Saudi Arabia: The Coalition For Women In Journalism Condemns Online Attacks Against Women Journalists That Were Exposed By Ghada Oueiss And Ola Al-Fares In The Region

Location: Saudi Arabia
Date: July 23, 2020

Available in: 🇸🇦  عربي

With the rise of social media’s impact on politics and global issues, women journalists around the world find themselves tackling one more threat: online harassment. The latest example of the attack was seen in the case of Al Jazeera Arabic’s senior presenters Ghada Oueiss and Ola Al-Fares.

The smear campaign - which had 40.000 tweets in just 24 hours on July 2 - included spreading private photos of Ghada that were hacked from her mobile phone. The tweets implied that Ghada and Ola must have performed sexual favors for her boss to get to where they are, which is the product of yet another misogynistic thinking.

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.

In an opinion piece Ghada wrote for The Washington Post she describes the sexist nature of these attacks in the following sentences: “In this case, the trolls were attacking Ola and I not only as journalists but as women who dared to be critical. A cartoon depicting me sprawled on the desk of Al Jazeera’s chairman with the caption “I want a raise” was furiously retweeted. For these people, it seemed incomprehensible that a woman could be successful based on her merit or hard work. After all, as far as their governments are concerned, women should be seen but not heard — unless they occupy token positions to demonstrate a facade of modernity and can be paraded in front of the world’s media.”

Saudi and Emirati regimes have several precedents of hacking, phishing, and tailing opponents’ voices. It’s their instrument to shut them down either by physical attacks using data of their whereabouts like the case of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Omar Abdel-Aziz or by doxing and cyberbullying in the case of Ghada and Ola.

Online harassment and abuse that women journalists face aren't just questions of workplace safety but also of censorship, which turn into a “campaign of intimidation” as IPI called it.

These practices are targeting women journalists, not only in the Middle East but also in the United States, the case of Megyn Kelly and others. Women journalists are considered vulnerable and their bodies and private lives are collateral damage.

Online harassment can take many forms, from name calling to dehumanizing comments, doxing — when a harasser broadcasts your personal information, like your address or phone number online — blackmailing (threatening to share incriminating photos, videos or information online) or rape or death threats directed to you and/or your family. And it doesn't always look like what we expect "trolling" to look like. (Source: https://www.dw.com/en/half-the-world-on-mute-the-fight-against-online-harassment/a-51013693)

While platforms like Facebook and Twitter are reluctant to remove some content, calling it censorship they should also consider the consequences of online harassment on freedom of expression.

According to Tanya O'Carroll, the director of Amnesty Tech, the consequences of directed campaigns against women are: Women turning off their accounts or turning away from sharing specific kinds of content, for example sharing political views — which are also censorship consequences.

In the first half of 2020, CFWIJ documented 32 cases of online harassment and intimidation for women journalists in many countries like Pakistan, India, Iran, United States, Tunisia, and Egypt which reflects how this tool is used on a global scale to target women journalists.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism urges social media platforms to investigate how to make their platforms less hostile and toxic, not only for the safety of women journalists but also to fight against the silencing of the free press. We also urge the international community not to turn a blind eye on the Saudi regime’s attacks on dissident journalists and political activists.

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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

[Thread]1/ I see a lot of disgusting things online, but tonight the level of high level misogyny on 'Gulf Twitter' is astounding. There is a systemic campaign to smear two women journalists @OlaAlfares and @ghadaoueiss, who work for Al Jazeera. The campaign involves thousands pic.twitter.com/F1goEDtrsT

— Marc Owen Jones (@marcowenjones) June 9, 2020

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.

If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.