iscover
Share this article on:
Powered by
MOMENTUM
MEDIA
New research has revealed the scope of “digital oppression” of LGBTI communities in the Middle East enabled by dating apps, social media, and other tech platforms.
Some of the most queer vulnerable communities throughout the Middle East and North Africa face a wave of what human rights organisation Article 19 calls “digital oppression”, in part enabled by the use and abuse of a raft of digital platforms.
Researchers at Article 19, alongside local community experts and The De|Center, spoke to more than 5,000 people from Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan between 2019 and January 2024. The research was conducted via 15 focus groups, 93 interviews, and numerous surveys.
While the research focuses on queer communities, Article 19 also noted that “while the LGBTQ community faces particularly high risks from tech-facilitated state policing, these methods are also being used against other marginalised communities – as well as against the wider population”.
“The research also demonstrates that if we protect the most criminalised and marginalised communities, we will protect everyone. This is because we have seen methods initially deployed against the most marginalised are later used against other populations,” it said.
The research paints a stark picture of violence and abuse, often facilitated by authorities using dating and messaging apps to entrap and extort members of the LGBTI community.
Twenty-five per cent of survey respondents said they had experienced violent abuse and harassment at the hands of law enforcement, alongside 65 per cent of those interviewed. Sex worker, transgender, and refugee participants were particularly targeted, with 100 per cent of individuals in those categories reporting police abuse.
The use of apps to entrap the vulnerable is particularly worrying. Twenty-three per cent of respondents had encountered police entrapment via apps such as Grindr, Hornet, Sugar, Tinder, WhosHere, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram.
The misuse of such apps also appears to be growing. Article 19 had not documented any incidences of entrapment in Lebanon until now, and more worrying still, it recorded “a new and concerning trend”. Fifty-three individuals reported that police entrapment was a precursor to extortion, demanding either money or sexual favours from the victim.
The research also discovered that biometric security on a device often incited violence, as authorities forced people to unlock their devices.
“At the precinct, I was handcuffed, he kicked me to the floor 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,” one respondent said.
“They accessed Messenger and took it as an excuse to throw accusations at me.”
Article 19 believes tech companies have a role to play in fighting against such abuses, however.
“Our research shows that LGBTQ people in MENA are taking high-risk measures to avoid giving the police and prosecutors access to their devices. These measures might seem drastic, but the individuals affected are only too aware of the alternative: risking further personal incrimination and exposing their friends, loved ones, and community to harm,” Article 19 said.
“Yet the onus for protection against state violence and human rights abuses should not solely fall on the individual. Tech companies have human rights responsibilities to their users – and they urgently need to do more to meet them.”
Article 19 has 32 recommendations that break down into three broad demands:
“By implementing our recommendations, tech companies can make their LGBTQ users in MENA safer – and these changes, in turn, will keep all their users safer,” Article 19 said.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
Be the first to hear the latest developments in the cyber industry.
