Although the Internet is an important communication tool in the Middle East, support for freedom of speech online has declined in the past years, according to a new study out by Northwestern University in Qatar. The study polled 6,093 participants in in Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.
A narrow majority of Arabs (52 percent) say that it is fine for people to express their ideas on the Internet, even if the ideas are unpopular. This is a drop from 59 percent in 2013. Support for freedom of speech online was the lowest in Tunisia (37 percent) and Egypt (45 percent), both of which dropped from 2013, a fact that could be related to the recent political unrest in both countries.
Freedom of speech online also seems to be a generational divide as well, as younger nationals expressed more support for freedom of speech online (60 percent) than the oldest age group (38 percent).
Among those who see the Internet as politically empowering, there is an increased concern about government surveillance online, with more than one in three responding that they were worried that the government was monitoring their online actions.
Saudi Arabians worried most about online surveillance (47 percent), with Qatar (43 percent) and Tunisia (41 percent) trailing close behind. Respondents in Egypt and Lebanon were least concerned, with only 26 percent of respondents worrying about the government surveillance.