Monitoring - Kuwait Arrest Puts Spotlight on Social Media Freedom
News that charismatic Kuwaiti activist Muhammad al-Ajami - known as Abo Asam - was taken into detention for 10 days, pending investigation into charges of a tweet deemed to be in “contempt of religion”, has generated thousands of tweets with the hashtag #freedom_for_Abo3asam (#الحرية_لبوعسم), and reignited debate about social media freedoms in the region.
Kuwait is in many ways more open than its more conservative neighbours, with a greater level of freedom of expression. But social media have also provided other Gulf states with a forum for colourful discussions - although cases such as the young Saudi writer Hamza Kashgari, who served nearly two years in jail for tweets considered to be blasphemous, are a reminder that some subjects are still considered “red lines”.
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h/t JP Savage