I was contracted by Social Media Exchange (SMEX), the leading organization working to promote respect for human rights on the internet in the Arab region, as a part time research fellow for their Digital Economy and Digital Rights program. As part of this fellowship, I drafted and conceptualized a report titled ”Dependent Yet Disenfranchised: The Policy Void That Threatens The Rights of Mobile Users in Arab States.”

The research report investigates the lack of policy protections for human rights, specifically freedom of expression and information and privacy, from mobile operators in the Arab region. The report also mapped the mobile telecommunications market and mobile internet landscape in the region and provided an overview of the regulatory and legal environment in which these companies operate such as repressive cybercrime law and lack of strong data protection regulations. It concluded by providing recommendations for mobile operators to respect and protect the human rights of their customers.