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Marwa Fatafta

MENA Policy and Advocacy Director

Marwa leads Access Now’s policy and advocacy work on digital rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Her work spans a number of issues at the nexus of human rights and technology including content governance and platform accountability, online censorship, digital surveillance, and transnational repression. She has written extensively on the digital occupation in Palestine and focuses on the role of new technologies in armed conflicts and humanitarian contexts and their impact on historically marginalized and oppressed communities. Marwa is a Policy Analyst at Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, an advisory board member of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, and an advisory committee member for Bread&Net. Marwa was a Fulbright scholar in the US and holds an MA in International Relations from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. She holds a second MA in Development and Governance from the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Smartphone with Clubhouse app

عُمان: السلطات تقرر حجب تطبيق كلاب هاوس

15 Mar 2021
Press Release
عُمان: السلطات تقرر حجب تطبيق كلاب هاوس
15 Mar 2021
عُمان: السلطات تقرر حجب تطبيق كلاب هاوس
Smartphone with Clubhouse app

Omani authorities block Clubhouse app

15 Mar 2021

Oman has blocked the social media audio chat platform Clubhouse on the grounds of not being licensed to operate. Civil society is denouncing this arbitrary measure as part of a pattern of repression in Oman.

Press Release
Omani authorities block Clubhouse app
15 Mar 2021
Omani authorities block Clubhouse app
Tunisia biometric passports

بيان بخصوص بطاقة التعريف البيومترية و جواز السفر البيومتري المقترح في تونس

9 Mar 2021

بيان بخصوص بطاقة التعريف البيومترية و جواز السفر البيومتري المقترح في تونس

Press Release
بيان بخصوص بطاقة التعريف البيومترية و جواز السفر البيومتري المقترح في تونس
9 Mar 2021
بيان بخصوص بطاقة التعريف البيومترية و جواز السفر البيومتري المقترح في تونس
Tunisia biometric passports

Statement: Tunisia’s newly proposed biometric ID and e-passport threaten privacy

9 Mar 2021

Access Now joins 30 groups in sounding the alarm about Tunisia’s revived biometric ID proposal, which still poses a serious threat to Tunisians’ privacy.

Press Release
Statement: Tunisia’s newly proposed biometric ID and e-passport threaten privacy
9 Mar 2021
Statement: Tunisia’s newly proposed biometric ID and e-passport threaten privacy
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Why Facebook’s proposed hate speech policy on Zionism would only add fuel to the fire

2 Mar 2021

We oppose Facebook adding “Zionist” as a protected category for content moderation in the fight against anti-Semitism. It is likely to backfire, given the company’s inability to adhere to human rights principles in its content moderation practices.

Post
Why Facebook’s proposed hate speech policy on Zionism would only add fuel to the fire
2 Mar 2021
Why Facebook’s proposed hate speech policy on Zionism would only add fuel to the fire
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الاحتجاجات في تونس والتصعيد نحو الرقابة والقمع

5 Feb 2021
Post
الاحتجاجات في تونس والتصعيد نحو الرقابة والقمع
5 Feb 2021
الاحتجاجات في تونس والتصعيد نحو الرقابة والقمع
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Tunisia’s protests and the slippery slope to censorship and repression

4 Feb 2021

On the tenth anniversary of Tunisia’s revolution, hundreds of Tunisians took to the streets in protest. The ensuing police crackdown on Tunisia’s protests was brutal, revealing the fragility of Tunisians’ democratic freedoms. We call on lawmakers to strengthen and protect their rights, online and off.

Post
Tunisia’s protests and the slippery slope to censorship and repression
4 Feb 2021
Tunisia’s protests and the slippery slope to censorship and repression
Data protection in MENA

Exposed and exploited: Data protection in the Middle East and North Africa

28 Jan 2021

Access Now’s latest report, Exposed and exploited: Data protection in the Middle East and North Africa, explores how a lack of strong data protection in MENA countries is leaving people vulnerable to abuse and exploitation of their most personal information.

Publication
Exposed and exploited: Data protection in the Middle East and North Africa
28 Jan 2021
Exposed and exploited: Data protection in the Middle East and North Africa
Protest and human rights

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube must end the attack on critical voices in MENA

17 Dec 2020

Access Now and 42 human rights organizations, journalists, and activists from across the globe call on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to not be complicit in censorship of human rights defenders across the Middle East and North Africa.

Press Release
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube must end the attack on critical voices in MENA
17 Dec 2020
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube must end the attack on critical voices in MENA
|Yemen

Jordan must keep people online amid elections and rising COVID-19 cases

5 Nov 2020

As Jordan prepares for general elections on 10 November 2020, we urge the government and service providers operating in the country to keep the internet on.

Post
Jordan must keep people online amid elections and rising COVID-19 cases
5 Nov 2020
Jordan must keep people online amid elections and rising COVID-19 cases