Stories about Middle East & North Africa
24 October 2018
Will Syria follow in the UAE's footsteps and censor VoIP services?
A policy banning VoIP services will present a direct threat to Syrians’ rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
In Iran, state-sanctioned messaging apps are the new hallmark of internet nationalization
Since they censored Telegram, Iranian officials have deployed aggressive measures in an effort to promote national messaging services.
16 October 2018
When will Egypt release photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid aka Shawkan?
More than one month after a Cairo court verdict that many saw as the end to his ordeal, Shawkan remains in jail.
14 October 2018
For these Iranian twin-sister artists, collaboration is “like one person working with her other self”
"'Reincarnation' implies a new life. If we can make the audience wake up and realize the world around them and see the beauty in it, it is a huge success."
3 October 2018
In Yemen, war, bad management and climate change are at fault for water shortage
"I blame the government for not managing and supervising the water crisis. No one cares about the people."
18 September 2018
In Syria, regime loyalists use art as a tool of war
"Since the early days of the revolution, the Syrian regime has idolized and romanticized a military state"
14 September 2018
One Syrian's harrowing journey to freedom
"For the first time in years we saw streets undamaged by missiles, sidewalks unmarred by shrapnel, and walls unblemished by war."
10 September 2018
Three years on, Lebanon's ‘You Stink’ movement finds fresh reasons to protest
In 2015, "You Stink" mobilized thousands of people against in what turned out to be Lebanon's largest non-partisan street demonstrations since the end of Lebanese civil war in 1991.
9 September 2018
Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Shawkan to be released soon after five years in prison
"He never should have been behind bars. He was arrested while doing his job as a photographer."
8 September 2018
Jordanian health survey sparks online debate about family planning
Jordanians engage in online debates over results of a survey concerning maternal and child care.
6 September 2018
Netizen Report: What role does Facebook play in Libya’s civil war?
The Advox Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in Internet rights around the world.
A lethal combination: How MENA governments use cybercrime laws and spyware to target activists
Gulf governments continue to deploy cybercrime laws as an arbitrary legal cover to target target human rights defenders.
28 August 2018
Syrian refugees in Lebanon continue to play the resettlement waiting game
After five months of waiting, Abu Adel finally received a call: 'Apologies for the delay, but France did not accept your file.' The family is still under consideration for resettlement.
15 August 2018
The ongoing water crisis in Iran's Ahwaz region looming towards disaster
"Why don’t the authorities listen to our voices? Our Buffaloes are dying because of the river drying up. [...] If these animals are starved, we will starve too."
13 August 2018
Lebanon ramps up interrogations of online activists
“You cannot bring us up with a mentality of freedom and then try to oppress us.”
9 August 2018
Four women icons of the Syrian revolution
One perished in a Syrian prison, two died in exile, the other is still missing. The personal histories of these four Syrian women challenge us to not to forget.
6 August 2018
Iran’s telecommunications company illegally rerouted Telegram app traffic
In a new move aimed at tightening the state-imposed ban on the Telegram messaging app, the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI) temporarily rerouted Telegram app traffic in violation of domestic law in July 2018.
5 August 2018
After years of silence and denial, Assad regime issues death certificates to ‘disappeared’ prisoners
Since July 2018, the government has been updating its civil registry records wherein 'disappeared' prisoners are now listed as dead.
3 August 2018
Killing speech softly: How the world’s biggest tech companies are quietly censoring critical expression in the Middle East
The failures of tech giants in moderating content in the region is a big and complex problem.
1 August 2018
Death of a 12-year-old boy lays bare the plight of Iran's Ahwazi minority
Meysam's suicide is the latest to afflict the Ahwazi Arab community, a minority population who live in Iran's oil-rich south who face hardship and discrimination by the country's authorities.
About our Middle East & North Africa coverage
Joey Ayoub is Middle East and North Africa editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.
Afef Abrougui is Advox Editor for the Middle East and North Africa. Email her story ideas related to freedom of expression online.
Mahsa Alimardani is the Iran and Farsi editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
Lova Rakotomalala is the French editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.
