I'm A Victim Of Digital Targeting In The Middle East and North Africa Region

Tina

I’m a transgender woman and was sentenced to three years in prison in Egypt.

Rania Amdouni

I was sentenced to six months in prison, of which I was detained for 19 days [in Tunisia].

Mohamad al-Bokari

I was arrested in Saudi Arabia and sentenced to 10 months in prison and a 2600USD fine, along with a decision to deport me back to Yemen where my life was in danger.

Tina, Rania Amdouni, Mohamad al-Bokari

I'm a victim of digital targeting in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Voiceover

State actors across the Middle East and North Africa region are targeting LGBT people based on their online activity on social media.

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Mohamad al-Bokari

LGBT Rights Activist, Blogger

Yemen

Stockholm, Sweden

Mohamad al-Bokari

I used to share my daily journals on social media platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter. I posted a live broadcast on Facebook where I spoke about LGBT rights. I was met with online hostility, and I became the target of a smear campaign where I was outed as gay which led to my arrest in Saudi Arabia.

I'd find thousands of comments, including swearing, demeaning language, and threats. I still receive death threats online to this day. I used to report them to social media companies, but the platforms didn’t respond.

Voiceover

Security forces in the MENA region use digital targeting tactics to entrap LGBT people, harass them online, and expose their private information and identities without their consent.

This has led to far-reaching offline consequences, including arbitrary arrests and prosecutions based on digital “evidence,” ill-treatment in detention, as well as crackdowns on LGBT rights activism.

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Rania Amdouni

LGBTQ Rights Activist, Actress

Tunisia

Paris, France

Rania Amdouni

What happened in January 2021, some of the [Tunisian] former parliamentarians published my photos and changed the public opinion against me, and also targeted many other activists through [social media] posts that incited violence and discrimination.

The majority of the threats were acts of bullying on the way I looked and my gender identity.

I spent 3 or 4 months away from my house, in fear of online threats and the real ones in the streets and where I lived.

I went to the police station to file a complaint because I was accosted in the street by a police officer with verbal harassment. I told him I will complain to the police, and he said go ahead. The case soon changed against me. I was the victim and became the perpetrator.

The series of attacks that lasted for two years affected my mental health to a great extent. I attempted suicide 3 times in 2 years, one of which put me in a coma for 48 hours. I had to leave Tunisia.

Voiceover

Social media platforms should proactively remove abusive content that violates platform standards on harassment, hate speech, and incitement to violence, which could put people at risk.

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Tina

Performer, Escort

Cyprus

Ayia Napa, Cyprus

Tina

I’m from Cyprus. On January 15, 2020, I got arrested outside my hotel in Egypt when my client told the police that I’m an escort and showed him my advertising on the internet. The policemen took screenshots of personal messages and also photos from my phone and make it evidence against to me in court.

Under the law against homosexuality [debauchery], I was sentenced not for being an escort, but just [based on] five photos on the internet.

My experience in Egypt, being arrested was horrible. They [the police] make me feel like I’m not human being. The first two weeks were the worst because no one came to my room [cell] from my embassy or a lawyer. I was tortured by police, and they raped me 22 times. I stayed with them [the policemen for] like 290 days. They didn't give me food or water, so a lot of times I ate from the garbage. My health was very bad because I lost a lot of weight. I couldn't walk. I couldn't even go to toilet. A lot of times I cried, and they don’t have sympathy. They don’t care.

Voiceover

Security forces should be held accountable for targeting LGBT people, online and offline.

Authorities’ use of digital targeting tactics to curtail free expression and persecute LGBT people should stop.

Rania Amdouni

I miss my lover, and my girlfriends that were with me constantly, through thick and thin. I miss them all so much.

Tina

Today, I like to move on. Every time when I see my face in the mirror, I say OK, you are good. I like you, go out and have fun.

Mohamad al-Bokari

I am still seeing a therapist to this day because of what I had been through. I feel very safe now in Sweden. The people here are very peaceful. I feel safe because now I have my rights. I am still an activist on social media and will continue to be so until I can change people online and in reality. Perhaps they will be able to accept those that are different.