Iron Net: MENA’s Shift into Digital Authoritarianism?

Hafsa Arslan | Middle East Fellow

Image sourced from Vitaliy Rigalovsky via Unsplash.

The age of journalism is under siege, with repercussions ranging from surveillance to the death penalty. Journalists in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are subjected to imprisonment, unfair trials and targeting. It is the most dangerous region in the world in which to practice press freedom.

State repression in the region now includes digital authoritarianism, a confounding frontier of control that weaponises media and press freedom. Regimes capitalise on artificial intelligence (AI), digital surveillance and spyware, tools which diminish democratic freedom and fuel censorship. As consumers of censored versions of real-time events, how can we claim the truth and hold the power of accountability to MENA regimes?

Internal and external pressure of regulations and legislation must be applied, leveraging Article 19 framework of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to protect media freedom from digital authoritarianism. This is the only pathway for MENA regimes to control their reputation and gain an upper, ethical hand in AI usage.

Tools of digital authoritarianism

The World Press Freedom Index classifies the MENA region as “difficult”: the lowest category reserved for countries notorious for censorship, surveillance and violence against journalists. The Gaza Strip, one of the world’s most dangerous place for reporters, saw Al Jazeera journalists targeted and killed within their tent housing in an Israeli attack earlier this year, adding to growing evidence of deliberate press violence. In Saudi Arabia, Turki al-Jasser — a human rights activist who wrote about women’s rights and the Palestinian cause on his news blog Al-Mashhad Al-Saudi — was suspected to be the anonymous author of the X account Kashkool which exposed corruption within the Saudi royal family. Convicted under the accusation of terrorism, he was forcibly disappeared and arbitrarily arrested. Al-Jasser was executed, the first journalist to face this in Saudi Arabia. By deliberately silencing the press and criminalising journalism as a national security threat, regimes justify silencing press voices and normalise authoritarian control.

Execution and imprisonment are blunt tools, but spyware allows for covertness with equal destruction. Journalists rely on telecommunications to operate, making them vulnerable to surveillance malware, such as Israel’s ‘Pegasus’, created by the NSO Group. The malware aims to “prevent and investigate terrorism” by bypassing detection through its zero-click feature. Ahmad Mansoor, a poet and human rights activist, was targeted through this feature via hyperlinks containing “new secrets” about UAE detainees and subsequently accused of “spreading false news” that harmed the regime’s reputation. He is now serving a ten-year prison sentence, following an unfair trial. The confidentiality of journalists in MENA is being stripped, with the systematic dismantlement of media mobility and criminalisation of political dissent. Pegasus illustrates the weaponisation of digital tools to become double-edged swords, with MENA regimes wielding their blades to censor truth-tellers.

While spyware undermines individuals, AI enables mass repression, thereby enabling war crimes. Israel has deployed AI systems such as Lavender, which incorporates biometric and Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems to survey and demolish residential areas as “automated kill-zones.” Indiscriminate civilian targeting and the use of force, prohibited under humanitarian law, constitute war crimes. Facial recognition systems complement the biometric system to restrict freedom of movement and log activity into a surveilled database. Similarly, Iran employs AI-driven bots that flood social media with propaganda, where foreign websites and media outlets are blocked. This creates indefinite digital and press isolation by keeping journalists under constant surveillance. Curbing AI domination is essential to safeguarding media privacy. MENA regimes needing to control their geopolitical narration risk the exploitation of information through false narratives, as seen through the exploitation of Mansoor and the execution of al-Jasser.

Resisting authoritarianism

Journalists and activists bridge the gap between the state and civil power and are ironically caught in an authoritative misfire. With censorship sustaining authoritarian control and preventing regime accountability, change is unlikely. The only path to overcome these barriers is external pressure and regional reforms, where regimes risk more severe reputational damage from non-compliance.  

International actors must hold MENA regimes accountable through frameworks like Article 19 of the ICCPR to prevent the breach of international law through reform trials. Reform must be incentivised through diplomatic relations, trade, and technological opportunities. The European Parliament has already signalled that conditional access to markets will be mandated with compliance with ethical AI usage and international human rights norms, placing pressure on MENA regimes to align with EU standards to gain global legitimacy and access.

Regional competition can also drive change. With MENA regimes persistently projecting a modern society, this innovational drive must be incentivised to allow for compliance with international AI ethics regulations, allowing other regimes to follow suit in rivalry. Reputational costs that threaten future development must be made explicit to push regimes to amend reforms. Globally, we must hold these regimes accountable for suppressing media freedom.

Digital authoritarianism in the MENA region has set a global precedent of restrictive press freedom through surveillance and censorship. If these regimes remain unchecked, non-compliance with ethical AI and human rights abuses will give a green light to other regions to follow suit. The silence of regions around the world calls for the risk of complicity. Democratic states, such as Australia, hold the political power to set an example of resistance to normalising digital repression. The generational fight for the freedom of political speech and media expression is not just limited to those who broadcast; it impacts us all. This right must be preserved globally.

Hafsa Arslan is the Middle East Fellow for Young Australians in International Affairs. She is a final-year Curtin University student, pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Economics and a Post-graduate Diploma in International Security. She is a two-time New Colombo Plan scholar, having completed an internship in South Korea in early 2025 and a study tour in Japan, focusing on the intersection of economic and geopolitical dynamics in the Asia-Pacific.

With her lived experience across the Indo-Pacific, particularly the Middle East, Hafsa has developed a strong interest in the region’s political and cultural landscape, exploring its complexity separate from its mainstream identity. Through this fellowship, she aims to combine her passion for cultural nuance and equity-driven policy discourse to create diverse perspectives for the region.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Young Australians in International Affairs. All content is original, and no plagiarism has been used in the preparation of this article.