Control+Alt+Suppress: Jordan's cybercrime bill and the growth of state censorship

The New Arab Voice

We've been off for a few week, but now we're back!

While we were on holiday, Jordan took the opportunity to implement a new cybercrime law that has set alarm bells ringing among human rights defenders.

The cybercrime law contains some incredibly vague language, which critics say will allow the government to target free speech, and effect the basic rights of Jordanians.

It will also limit the ability of Jordanians to call out corruption or human rights abuses in the country.

This week on The New Arab Voice, what’s in Jordan’s new cybercrime bill? How will it impact Jordanians? Why are the cracking down in this way and what does King Abdullah have to gain from this? And what does it mean for democratic hopes in the country.

To help guide us through Jordan's cybercrime bill, we're joined by Marwa Fatafta (@marwasf) a digital rights advocate and works as the MENA policy and advocacy manager at Access Now (@accessnow), a global digital rights organisation.

We also speak with Jamal Al Tahat (@JamalAlTahat1) to guide us through the thinking of the Jordanian state. Jamal is is a senior consultant at Democracy for the Arab World Now or DAWN (@DAWNmenaorg). He has spent decades advocating for democratisation in Jordan.

And finally, we speak with Issam Ureiqat (@IsamUraiqat). issam is the Director of Al-Hudood (@AlHudoodNet), an online satire publication that was recently blocked in Jordan because of jokes the website made about the royal family.

This podcast is written and produced by Hugo Goodridge.

Theme music by Omar al-Fil.

To get in touch with the producers, follow then tweet us at @TheNewArabVoice.

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