Analysis Telegram CEO's arrest spotlights UAE’s investment-based citizenship laws The United Arab Emirates is showing that it takes its citizenship laws seriously and has vowed to fight for Telegram founder Pavel Durov. By Jennifer Gnana In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics
Turkey blocks multiple X accounts, cites 'terrorist crackdown' Turkey has mounted repeated attacks on the Kurdish-led region on the grounds that it is governed by terrorists. Turkey
Turkey: Meta temporarily shuts down Threads following government order It remains unclear whether the platform will become available again in Turkey. Turkey
Turkey hands Meta $148K daily fine over antitrust violation Turkey’s competition watchdog also imposed an interim measure to suspend data-sharing between Instagram and Threads. Turkey
Saudi campaign to boycott TikTok spreads to private sector Many Saudis are calling for a boycott of the popular social media platform over it allegedly removing pro-Saudi content. Saudi Arabia
Twitter/X erases thousands of Israel-Hamas posts after EU disinfo warning The 27-nation bloc has also issued similar ultimatums to Meta and TikTok, imploring the companies to take fake posts about the conflict off their social media platforms. Israel
Iraqi militias continue to use Telegram despite block Iraq’s state media channel switched to the Israeli-founded Viber in response to the ban. Telegram is popular with protesters and militias alike in Iraq. Iraq
Arab users flock to Meta's Threads as it takes on Twitter Threads has seen a variety of new users from the Middle East since its launch Wednesday including influencers and even heads of state. Gulf
Turkey arrests prominent TV journalist over criticizing Ocalan's isolation Journalist Merdan Yanardag’s arrest comes amid a post-election climate in which many journalists feel threatened, according to media watchdogs. Turkey
Turkey Elections: Fears of internet restrictions mount with over a dozen under Erdogan With a critical presidential election runoff on Sunday, Turks are on high alert for potential censorship and internet shutdowns. Turkey
What's behind removal of Palestinian Mohammed Assaf's song from Spotify? Spotify says the Gazan artist’s song was removed from its streaming service by "the distributor." Social media users call the act discriminatory and part of the ongoing censorship of Palestinian content masked under the guise of eliminating anti-Israeli sentiment. Palestine
Antisemitism skyrockets on Twitter as Israel's requests go ignored With the number of antisemitic posts on social media on the rise, Israel’s Foreign Ministry focuses on tracing such dangerous trends and battling them on the platforms they are published on. Israel
Elon Musk defends ‘antisemitic' tweets on George Soros after Israeli criticism Israel's Foreign Ministry accused the Twitter owner of encouraging antisemitic posts on the social media platform. Israel
Saudi firms face 6.7% higher Twitter verification fees than US Syria, Sudan, Iran, the West Bank and Gaza Strip are not on the price list and appear to be unable to purchase this subscription. Gulf
In Morocco, YouTube is one tool to attack LGBTQ, vulnerable communities After a Moroccan content creator targeted the transgender community, the damaging videos were left on YouTube for two weeks before being removed. North Africa
Israeli protests shake Netanyahu’s social media empire With so many top high-tech Israeli figures leading the anti-judicial overhaul movement, social media wizard Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reason to worry. Israel
