Saudi Arabia: Presenter Ola Al-Fares Attacked Online By Saudi-Affiliated Accounts For Her Dissident Views

Location: Saudi Arabia
Date: November 6, 2020

Available in: 🇸🇦  عربي

Presenter Ola Al-Fares was trolled online by Saudi accounts and caricaturist Fahd Aljubairi for her dissident views. The Coalition For Women In Journalism is appalled by this constant online trolling of women journalists by Saudi accounts.

Over the past few days, presenter Ola Fares has been subjected to online trolls and attacks from Saudi accounts and public figures. Saudi users on Twitter attacked her conduct, coverage, while discrediting and undermining her career accomplishments.

These attacks included a misogynistic cartoon of the presenter by caricaturist Fahd Aljubairi. This is the third time in less than 3 months that Mr. Fahd has targeted women journalists with sexist and unethical cartoons. He publicized similar defamatory cartoons of Journalists Zahra Hankir and Presenter Ghada Ouwies.

Pro-Saudi regime presenter, Maria Maalouf, has attacked Ola as well, insulting her in a tweet. She attacked both Ola’s career path and lifestyle.

This is the second time that Ola has been attacked online via Twitter by Saudi accounts and public figures. On July 2, there was a smear campaign against her and presenter Ghada Ouwies. Their personal pictures and information were doxed after their personal phones had been hacked. An analysis by Marc Owen Jones, a researcher and professor at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar, found that the campaign was driven by numerous prominent Saudi Twitter accounts.

The Saudi regime has deployed thousands of accounts on social media platforms to attack and troll women journalists for their politically dissident stances. The Coalition For Women In Journalism has documented more than 3 cases of vicious online campaigns against women journalists in the past 3 months. Presenters Ghada Ouweis and Ola Al-Fares have faced online trolling and attacks twice now by Saudi accounts and public figures who rallied the trolls against them. Journalist Zahra Hankir was also subjected to online trolling upon refusing to host the G20 summit for women in Saudi Arabia.

Ola is a Jordanian journalist, lawyer, and presenter who works at Al Jazeera. Ola Alfares was named as one of the 500 most Influential Muslims in the world, according to the 2019 edition of Muslims 500.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism is appalled by the Saudi regime's pervasive attacks on women journalists. Using social media platforms to undermine and target women journalists is a strategy that the Saudi regime is heavily invested in. It is the responsibility of these platforms to develop new policies that protect women online, and create a safer space for them. CFWIJ bolsters Ola against these vicious attacks and calls upon Saudi authorities to halt their offensive on women journalists. Media outlets should suspend work with Cartoonist Fahd Al-Giebry over his misogynistic cartoons that target women journalists like Ola, Ghada, and Zahra, until he ends his prejudicial depictions and apologizes for past practices.

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The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world, and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.

Follow us on Instagram @womeninjournalism and Twitter @CFWIJ. Our website is WomenInJournalism.org and we can be reached at press@womeninjournalism.org

The Coalition For Women In Journalism closely monitors the incidents in Turkey with great concern. Since March 8, Women's Day, police violence against women journalists increasingly continues in the country. As the coalition, we urge the Turkish state to provide a free environment for journalists. Following the news is our most fundamental democratic right to report. We demand the immediate release of our detained colleagues. Journalism is not a crime. Journalism cannot be prevented.

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