MENA Net Watch
The aim of MENA Net Watch is to document and analyze information shaping, events-based blocking, and counter-control activities currently underway throughout the Middle East and North Africa. We will consolidate secondary reports and ONI primary research as they become available on this site.
From the OpenNet Initiative
ONI Blog Posts
ONI Bulletins and Reports
ONI Country and Regional Profiles
Secondary Reports
Regional Coverage
Afghanistan
Bahrain
Egypt
Iran
Israel & Palestine
Libya
Morocco
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
From the OpenNet Initiative
ONI Blog Posts
- September 14, 2011: Three Online Activists Arrested in Morocco
- September 3, 2011: Libya's Internet Restored Briefly After Months of Silence
- August 10, 2011: Anonymous' attack Syrian Defense Ministry website window into the group's changing agenda?
- August 1, 2011: ONI Releases New Report on Faith-Based Censorship
- July 26, 2011: Saudi Government Blocks Amnesty International’s Website
- July 22, 2011: Iran Ramps Up Internet Control
- July 21, 2011: New Data Added to ONI’s Global Timeline of YouTube Censorship
- July 14, 2011: Internet Oasis or Filter-Free Mirage: China, North Korea Plan Unrestricted Internet Districts, UAE Experience Tells a Different Story
- July 1, 2011: Canada lauds UAE ISP that pervasively censors political, religious, and gay and lesbian information, using Canadian software
- June 29, 2011: New Report on the Syrian Electronic Army
- June 29, 2011: Shadows, Suitcases, and Circumvention: U.S. Plans a Mesh Network Shadow Internet in Repressive Regimes
- June 15, 2011: Protests mark the second anniversary of the "Twitter Revolution" in Iran
- June 13, 2011: 32 Suspected “Anonymous” Members Arrested in Turkey
- June 8, 2011: Anonymous to Turkish Government over Censorship: “Expect Us”
- June 3, 2011: Syria goes mostly offline as protests intensify
- May 31, 2011: New Reports on Pro-Government Hackers in the Middle East
- May 16, 2011: When a Canadian company decides what citizens in the Middle East can access online
- May 11, 2011: Syrian government newspaper accuses Facebook of conspiring against the country
- May 9, 2011: Saudi Arabia Tightens Media Restrictions
- May 6, 2011: Turkish Telecommunications Directorate Bans 138 Words from Turkish Internet
- April 28, 2011: Iran Ranked as World’s Worst Internet Oppressor
- March 28, 2011: ONI Releases Special Report on the Use of Western Technologies by Middle East Censors
- March 18. 2011: ONI Releases 2010 Year in Review
- January 28, 2011: Egypt's Internet Blackout: Extreme Example of Just-in-Time Blocking
- January 16, 2011: WikiLeaks Criticized for Driving Tunisian Uprising
- January 14, 2011: Saudi Arabia Requires License for Bloggers
- January 13, 2011: Tunisia Shuts Off Internet Filter
- January 5, 2011: Tunisian Government Websites Attacked Via DDoS
- December 8, 2010: Syrian Telecom Minister says the answer is raising awareness, not censorship
- November 14, 2010: Saudi Arabia Blocks Facebook for Hours over Moral Concerns
- November 3, 2010: Turkey - "Unbanning" of YouTube Short-Lived Indeed
- November 2. 2010: Turkey: Will Unbanning of YouTube Be Short-Lived?
Bulletins & Reports
- August 2011: ONI Bulletin: In the Name of God: Faith Based Internet Censorship in Majority Muslim Countries (PDF)
- June 2011: InfoWar Monitor Report: Syrian Electronic Army: Disruptive Attacks and Hyped Targets
- May 2011: InfoWar Monitor Report: The Emergence of Open and Organized Pro-Government Cyber Attacks in the Middle East: The Case of the Syrian Electronic Army
- March 2011: ONI Bulletin: West Censoring East: The Use of Western Technologies by Middle East Censors, 2010-2011
- January 2010: ONI Bulletin: "Sex, Social Mores, and Keyword Filtering: Microsoft Bing in the 'Arabian Countries'"
ONI Country and Regional Profiles
- ONI 2009 Egypt Country Report
- ONI 2009 Syria Country Report
- ONI 2009 Tunisia Country Report
- ONI 2009 Middle East and North Africa Regional Overview
Secondary Reports
A collection of external sources reporting on the Internet throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
Regional Coverage
- August 2, 2011: Peace & Conflict Monitor: Tor, Anonymity, and the Arab Spring - An Interview with Jacob Appelbaum
- June 13, 2011: Toronto Star: Guelph-based software censors the Internet in the Middle East
- March 29, 2011: ReadWriteWeb: ONI Report Details Western Complicity in Mideast Online Tyranny
- March 28, 2011: The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Products Help Block Mideast Web
- March 28, 2011: The New York Times: Ethical Quandary for Social Sites
Afghanistan
- June 27, 2011: TG News: Afghani city builds its own internet
Bahrain
- February 21, 2011: International Business Times: All Eyes Turn To Internet In Libya, Bahrain
- February 18, 2011: Computer World UK: Bahrain government clamps down on Internet after protests
Egypt
- September 16, 2011: PBS: How Social Media Is Keeping the Egyptian Revolution Alive
- September 12, 2011: Reuters: Egypt security forces raid unit of Al Jazeera
- June 29, 2011: Computerworld: Internet shutdown 'will never happen again,' says Egypt's IT chief
- June 1, 2011: Foreign Policy: Court--Egypt planned for Internet shutdown since 2008
- April 28, 2011: The Guardian: British firm offered spying software to Egyptian regime
- February 2, 2011: TechPresident: Why'd a Battle-Ready Mubarak Turn Egypt's Internet Back On?
- January 31, 2011: MIT Technology Review: Egypt Turns Off the Internet. Now What Happens?
- January 30, 2011: Boston Globe: Foreign Activists Stay Covered Online
- January 28, 2011: Technosociology: As Egypt Shuts Off the Net: Seven Theses on Dictator's Dilemma
- January 28, 2011: Committee to Protect Journalists: Watching Egypt Leave the Internet
- January 28, 2011: Global Voices Online: Information Getting Out Despite Information Blackout
- January 28, 2011: GigaOm: How Egypt Switched Off the Internet
- January 28, 2011: Al Jazeera English: Online Activism Fuels Egypt Protests
- January 27, 2011: Renesys Blog: Egypt Leaves the Internet
Iran
- September 14, 2011: Tor: Iran blocks Tor; Tor releases same-day fix
- September 6, 2011: PC World: Nearly 300,000 Iranian IP Addresses Likely Compromised
- July 22, 2011: Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty: Iran's Basij Head Turns Bard To Dismiss Twitter, Facebook
- July 20, 2011: The Guardian: Iran tightens online censorship to counter US 'shadow internet'
- July 19, 2011: ABC News Radio: Iran Bans Google+, Calling It a US 'Spy Tool'
- July 13, 2011: The Guardian: Iran tightens online censorship
- June 30, 2011: Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps Warns Against ‘Internet In A Suitcase’ Project
- June 30, 2011: The Internet of Elsewhere: No American firms sell online surveillance tools to Iran, GAO says
- June 15, 2011: Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty: Tehran Casts A Cold Eye Over U.S. Shadow Internet Efforts
- June 9, 2011: Global Voices Online: Iranian court upholds 20 years jail sentence against blogger Hossein Derakhshan
- May 31, 2011: The Wall Street Journal: Iran Vows to Unplug Internet
- May 9, 2011: Iran Media Program: From the National Internet to the Halal Internet; what do they mean by all this?
- April 18, 2011: Internet of Elsewhere: Iran announces ‘halal Internet,’ new cyberdefense study programs
- April 1, 2011: Deutsche Welle: Iran holds its own blogging competition
- March 25, 2011: The Wall Street Journal: Web Firm Suspects Iran Hacked into it
- January 31, 2011: Reuters Africa: More news websites blocked in Iran
Israel & Palestine
- July 20, 2011: Haaretz: Israel mulls bill that would expose belligerent talk-backers
- July 11, 2011: Associated Press: Israel tracks down Palestine activists on Facebook
- January 22, 2011: ABC News: Palestinian Charged With Insulting Leader Online
Libya
- August 21, 2011: Renesys: The Battle for Tripoli's Internet
- August 12, 2011: Renesys: Libyan Internet Instability
- February 21, 2011: International Business Times: All Eyes Turn To Internet In Libya, Bahrain
- February 21, 2011: PC Mag: Libya Cuts Internet Access for Several Hours
Morocco
- September 13, 2011: Global Voices: Morocco: Multiple Arrests Against Activists
Saudi Arabia
- July 25, 2011: The Washington Post: Saudi Arabia blocks Amnesty International Web site after anti-terror law leak
- May 6, 2011: Arab News: Kingdom amends media laws
Sudan
- March 25, 2011: BBC: Sudan to unleash cyber jihadists
Syria
- August 8, 2011: MSNBC: Anonymous Defaces Syrian Defense Website in Protest
- June 29, 2011: Infowar Monitor: Syrian Electronic Army Defaces 41 Web sites, One UK Government Web site
- June 6, 2011: The Atlantic Wire: After Syrian Internet shutdown ends, videos from protests emerge
- June 3, 2011: The Washington Post: Syria internet services shut down as protesters fill streets
- June 3, 2011: Renesys: Syrian Internet Shutdown
- May 19, 2011: IEEE Spectrum: The Syrian War Is Raging on Facebook
- May 6, 2011: EFF: A Syrian Man-In-The-Middle Attack against Facebook
- March 30, 2011: CNN: Syria tests internet freedom theory
Tunisia
- July 24, 2011: The National: Tunisia's new freedoms don't apply to all
- July 7, 2011: Wall Street Journal: Web's Openness is Tested in Tunisia
- June 27, 2011: International Business Times: Anonymous takes down Tunisian government site in the name of AntiSec; Calls it fight against Internet censorship
- June 20, 2011: Magharebia: Court Orders Tunisia's Internet Authority to Filter Pornographic Websites
- May 27, 2011: Global Post: Tunisian court orders porn sites blocked
- May 24, 2011: Trend: Tunisian blogger resigns from government over internet censorship
- May 17, 2011: Global Voices Online: Internet Censorship Makes a Comeback (Tunisia)
- May 10, 2011: Al Jazeera English: Violence and censorship fuel Tunisia tensions
- January 28, 2011: The Atlantic: Tunisia, Egypt, Miami: The Importance of Internet Choke Points
- January 24, 2011: The Atlantic: The Inside Story of How Facebook Responded to Tunisian Hacks
- January 24, 2011: NPR: Tunisians Embrace Life Without Censorship
Turkey
- August 10, 2011: Reporters Without Borders: Turkish Internet agency retreats on filtering, but does not give up
- August 5, 2011: Today's Zaman: Turkey backtracks on controversial Internet filtering plans
- August 1, 2011: Hürriyet Daily News: Internet filters appropriate reaction to Norway attacks, says Turkish politician
- June 27, 2011: Hürriyet Daily News: ‘Eksi-users’ raid sour web freedom
- June 22, 2011: Eurasia Net: Turkey's Government Moves Ahead with Plans to Introduce Filtering
- June 13, 2011: PCMag: Turkey Arrests 32 'Anonymous' Members
- May 25, 2011: Hürriyet Daily News: Action against Turkey's Internet ban demanded in Europe
- May 17, 2011: The New York Times: Internet Filters Set Off Protests Around Turkey
- May 10, 2011: Telecom TV: Turkey plans to introduce compulsory content-filtering for Internet users
- May 4, 2011: EurasiaNet: Are Ankara Web Regulators Running Amok?
- May 4, 2011: Today's Zaman: Internet watchdog dismisses claims of censorship, Turkey
- May 2, 2011: bianet: 138 Words Banned From The Turkish Internet
- May 2, 2011: Hürriyet Daily News: T?B's 'forbidden words list' inconsistent with law, say Turkish web providers
- April 27, 2011: Voice of America: Critics Challenge New Internet Controls in Turkey
United Arab Emirates
- August 17, 2011: UAE: Now tweeting rumours can land you three years in jail
Regions:
