Internet Freedom in the Middle East Remained Restricted in 2023

WASHINGTON—Internet freedom in the Middle East remained restricted in 2023, with three countries recording overall declines in digital human rights and three countries experiencing marginal improvements, according to a new report released today by Freedom House.

The report—Freedom on the Net 2023: The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence—finds that Iran experienced the worst score decline among the countries assessed, driven by the authorities’ disproportionate and violent crackdown on nationwide antigovernment protests sparked by the death in custody of Jina Mahsa Amini in September 2022. Since then, hundreds of protesters have been arrested, including numerous women who used social media to express opposition to the regime’s discriminatory hijab policies. The government also shut down internet services, blocked WhatsApp and Instagram, and expanded its repressive surveillance apparatus.

Other findings on the Middle East include:

• None of the seven Middle Eastern countries assessed by Freedom on the Net are considered Free. Three—Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq—are rated Partly Free, and the remaining four—United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Iran—are rated Not Free.
• The United Arab Emirates, with a score of 30 on the report’s 100-point scale, received the largest score improvement in the region (+2), as previously blocked communications platforms such as Zoom became accessible during the coverage period.
• While Lebanon, with a score of 50, has the highest level of internet freedom in the region, the ongoing economic crisis has put a significant strain on internet access in the country, and several prominent journalists were summoned for questioning over their online reporting.
• In Jordan (47) and Iraq (43), authorities continued their practice of shutting down internet service during national exams. The Jordanian government also shut down the internet and blocked TikTok amid protests in December 2022.
• Iran has the lowest aggregate score of the region (11) and experienced the steepest score decline (−5) on Freedom on the Net’s 100-point scale. In addition to engaging in digital repression of antigovernment protests, authorities quietly enacted parts of the restrictive Internet User Protection Bill despite failing to receive parliamentary approval, and carried out death sentences against people convicted of offenses related to online expression.
• Authorities in Saudi Arabia (25) intensified crackdowns on political and religious speech. In early 2023, Awad al-Qarni, a prominent cleric who has been incarcerated since 2019, was sentenced to death on charges of using Twitter, now known as X, to share information that was “hostile” to the government.
• The report also found that while advances in artificial intelligence (AI) offer benefits for society, they have been used to increase the scale and efficiency of digital repression. Governments are leveraging automated systems to strengthen their information controls and hone forms of online censorship. Simultaneously, distributors of disinformation have turned to AI tools to fabricate images, audio, and text, further blurring the lines between reality and deception.

Beyond the Middle East, Freedom on the Net 2023 finds that global internet freedom declined for the 13th consecutive year. The environment for human rights online deteriorated in 29 countries, while only 20 countries registered net gains. In 53 countries, people faced legal repercussions for expressing themselves online, while people were physically assaulted or killed for their online commentary in a record 43 countries.

Freedom on the Net is an annual study of human rights in the digital sphere. The project assesses internet freedom in 70 countries, accounting for almost 89 percent of the world’s internet users. This report, the 13th in its series, covered developments between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023. More than 85 analysts and advisers contributed to this year’s edition, using a standard methodology to determine each country’s internet freedom score on a 100-point scale, with 21 separate indicators pertaining to obstacles to access, limits on content, and violations of user rights.

Click here to read the full report and policy recommendations. Click here to read additional report press releases: Global, Africa, Americas, Asia-Pacific, Eurasia, Europe. 

To schedule an interview with Freedom House experts, please contact Maryam Iftikhar at [email protected] or (202) 747-7064.

Freedom House is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to create a world where all are free. We inform the world about threats to freedom, mobilize global action, and support democracy’s defenders.