The document outlines a design brief aimed at promoting advocacy for free expression online in the Arab world, particularly focusing on netizens such as activists and journalists. It poses critical questions regarding the impact of the Arab Spring on online expression, the influence of legal changes across countries, and the need for a methodology to document cases of online speech-related legal harassment. Urgent calls for safety measures are emphasized, with warnings about sharing sensitive data.

1. DIGITAL RIGHTS
X ARAB WORLD
calligraphy by realfEZ

2. SMEX // DESIGN BRIEF

3. To galvanise advocacy for free expression online in the Arab
world
REASON
Netizens of the Arab world (especially online activists, bloggers, and
journalists)
AUDIENCE
Explanatory and exploratory
FUNCTION
Matter of fact. Adversarial but not antagonistic
TONE
Online & social media
To have Arabic version as well (i.e. easy to localise)
LOCATION / CONTEXT

4. MESSAGE

5. THE TIME IS NOW
to stand up for freedom of expression in the Arab world

6. SOURCES & DATA

7. HYPOTHESES /
THINGS WE HOPE TO FIND OUT

8. Is 2011 (Arab spring) a dividing line for online expression?
Is there a domino effect between countries? If one country passes
a law, does it encourage other countries to follow lead? Velocity?
Is there a difference between origination and amplification?
Is there a relationship between different applications of laws and
the regional subdivision?

9. SKETCHES & CODING

12. VISUALISATION

14. WHAT’S NEXT?

15. METHODOLOGY
There is urgent need to code cases of online speech-related legal
harassment, with the grounds and articles under which people are
being prosecuted, so that they can be correlated with the laws and
countries.
What’s the criteria for including laws in the dataset?
How can we best show the contradictions?
SAFETY CONCERNS
Warning: Share this Data At Your Own Risk

16. THANK YOU!