In a series of articles for IJNet, Damian Radcliffe, Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism at the University of Oregon and an expert with Media and Journalism Research Center, has been exploring trends in social media in the Middle east and North Africa. Radcliffe has been working in the past 11 years in mapping social media access and barriers of usage in MENA with a focus on digital technologies. His research has been instrumental in highlighting that even though the region has “the most active adopters and users of these technologies, many countries in MENA are also among the most restrictive.”
In his newest articles for IJNet (a project of ICFJ) Radcliffe discusses both the threats to which social media is subjected to as well as trends emerging from the usage of these digital platforms, including cyber warfare.
The articles are available here and here.
For a more detailed understanding of the impact social media has in the region, please see the Social Media in the Middle East 2022: A Year in Review, by Damian Radcliffe and Hadil Abuhmaid with Nii Mahliaire.