Yahoo – AFP, Wissam Keyrouz, 1 February 2013
 |
| AFP/Mohammed
al-Shaikh - Customers are seen browsing Twitter messages on their smartphones at a coffee shop in Manama, Bahrain, on January 29, 2013 |
Twitter's
unmatched platform for public opinion is emboldening Gulf Arabs to exchange
views on delicate issues in the deeply conservative region, despite strict
censorship that controls old media.
The
authorities have been attempting to limit the damage by handing out jail terms
to some whose tweets have been deemed offensive in the Muslim states, including
in Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
But the
popularity of the microblogging website has even extended to princes, ministers
and other high-profile officials who are eager to express their opinions,
sometimes even upsetting their own governments.
"Twitter
is being used by the governments and elites (in the Gulf) as much as it is used
by ordinary people," said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, an academic in the United
Arab Emirates.
An avid
tweeter himself, the professor of political science said the site
"provides a wide platform for free expression without any
restraints," acknowledging such space "could cause a headache for the
authorities" who control most other media.
Islamists
and liberals -- especially in Saudi Arabia -- exchange blows over a plethora of
subjects in the virtual arena, while some tweeters who use pseudonyms have become
popular for their insights into the ruling class.
Prominent
among these is @Mujtahidd, or The Diligent, whose tweets about developments in
the Saudi royal family have attracted his account more than 912,000 followers.
Mujtahidd's
identity remains secret.
 |
Saudi
internet surfers are seen checking
their Twitter accounts at a coffee shop in
Riyadh, on February 9, 2012.
|
One of his
latest tweets was a claim that Saudi Arabia was "backing the French
military campaign in Mali (against Islamists) with $6 billion in the form of an
arms deal".
Saudi
Arabia has not made any official comment on the situation in the African nation.
High
profile Dubai police chief, General Dhahi Khalfan, also has used Twitter to
mount a fierce campaign against Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.
Through his
@Dhahi_Khalfan account, which has more than 362,000 followers, he accused the
party of Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Morsi of plotting against his
country.
The
opposition also used Twitter and Facebook extensively to mobilise
anti-government protests in Bahrain, where a month-long uprising in 2011 was
initiated by the February 14 Revolution cyber group.
Activists
provide real-time Twitter feeds on clashes with police during protests that
continue in the archipelago despite a heavy-handed crackdown in March 2011 that
quelled huge rallies.
The
Bahraini interior ministry responds with its own statements on Twitter.
"The
level of freedom of expression furnished by Twitter is not available anywhere
else," said Abdullah, the professor.
But using
this margin of freedom has landed some tweeters in jail as authorities do not
take criticism lightly.
Kuwait has
jailed two Twitter users for two years, while dozens are being tried over
messages deemed insulting to the emir, while imprisoned Saudi tweeter Hamza
Kashgari awaits a trial that could send him to the gallows over postings seen
as apostasy.
 |
Kuwaiti youth activist
Hamad al-Olayan (2nd R) walks out of the Justice Palace
(courthouse) in Kuwait
City, on November 3, 2011, after he and fellow activist
Tareq al-Mutairi were
questioned for allegedly making remarks on their Twitter
accounts deemed
offensive to the status of the Gulf state ruler
|
Abdullah
said the "huge number of offensive and obscene tweets" had upset many
people -- and not just governments.
Kuwaiti
commentator Saad al-Ajmi, who previously served as a minister of information,
said governments should not panic over the impact of social media networks and
should use them as a "gauge for public opinion".
"Such
windows (of freedom) opened by new channels of expression can't be
closed," said Ajmi, also an ardent tweeter.
In figures,
three million people in Saudi Arabia, representing 12 percent of the kingdom's
population, have Twitter accounts, according to a report by The Social Clinic,
a Jeddah-based consultancy.
Women
represented 45 percent of tweeters in the ultra-conservative kingdom where
women face strict social constraints, are not allowed to drive and have to
cover themselves from head to toe in public.
Activists
found in Twitter an open platform to promote women's rights, with the hashtag
#women2drive and Facebook group of the same name giving a huge publicity boost
for a campaign to allow women to drive.
Similarly,
many prominent Saudi preachers are active tweeters with one cleric, Mohammed
al-Arifi, attracting 3.8 million followers -- the most in the Gulf region.
Tweeters in
Saudi Arabia post about 50 million messages on the network each month, helping
Arabic to become the fastest-growing language on the blogging site.
"It is
permissible to demand rules that regulate (Twitter) because there are many
offences," said Abdullah, adding that "laws should not be rashly
prepared, nor be tough, and should go through parliaments".
Elected
parliaments enjoying strong legislative powers hardly exist in the Gulf
monarchies and sheikhdoms, where most councils are either fully or partially
named by the rulers, and their powers are limited.
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" ... Now I give you something that few think about: What do you think the Internet is all about, historically? Citizens of all the countries on Earth can talk to one another without electronic borders. The young people of those nations can all see each other, talk to each other, and express opinions. No matter what the country does to suppress it, they're doing it anyway. They are putting together a network of consciousness, of oneness, a multicultural consciousness. It's here to stay. It's part of the new energy. The young people know it and are leading the way.... "
" ... I gave you a prophecy more than 10 years ago. I told you there would come a day when everyone could talk to everyone and, therefore, there could be no conspiracy. For conspiracy depends on separation and secrecy - something hiding in the dark that only a few know about. Seen the news lately? What is happening? Could it be that there is a new paradigm happening that seems to go against history?... " Read More …. "The End of History"- Nov 20,2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
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