Our latest research on Queer digital resistance in MENA. Russia’s intensifying crackdown on journalists.

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Photo credit: ARTICLE 19

Queer resistance to digital oppression in the Middle East and North Africa

In groundbreaking new research, over 5,000 LGBTQ people in 8 countries across Middle East and North Africa (MENA) tell ARTICLE 19 how police are weaponising dating, messaging, and social media apps to persecute them – and what tech companies can do to keep them safe.

The Queer Resistance to Digital Oppression report series, carried out by ARTICLE 19 in collaboration with The De|Center ([link removed]) and local experts, is the largest-ever research project conducted with LGBTQ communities in MENA. It focuses on the lived experiences of the queer community, and on changes they want tech companies to make to their products to reduce harm.

People are taking risky measures to keep themselves, their friends, and their loved ones safe. But the onus should not fall on individuals. Tech companies have responsibilities that protect human rights for their users ([link removed]) , and they urgently need to do more to meet them.

The research shows that 50% of interviewees had experienced police searching their devices, including to ‘verify’ their queerness.

‘At the precinct I was handcuffed, he kicked me to the door and asked me to open it…he came close to me with the phone in his hand and forced me to place my fingerprint and open it…they accessed Messenger and took it as an excuse to throw accusations at me.’

– Research participant, Lebanon

100% of research participants who had been in custody and had biometrics enabled on their device (such as Face ID/fingerprint unlocking) were forced to access their device – usually violently.

59% of survey respondents said the availability of harm-reduction features determine whether they use an app.

In other words, biometrics increases risk and decreases privacy.

’Our research documents mass human rights abuses – however, it is also an ode to the ingenuity of the MENA LGBTQ community in finding ways to exist and thrive despite this violence.

‘The incredibly important findings build on their resistance, resilience, and perseverance in pushing technologists to build against such oppression, design from the margins and create better tech. If implemented, the harm reduction features will improve lives globally – just like the previous changes we fought for that have already affected millions of people.’

– Afsaneh Rigot, Founder of The De|Center and Research Advisor at ARTICLE 19

ARTICLE 19 first spearheaded work on this issue back in 2016, when we exposed ([link removed]) how police in MENA were using queer dating apps to entrap, arrest, and abuse LGBTQ people.

As a result, companies including Grindr ([link removed]) , WhatsApp, and Signal ([link removed]) introduced security features to their products – including app cloaking, PINs or timed and disappearing messages. Nearly half (49%) of our survey respondents said these are the features they use the most – and, for some, they were the difference between being imprisoned and being released.

Our recommendations set out concrete and granular actions that apps and platforms must follow to protect their users in the MENA region.

Central to the work is a methodology called Design From the Margins ([link removed]) , grounded in the knowledge that when those most marginalised are placed at the core of design considerations, we all benefit from better design. By following the methodology, tech companies can make their LGBTQ users in MENA safer – and these changes, in turn, will make all their users safer.

Read the reports ([link removed])

ALSO IN THE NEWS
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Putin's intensifying persecution of journalists

Within days of one another, Russian authorities handed down harsh jail sentences in closed-door trials for journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva. Gershkovich, who works for the Wall Street Journal, has been sentenced for 16 years behind bars on espionage charges, while Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporter Kurmasheva received a six-and-a-half-year verdict for ‘spreading false information’. Then, on 23 July came the sentencing in absentia of exiled journalist Mikhail Zygar on charges of spreading ‘fake information’.

Although the news was not a surprise, it still came as a huge shock, a chilling confirmation that Putin’s government views journalists as political tools he can use to demonstrate his power.

Prior to Evan’s sentencing, Nicola Kelly talked to Ann Simmons, Moscow Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal, about his arrest and the efforts to free him. Listen now ([link removed])

We continue to monitor Russia’s persistent crackdown on journalists, and advocate for their rights and protection in Russia and around the world.

Find out more ([link removed]) about attacks on freedom of expression in Russia.
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