Social media in Lebanon tells a tale of two different worlds

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Vehicles queue up for fuel on the Beirut-Sidon highway, south of the Lebanese capital, amidt severe fuel shortages. (AFP file photo)
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As the shortages in food, fuel and medicine in Lebanon worsens, no end in sight could be seen as the country's political leaders could not get their acts together. (AFP file photo)
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As Lebanon grapples with a myriad of crises, the fun-filled picture painted by the country’s young elites on social media belies the idea of a nation teetering on the brink of collapse. (Social Media/AFP)
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As Lebanon grapples with a myriad of crises, the fun-filled picture painted by the country’s young elites on social media belies the idea of a nation teetering on the brink of collapse. (Social Media/AFP)
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As Lebanon grapples with a myriad of crises, the fun-filled picture painted by the country’s young elites on social media belies the idea of a nation teetering on the brink of collapse. (Social Media/AFP)
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Updated 22 August 2021
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Social media in Lebanon tells a tale of two different worlds

  • Instagram posts continue to project an image of affluence and glamor at a time of deepening economic crisis
  • Clear fault line has emerged on social media, with Instagram and Twitter posts focusing on opposite aspects of life

BEIRUT: “How’s your Tuesday going?” reads the caption on an Instagram post, featuring a Lebanese woman sprawled on a sun lounger beside a glistening pool, showing off her tanned legs under a bright Beirut sky.

For most people in Lebanon, Tuesday was the same as any other day in recent months — hours spent waiting in line at the petrol station, queuing for subsidized food products at the supermarket, topped off by a long, sweltering night’s sleep on the balcony during yet another blackout.

But a brief scroll through the feeds and stories of numerous Lebanese Instagrammers reveals a world of lavish weddings, rooftop parties at venues where a bottle costs as much as a waiter’s monthly salary, and vacation getaways to Italy and Greece. At first glance, one would think the country is doing just fine. It is not.




As the shortages in food, fuel and medicine in Lebanon worsens, no end in sight could be seen as the country's political leaders could not get their acts together. (AFP file photo)

World Bank data shows that Lebanon’s economy contracted by 20 percent over the course of 2020, with a further 9.5 percent contraction forecast this year. This makes the country’s economic crisis one of the world’s most severe — in relative terms — since the mid-19th century.

Coupled with the collapse of the Lebanese pound, which has lost more than 90 percent of its value on the black market, households that could once afford an annual vacation to Turkey or Cyprus can now barely scrape together enough to put food on the table.

“I think there’s a natural need for validation, especially for people that come from societies where the value of the self and one’s worth depends highly on social perceptions,” Selma Zaki, a licensed Lebanese psychotherapist, told Arab News. “Social media gives us that attention and that validation.”

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Lebanon has had more than its fair share of problems over the years, from assassinations and car bombings to civil war and corruption, yet the Lebanese predilection for partying on regardless is globally renowned.

It has long been commonplace for members of the Lebanese elite to share social-media posts showing them in expensive clothes, attending weddings and birthday parties at luxurious venues and tucking into sumptuous meals.

With much of the country now grappling with chronic shortages of food, fuel and medicine, sweating in the darkness of another power outage, or surviving off charitable handouts, however, such displays of wealth and opulence, even online, are considered by most Lebanese to be in bad taste.




Vehicles queue up for fuel on the Beirut-Sidon highway, south of the Lebanese capital, amidt severe fuel shortages. (AFP file photo)

“I’m not sure a lot of people are taking into account the realities of others when they’re sharing such posts,” Zaki said. “They’re just thinking of their reality and they’re not empathizing with others, either because the reality can be (so) heavy and unbearable, or because they lack empathy.”

The phenomenon may well be a result of the perceived atomization of the Lebanese people’s sense of shared culture or identity. “People feel lonely in their suffering, and when we don’t talk about our collective suffering, they feel more isolated and alienated,” she added.

A clear fault line has emerged on social media, with Instagram users peddling a gaudy unreality and their Twitter counterparts speaking the unfiltered truth in 280 characters.

Beirut-based photographer Tamara Saade summed it up this way: “Lebanese Instagram: In between weddings and Greece, I go to the mountain and swim with dolphins … Lebanese Twitter: I haven’t had electricity or hot water in a week and can’t find Panadol … This country is nauseating. On every front.”

 

 

The contrast between assorted social-media platforms in Lebanon is so stark that comedian Farid Hobeiche, known better as FarixTube, decided to post a four-paneled image on Instagram that purports to convey the conflicting “realities.”

On Instagram, Hobeiche can be seen in a swimming pool; Facebook shows him in the dark carrying a candle (denoting the lack of electricity); on Twitter he is at a protest; and on TikTok, Hobeiche is dancing around irreverently.

 

 

Many Lebanese wonder, though, whether people who can afford to go out and enjoy themselves should be shamed for doing so. After all, any form of spending, even conspicuous consumption, in the current dire situation can only be a good thing from a purely economic standpoint.

“Everyone is free to do whatever they want as long as they come down (to the protests) and fight with us,” Médéa Azouri, a columnist at Lebanese daily L’Orient le Jour, told Arab News. “The thing is, I don’t like the fact that they’re posting on social media. Do whatever you want, but not like this, in our faces.”

In an act of solidarity with their less-fortunate compatriots, some Lebanese have opted to tone down their social-media capers since the economic crisis took hold.

“I honestly feel guilty because I know most of these people,” Nehme Hamadeh, a Dubai-based marketing executive, told Arab News. “But I’m also shocked that this continues despite all the signs clearly showing that our country has collapsed. How can one show one’s face and act like everything is fine? It’s not fine.”

Many overseas Lebanese grapple with the same profound sense of guilt at being so far removed from the day-to-day struggles of their home country.

“I also feel stuck, because I can’t go and point fingers if I’m part of the problem. It’s all very confusing, but I do know I am mostly frustrated by, and disappointed with, those people who post so mindlessly,” Hamadeh said.

Lebanon’s season of endless suffering has taken a turn for the worse of late. More than 200 businesses were forced to close their doors over the mid-August weekend owing to prolonged blackouts. Those who fled the heat of Beirut for the cooler climes of the mountains faced power outages there too.

Next, on August 15, a tanker used by the Lebanese Army to distribute seized fuel to residents of Akkar, an impoverished area near the Syrian border exploded, killing 28 and wounding 79.




A man burned during a fuel tank explosion in Akkar, Lebanon, which is linked to the fuel shortage, lies in bed at the As-Salam Hospital in Tripoli city on August 15, 2021. (AFP)

Enraged protesters ransacked the Beirut home of Akkar’s member of parliament, Tarek El-Merehbi, and local residents banned all politicians from visiting the district. In the southern suburbs of Beirut, a petrol station was set on fire with a rocket-propelled grenade.

Dorothy Shea, the US ambassador to Lebanon, warned on Monday that the economy and its most basic services have reached the “precipice of collapse,” while politicians continue to bicker over concessions in cabinet.

For Lebanese Instagram users with a knack of filtering out the imperfections of real life, there is seemingly no limit to the amount of escapism that photos of parties at the beach and feasts in plush hotels can offer.

“If you didn’t post it on Instagram, did it even happen?” is a popular mantra of the social-media age. But in the case of Lebanon, it is the images that go unshared on Instagram that probably best reflect what is happening in the country today.

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Twitter: @Tarek_AliAhmad


BBC staff in open letter accuse broadcaster of pro-Israel bias

Updated 03 November 2024
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BBC staff in open letter accuse broadcaster of pro-Israel bias

  • Over 100 employees demand corporation ‘recommit to fairness, accuracy and impartiality’
  • Letter signed by more than 230 figures in UK’s media industry, other sectors

LONDON: More than 100 BBC employees have accused the British broadcaster of pro-Israel bias in its coverage of the Gaza war.

The claim was made in an open letter signed by more than 230 figures in the UK’s media industry and other sectors, who said the public broadcaster has failed to provide “fair and accurate” coverage of the conflict. It was sent to Tim Davie, director general of the BBC.

The letter, first seen by The Independent, said the BBC must “recommit to fairness, accuracy and impartiality.”

The BBC employees who signed the letter did so anonymously, with one telling The Independent that “so many of us feel paralysed by levels of fear.”

They added: “Colleagues have left the BBC in recent months because they just don’t believe our reporting on Israel and Palestine is honest.”

Prominent members of Britain’s political, media and academic class signed the letter, including Sayeeda Warsi, a Muslim member of the House of Lords; historian William Dalrymple; actress Juliet Stevenson; Dr. Catherine Happer, a senior lecturer in sociology and director of media at the University of Glasgow; Rizwana Hamid, director at the Centre for Media Monitoring; broadcaster John Nicolson; and columnist Owen Jones.

The BBC must “robustly challenge Israeli government and military representatives in all interviews,” the signatories said.

In September, BBC Chairman Samir Shah said the board would “seriously consider” a review into the broadcaster’s Middle East coverage.

It followed claims by Jewish groups that the BBC is suffering from an “extreme” anti-Israel bias and that it is failing to properly manage complaints.

The open letter calls on the BBC to make new editorial commitments, including “reiterating that Israel does not give external journalists access to Gaza; making it clear when there is insufficient evidence to back up Israeli claims; making clear where Israel is the perpetrator in article headlines; and including regular historical context predating October 2023.”

One example of a “dehumanizing and misleading headline” cited by signatories related to Israel’s killing of 6-year-old Hind Rajab in January this year. The BBC headline read: “Hind Rajab, 6, found dead in Gaza days after phone calls for help.”

The letter to the BBC said: “This was not an act of God. The perpetrator, Israel, should have been in the headline, and it should have been clear that she was killed.”

Another anonymous BBC employee told The Independent: “Palestinians are always treated as an unreliable source and we constantly give Israel’s version of events primacy despite the IDF’s (Israel Defense Forces) well-documented track record of lying.

“We often seem to prefer to leave Israel out of the headline if at all possible or cast doubt on who could be to blame for airstrikes.

“The verification level expected for anything related to Gaza hugely outweighs what is the norm for other countries.”

In response to the letter, a BBC spokesperson said the broadcaster holds itself “to very high standards,” adding: “This conflict is one of the most polarising stories to report on, and we know people feel very strongly about how this is being reported.

“The BBC receives almost equal measure of complaints asserting that we are biased towards Israel, as we do asserting we are biased against it.

“This does not mean we assume we are doing something right, and we continue to listen to all criticism — from inside and outside the BBC — and reflect on what we can do better.”


Mauritius reverses ban on social media

Updated 02 November 2024
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Mauritius reverses ban on social media

PORT LUIS, Mauritius: Mauritius on Saturday reversed its decision to block social media until its election that had been prompted by a wire-tapping scandal.
The ban on social media had been in place for 24 hours, with users on the Indian Ocean island unable to access Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X.
It was due to last until November 11 — the day after the general election.
The ban was prompted by the release of secret recordings of phone calls by politicians, journalists, members of civil society and even foreign diplomats that began to emerge online last month.
The office of Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth had said that “the national security and integrity of our republic and our international partners may have been compromised” by the leaks.
But in a statement on Saturday, the Information and Communications Authority said the ban had been lifted after “consultation with competent authorities.”
There had been uproar from opposition parties and local media groups, who rely heavily on social media.
The leaked recordings were released by an account called Missie Moustass (Mr Moustache), primarily on TikTok.
There have been attempts to block the account but it quickly resurfaced elsewhere and has been releasing recordings almost daily.
Among those causing the greatest shock was that of the police commissioner apparently asking a forensic doctor to alter a report into a person who died after being beaten in police custody. A judicial investigation into the death was launched following the leak.
Private calls featuring British High Commissioner Charlotte Pierre also appear to have been leaked.
Jugnauth is seeking re-election as head of the Militant Socialist Movement.
He inherited the premiership on the death of his father in 2017 and secured a victory for his coalition in polls two years later.


Israel moves to sever ties with Haaretz following publisher’s ‘freedom fighters’ remarks

Updated 01 November 2024
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Israel moves to sever ties with Haaretz following publisher’s ‘freedom fighters’ remarks

  • Publisher Amos Schocken delivered harsh criticism of Israeli policies, prompting government to call for restrictions on newspaper

LONDON: Israel is moving to sever ties and impose restrictions on the newspaper Haaretz after its publisher Amos Schocken referred to Palestinians as “freedom fighters” in a speech in London on Sunday.

Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi on Thursday submitted a proposal calling for a range of restrictions on Haaretz following Schocken’s comments.

Moves include halting any new government contracts with the newspaper, including individual subscriptions for state employees, and canceling current agreements wherever legally feasible.

“All current agreements with Haaretz, including personal subscriptions, will be canceled as legally feasible,” Karhi’s proposal said, adding that the Government Advertising Bureau will be directed to withdraw all advertisements from the publication and seek refunds for any outstanding payments.

The proposal follows a similar measure put forward by Karhi in November 2023 when he accused Haaretz of undermining Israel’s war effort in Gaza.

Interior Minister Moshe Arbel also ordered an immediate halt to cooperation with Haaretz on Wednesday, saying in a letter that the government “cannot and will not remain silent in the face of harm to IDF soldiers and the state’s efforts to protect its citizens.”

Logo of Haaretz, English edition. (Wikimedia Commons)

The Interior Ministry’s official statement described Schocken’s comments as “deeply offensive and revealing a fundamental departure from core values.”

Speaking at a Haaretz conference in London — titled “Israel After Oct. 7: Ally or Alone?” — Schocken criticized Israeli policies and the current government, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration of “imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population.”

He told attendees: “It dismisses the costs of both sides for defending the settlements while fighting the Palestinian freedom fighters, that Israel calls terrorists.”

Schocken, who has led the left-leaning publication since 1990, condemned Israel’s settlement policies, asserting that the only viable solution was the establishment of a Palestinian state.

He said: “A Palestinian state must be established. And the only way to achieve this, I think, is to apply sanctions against Israel, against the leaders who oppose it, and against the settlers.”

Following a strong backlash, Schocken clarified his remarks to indicate that he did not consider groups like Hamas to be “freedom fighters,” and emphasized his support for those who resisted occupation without resorting to terrorism.

He said: “Given the reactions to my labeling Palestinians who commit acts of terror as freedom fighters, I have reconsidered my words.

“Many freedom fighters around the world and throughout history, possibly even those who fought for Israel’s establishment, committed terrible acts of terrorism, harming innocent people to achieve their goals.

“I should have said freedom fighters who also resort to terror tactics — which must be combated. The use of terror is not legitimate.”

Schocken, the son of Gershom Schocken who was the editor and publisher of Haaretz for over 50 years, faced similar criticism in September for advocating international intervention against the Netanyahu administration, comparing the situation in Israel to apartheid-era South Africa.
 


Indonesia bans sales of Google smartphones days after blocking Apple’s iPhone 16

Updated 01 November 2024
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Indonesia bans sales of Google smartphones days after blocking Apple’s iPhone 16

  • Block comes a week after Indonesia said it had blocked the sales of iPhone 16 domestically, also for not meeting local content rules
  • Indonesia has a huge, tech-savvy population, making the Southeast Asian nation a key target market for tech-related investment

JAKARTA: Indonesia said it has banned sales of smartphones made by Alphabet’s Google due to rules requiring the use of locally manufactured components, days after blocking sales of tech giant Apple’s iPhone 16 for the same reason.
Indonesia blocked sales of Google Pixel phones because the company has not met the rules which necessitate certain smartphones sold domestically to contain at least 40 percent of parts manufactured locally.
“We are pushing these rules so that there’s fairness for all investors in Indonesia,” Febri Hendri Antoni Arief, industry ministry spokesperson, said on Thursday. “Google’s products have not adhered to the scheme we set, so they can’t be sold here.”
Febri said consumers can buy Google Pixel phones overseas, so long as they pay the necessary taxes, adding the country would consider deactivating the phones that are illicitly sold.
Google did not immediately respond to a message and email requesting comment.
The block comes a week after Indonesia said it had blocked the sales of iPhone 16 domestically, also for not meeting local content rules.
Companies usually increase the use of domestic components to meet such rules through partnerships with local suppliers or by sourcing parts domestically.
Google and Apple are not among the top smartphone makers in Indonesia. The top two smartphone makers in the first quarter of 2024 were Chinese firm OPPO and South Korean firm Samsung, research firm IDC said in May.
Indonesia has a huge, tech-savvy population, making the Southeast Asian nation a key target market for tech-related investment.
Bhima Yudhistira, director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies think tank, said the move was “pseudo” protectionism that hurts consumers and impacts investor confidence.
“This creates a negative sentiment for investors looking to enter Indonesia,” he said.


‘Polarization of journalism’ rising amid Israel attacking, killing media workers

Updated 01 November 2024
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‘Polarization of journalism’ rising amid Israel attacking, killing media workers

  • Reporters not respected anymore, says veteran journalist Mohamad Chebaro

DUBAI: On Oct. 25, an airstrike in south Lebanon killed Al-Mayadeen TV’s camera operator Ghassan Najjar, broadcast engineer Mohammed Reda, and Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV’s camera operator Wissam Qassem.

It also injured several others including camera operator Hassan Hoteit and assistant camera operator Zakaria Fadel of the media production company Isol.

Other journalists hurt were photographer Hassan Hoteit from Al-Qahera channel, and Youmna Fawaz, a correspondent for MTV, according to media reports.

The Israeli army said the strike, which hit a compound housing 18 journalists from multiple media outlets, targeted Hezbollah militants; however, many believe it was a planned attack on journalists.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the attack was deliberate and both he and Information Minister Ziad Makary labelled it a war crime.

“The Israeli enemy waited for the journalists’ nighttime break to betray them in their sleep ... This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with prior planning and design, as there were 18 journalists there representing seven media institutions. This is a war crime,” Makary said in a post on X.

 

The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was appalled by the attack, and called for an independent investigation and for the perpetrators to be held to account.

The CPJ is “deeply outraged by yet another deadly Israeli airstrike on journalists,” said its program director Carlos Martinez de la Serna, adding that “deliberately targeting journalists is a war crime under international law.”

“I used to go to conflict zones in the past and journalists were received by all parties with open arms,” said Mohamad Chebaro, a British-Lebanese journalist with over 25 years of experience covering war, terrorism, defense, current affairs and diplomacy.

But “I have been increasingly witnessing the polarization of journalism” by companies or political parties wherein journalists are seen as being “with or against” entities — whether that is a corporation or a country, he told Arab News.

Chebaro explained that “warring parties” feel the need to have their own “media machine,” which makes independent journalism a rare concept. And so “killing the messenger has become easy for every party trying to control the narrative of every conflict.”

He added: “Lebanon is no different than Gaza. Gaza is no different than Syria. And Syria is no different than Iran before it.”

On Monday, Lebanon submitted a complaint to the Security Council “regarding the latest Israeli attacks that targeted journalists and media facilities in Hasbaya in south Lebanon, and the Ouzai area” in Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to the Foreign Ministry on X.

“The repeated Israeli targeting of media crews is a war crime,” and Israel must be “held to account and punished,” the statement added.

Over 400 media workers and journalists from international news organizations have condemned Israel’s attacks on Palestinian journalists in Gaza in a letter released on Oct. 30.

The letter also addresses the escalation of attacks on journalists in Lebanon. It called for the immediate medical evacuations of all injured journalists, protection of those who remain, and fair reporting on Gaza and the condition of Palestinian media workers there.

“We affirm that no one is more qualified to report and deliver the news from Gaza than local journalists, and it is the professional and personal duty of all journalists and media institutions to ensure their protection,” the letter added.

The attack on journalists is in many ways an attack on journalism and the truth, Chebaro said.

He added: “Human beings are not respected in the theater of war anymore. There is a breakdown of the respect and the sanctity of the job of a journalist.

“And unfortunately, we have gone away from the old ethos of looking at a journalist as an independent informing voice.”

As of Oct. 31, the CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 134 journalists and media workers were among those killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since Oct. 7, 2023.

This makes it the deadliest period for journalists since the CPJ began gathering data in 1992.