Government officials in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia are targeting LGBT people by exploiting their social media data. This is what the NGO Human Rights Watch denounces, in a report published on Tuesday, February 21. Interview with Ahmed Benchemsi, its Middle East and North Africa director.
RFI: How does the online targeting of LGBT people actually take place?
Ahmed Benchemsi : There are recurring practices in the Arab world. For example, in Egypt, members of the police create fake profiles on gay dating apps like Grindr and pretend to be gay. They come into contact with gay people via the app, take months to gain the confidence of the interlocutor and once that’s done, give him an appointment. Once the person arrives on the scene, they find themselves trapped by the police. Then, you open your phone, you send messages to your contacts so as to trap them too. It is an infernal circle that is set up.
Other methods are detailed in the report like using screenshots on WhatsApp used as “ evidence in court. The people in question are prosecuted for homosexuality where it is prohibited, as is the case in several Arab countries. And where it’s not forbidden, it’s devious means like ” incitement to debauchery » which justice uses to incriminate people on the basis of « evidence obtained illegally.
What are the consequences for these LGBT people ?
These people who are arbitrarily arrested are mistreated. The conditions of pretrial detention are already not brilliant in these countries, but for LGBT people it is even worse, because discrimination is strong. Cases of rape have been documented. There are then legal proceedings based on this illegally obtained “evidence”.
There is alsoouting [révélation publique de l’orientation sexuelle, NDLR] and doxing, that is to say that we reveal the identity of these people, their address, etc. There are family consequences. People can be driven out of their families, suffer violence. They can lose their jobs. This is what is also denounced in the report. What’s happening online, this harassment, this online targeting, doesn’t just have consequences online, but also in real life.
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Do digital platforms also have a responsibility in online targeting and its repercussions?
Absolutely, the platforms have a responsibility. They also have policies to prevent hate speech and discrimination, except that they do not apply them, at least when it comes to the Arab world.
Among the people we interviewed, all said they had doubts about the reaction of these platforms. Most of these people warned the platforms that they were receiving malicious messages, hate speech, their name or address being leaked. But the platforms responded by saying they saw no issues, that there was no violation of their policy.
While there are many things they should do, such as reaching out to NGOs like ours who monitor the situation of LGBT people and know the dangers of online targeting. Platforms should also invest more in moderating content in Arabic and in the different Arabic dialects. None of this has been done so far.