Social media platforms can be an important means of communication and community empowerment. However, LGBT+ individuals worldwide often face high levels of online harassment. Especially in the MENA region, LGBT+ individuals and organizations working for LGBT+ rights use digital platforms to access knowledge, build movements, and connect with others. In contexts where governments prohibit LGBT+ groups from operating, online activism involves exposing violence and discrimination against this community. While digital platforms offer effective and accessible opportunities to address human rights violations and raise awareness through social media, they can also be used as tools of state oppression.
Based on research conducted by Article 19, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Association for Progressive Communication (APC), and others, Human Rights Watch has documented how state entities and private individuals deliberately target LGBT+ individuals in the MENA region based on their online activities, which constitutes a blatant violation of the right to privacy and other human rights. Authorities throughout the region monitor social media, create fake profiles to pose as LGBT+ individuals, and illegally search the personal devices of LGBT+ individuals, relying on illegally obtained photos, conversations, and other information from mobile devices and social media accounts of LGBT+ individuals as “evidence” in legal proceedings.
LGBT+ individuals and activists in the MENA region have experienced online traps, blackmail, doxing, identity exposure, and online harassment, including threats of murder, rape, and other violent behavior. Law enforcement agencies play a key role in these abuses, sometimes initiating online harassment campaigns by publishing photos and contact information of LGBT+ individuals on social media and inciting violence against them.
The digital targeting of LGBT+ individuals in the MENA region has had extensive offline consequences that go beyond the act of online harassment itself, causing long-lasting effects in the lives of those affected, lasting for many years in some cases. Direct offline consequences of digital targeting include arbitrary arrests, torture, and other forms of inhuman treatment in detention facilities, including sexual violence.
Digital targeting has also had a significant impact on limiting the expression of the LGBT+ community. After becoming targets of harassment, LGBT+ individuals have begun practicing self-censorship online, both in their choice of digital platforms and in how they use them. Those who cannot or do not want to conceal their identities or whose identities are disclosed without their consent report immediate consequences such as online harassment, arbitrary arrests, and criminal proceedings.
As a result of online harassment, LGBT+ individuals in the MENA region report loss of employment, exposure to violence from family members, including conversion therapy practices, blackmail based on online interactions, forced relocation and change of phone number, deletion of social media accounts, fleeing the country, and serious consequences for mental health.
What change does the “Protect Our Social Media Platforms” campaign initiated by HRW and its partners bring about, and why is it directed at Meta?
Meta is the largest social media company in the world. It has a responsibility to protect its users from misuse of its platforms. Facebook and Instagram, in particular, are important tools for state entities and private individuals targeting LGBT+ individuals in the MENA region. Greater consistency and improvement in content policies and practices could make digital targeting more difficult and ensure the safety of all users, including LGBT+ individuals in the MENA region.
The “Protect Our Social Media Platforms” campaign led by Human Rights Watch and its partners calls for greater transparency and consistency in content moderation policies by Meta, as well as placing the human rights of LGBT+ individuals at the center of its actions.
FAQ section based on the main topics and information presented in the article:
1. What are the effects of online harassment on LGBT+ individuals in the MENA region?
The effects of online harassment on LGBT+ individuals in the MENA region include online traps, blackmail, doxing, identity exposure, online harassment, as well as threats of murder, rape, and other violent behaviors. Law enforcement organizations play a key role in these abuses, sometimes initiating online harassment campaigns and inciting violence against LGBT+ individuals.
2. What are the long-term effects of digital targeting on LGBT+ individuals?
Digital targeting of LGBT+ individuals has long-term effects that go beyond the act of online harassment itself. Individuals affected by harassment often experience arbitrary arrests, torture, and other forms of inhuman treatment in detention facilities, including sexual violence. Targeting also leads to self-censorship online and limited expression within the LGBT+ community.
3. What are the consequences of digital targeting for LGBT+ individuals in the MENA region?
The consequences of digital targeting for LGBT+ individuals in the MENA region include loss of employment, exposure to violence from family members, blackmail based on online interactions, forced relocation and change of phone number, deletion of social media accounts, fleeing the country, and serious consequences for mental health.
4. What change does the “Protect Our Social Media Platforms” campaign initiate?
The “Protect Our Social Media Platforms” campaign led by Human Rights Watch and its partners calls for greater transparency and consistency in content moderation policies by Meta. It also advocates for placing the human rights of LGBT+ individuals at the center of Meta’s actions.
Key terms and jargon used in the article:
1. Social media platforms: Websites and applications that allow users to share content, communicate, and connect with others.
2. LGBT+: An abbreviation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, plus other sexual and gender identities that fall outside the traditional heterosexual and cisgender categories.
3. MENA: An abbreviation for the Middle East and North Africa region.
4. Digital targeting: Persecution, harassment, and discrimination of individuals through the internet and digital media.
Proposed related links:
1. Human Rights Watch – An organization dedicated to defending human rights worldwide.
2. Meta – The largest social media company in the world, owner of the Facebook and Instagram platforms.
The source of the article is from the blog mgz.com.tw