. Both outlets learned of a legal complaint accusing them of ‘undermining the state’s financial standing, undermining confidence in the local currency, inciting the withdrawal of bank deposits and the sale of government bonds, receiving suspicious foreign financing with the aim of undermining confidence in the state, inciting strife, undermining the reputation of the state, weakening national sentiment and attacking and conspiring against the security of the state’. The proceedings against these outlets have violated domestic legal safeguards for journalists, including the requirement for the provision of written summons detailing charges and the stipulation that journalistic cases be handled by the Publications Court, highlighting a broader trend of using vague legal provisions to intimidate and suppress independent media.
In Algeria, repression of the independent press also continues. The Algiers Court of Appeal upheld the dissolution of Interface Médias, the media company that operates Radio M and Maghreb Émergent, run by journalist Ihsane El Kadi. The journalist was imprisoned, serving a nearly two-year sentence for allegedly operating an audiovisual service without authorisation.
Given state abuses of power that suppress media freedom, tech companies have a responsibility to prevent their platforms from mirroring governmental repression. We urge them to protect journalists’ and media organisations’ freedom of expression, guaranteeing that independent voices can be heard without fear of censorship, surveillance, or retaliation. Tech companies must ensure their policies and practices, including content moderation and responses to government requests, safeguard journalists’ ability to report freely and safely, without the threat of unaccountable silencing.
We demand that governments take immediate and decisive action to end the persecution of journalists, repeal all repressive laws, and actively foster a safe, enabling environment for free and independent media to thrive.
As we mark World Press Freedom Day, we stand in solidarity with journalists, media workers, and independent outlets across the MENA region who continue to operate under immense risk and pressure, putting their lives on the line. Media freedom is a fundamental human right and a cornerstone of any democratic society.