Saudi Arabia is hosting a major United Nations conference on internet governance while dozens of people remain imprisoned for peaceful online speech, Human Rights Watch said today. The 19th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be held from December 15 to 19 in Riyadh, under the theme of “Building our Multistakeholder Digital Future.” The annual forum features multistakeholder policy dialogue on internet-related public policy issues.
“Saudi authorities have engaged in a sustained assault on online freedom of expression, yet are now playing hosts to a global internet conference,” said Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “If the Saudi government is indeed serious about digital rights, the authorities should immediately release the scores of activists imprisoned for online freedom of expression.”
[…]
Many are charged under the Saudi Arabia’s abusive counterterrorism law, and the authorities conduct invasive surveillance of civil society members at home and abroad.
[…]
Also, as they are actively trying to kill a 16 year old for fleeing the country due to a double death sentence - leaving islam and being gay - even after months of being in germany.