Police Crackdown on Twitterville

Graphic work by Mohammad R Sharaf

KUWAIT TIMES: Micro-blogging website Twitter has recently been causing quite a lot of problems in Kuwait. Take for example, the arrest of user Nasser Abul, a Shia extremist who wrote offensive messages against the ruling families of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Abul is not the only user whose opinion tweeted on Twitter caused him a problem. A number of other Twitter users have been interrogated by the State Security Police.

Opinions expressed on Twitter have caused a large number of intolerant individuals to spew out angry threats of attack on the supposed offenders and their families. Some were even threatened that if they do not deactivate their accounts, they would be hurt. In a handful of instances, users gave in to those threats and actually disappeared from the website, whilst others were removed without a trace.

Twitter user and Bahraini revolution supporter Hadeel Bugrais is one such individual. After being condemned by intolerant fellow-tweeters opposing her pro-Shia sentiments over the issue of Bahrain, she deleted her Twitter account. A number of users claiming to be her friends say that she was given an ultimatum: to either delete her account or be held by the State Security Police for questioning. Rumors about the arrest of other Twitter users have circulated, but could not be verified. The Kuwait Times' requests to obtain a statement from officials at the State Security Department have failed.

Several months ago, anti-government Twitter user Mishari Buyabis was questioned by State Security Department officers for his anti-government posts. After being questioned, he published posts claiming that certain influential people had offered to pay him money if he would agree to change his views and post pro-government tweets. Buyabis has over 30,000 followers on Twitter, placing him on the same level as some celebrities.

It is worth noting that Twitter has now replaced blogging in Kuwait. While in the mid-2000's blogging played an essential role in combating media censorship and shaping politics in the country, today it has become politics-free. Twitter on the other hand has become the main channel that reflects the ideas and worries of the Kuwaiti public, with almost all parliamentarians and political activists engaging on the website with their audience.

The fact that Twitter is as accessible to the audience as text-messaging and is available on different platforms on smart phones and computers makes it a less elitist arena. While on the pro side, Twitter opened the door to conversation between officials and activists with their audience freely and without boundaries, like parliament members and voters, it also comes with a heavy baggage of cons.

One can safely say that the level of sectarian and racist debate on Twitter is torrential. In Twitterville, anyone qualifies to be a celebrity. The method for obtaining that status remains debatable. Some Kuwaiti Twitter celebs are known because of their unorthodox opinions, others for their satirical views.

27 June 2011 UPDATE