Saudi Arabia and the UAE are leading exponents of digital authoritarianism in MENA, while China also exports repressive technologies to the region, analyst James Lynch writes in a new report for the European Council on Foreign Relations.
The European Endowment for Democracy provides important backing to activists and citizen journalists by working to create a safer online environment, he notes, supporting the independent online news platform Beirut Today, which operates in a polarized political climate, and the Verify-Sy fact-checking service, which has debunked thousands of fake news stories about the conflict in Syria.
However, the EU has undermined its own credibility in countering digital authoritarianism, Lynch suggests. RTWT
The @EEDemocracy provides important backing to activists & citizen journalists, supporting the independent online news platform @BeirutToday & #VerifySy fact-checking service, @jpmlynch writes in a new @ecfr report.https://t.co/CNcRrn0hER
— Democracy Digest (@demdigest) June 29, 2022
