Over at The Arabist, Issandr El Amrani ruminates on Facebook’s role in Middle Eastern politics, a subject I’ve had my eye on for quite some time. Drawing on the recent example of Egyptian reformer El Baradei and his enormous Facebook following, El Amrani marvels at the level of Facebook use for activism in the region.

He’s definitely right–from Morocco and Tunisia, where Facebook has become a tool to support threatened bloggers to Syria, where the government blocks the site, allegedly because of its organizing properties, Facebook is being used for political purposes. As for the region’s Facebook use, the numbers speak for themselves: According to one site, Morocco, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia all boast over 1 million users, and Egypt has over 2 million, among the developing world’s largest markets (for comparison, China has just over 50,000 users; Brazil 2 million; and India about 4 million).

Read the rest of this entry…

We’ve got a problem.

Facebook gave up user info to the Moroccan secret police and announced that the user, Fouad Mourtada, had violated terms of service. The company also “clarified” these terms of service, announcing that anything posted on their site would become Facebook property. They later backpedaled, but only after a loss of credibility.

The latest move on the part of the social network is to allow a host of Nazi groups to use their services, saying that Nazis, by and large, do not violate Facebook’s terms of service.

So, let’s review.

• Facebook wants to steal all your stuff
• Facebook believes in cooperating with secret service groups with a history of torture
• Facebook believes imitating royalty is an evil act
• Facebook believes promoting Nazism does not violate their terms of service

Fantastic.

Generally speaking, we are slow to jump ship on a social media service because of a questionable action. That is because almost every large social media company is guilty of it and we think there is something to be said for attempting to change things from within. However, given this company’s record of relentlessly bad choices, is Facebook really the place for the CPB to communicate? We’d welcome your comments on the Committee to Protect Bloggers Facebook Causes page or in the comments on this post. I’d also welcome suggestions to an alternative way of keeping track of and communicating with members.

According to the CPJ, Moroccan blogger Hassan Barhon “faces criminal defamation charges.” He was arrested on February 25 in the city of Tetouan for allegedly “defaming a prosecutor.”

Barhon regularly posts hundreds of photos and video reports on his blog and on popular photo and video hosting sites that chronicle alleged corruption and collusion with criminals by local and city government officials. Barhon’s detention is related to a petition he circulated that called Mohamed Masmouki, prosecutor-general for the king of Morocco at Tetouan’s court of appeals, a “dangerous criminal,” his lawyer, Habib Hajji, told CPJ. Scores of citizens, journalists, and rights activists signed the petition, which accused Masmouki of undermining “people’s sacred beliefs and the state institutions” and called for the need to put him on a “popular trial,” a group called the Moroccan Association of Bloggers said in a press release.

Various types of “defamation” are a popular quasi-legal avenue for the prosecution of bloggers and others who register opinions and do reporting that reveals those in authority in a poor light. Last February, Moroccan officials imprisoned Fouad Mourtada, a Facebook user who created a satirical social networking account for one of the country’s princelings.¬† He was later pardoned.

Mohamed Erraji was also arrested last September, hustled through to a conviction two days later, then acquitted.

Considered Barhon has been a consistent and vocal opponent of corruption in the kingdom’s judiciary, we are not so sanguine that he will also be released, but we hope so. Countries like Morocco should be grateful for the work of men like Barhon, who care enough about their country that they observe and report on those areas in which it could remake itself. They’re lucky to have them. Any country is lucky to have such citizens.

The CPB encourages its members to write to the King and request that these charges be immediately dropped. Here is the contact information for those members in the United States. If you would care to find and share the contact information for the Moroccan king in your country, please post it in the comments.

His Majesty King Mohamed VI of Morocco
C/O His Excellency Aziz Mekouar, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco
to the United States of America
?1601 21st Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20009
Via Fax: 202-265-0161

Menassat reports that the Saudis have arrested and tortured another blogger.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) reported today that blogger Roshdi Algadir was arrested by the Hisba apparatus in Saudi Arabia on 4th November. He was taken from his place of work in Al-Dammam city, held for three hours, beaten up and forced to sign an agreement never again to publish his work on the internet. The reason behind the attack is a poem that Algadir has posted on his blog: http://aroshdi.maktoobblog.com

Roshdi Algadir, winner of an international award for his collections of poetry, had posted some of them on his blog. Following this he was surprised by members of the Hisba apparatus who snatched him from his work, beat him and accused him of apostasy.

Saudi Arabia is one of the more egregious offenders against free speech. Fouad Al Farhan, the man called the “father of Saudi blogging,” was arrested last December and held without attorneys or family access until April.

Mohamed Erraji

Mohamed Erraji, the Moroccan blogger who was arrested for criticizing the king, was immediately sentenced to two years in prison and fined 5,000 Moroccan dirhams.

The thought comes to mind that perhaps the debacle with the last arrest, that of Fouad Mortada, who was arrested for creating a satirical Facebook account for one of the king’s sons, chastened the kingdom and they wished to put this one out of sight and out of mind and avoid the embarrasment of worldwide condemnation.

Saudi blogger Fouad Al Farhan has been released from prison and is resting at home with his family, according to a message from the Free Fouad group.

Fouad, called the father of Saudi blogging, was arrested on December 11 in Jeddah and held in solitary confinement with no charges and only one family visit.

Confirmed by Saudi Jeans.

Fouad Al-Farhan, the “father of Saudi blogging,” remains in prison without charges, since being arrested on December 10th of last year.

Here’s a video featuring Farhan’s daughter (from Arab News via CNN’s Inside the Middle East Blog).

(Oh. My G-d. Why is this embed on the right, again!? I hate the Internets.)

Can’t embed this properly, so, here’s the link to the Farhan video.