Amidst the Saudi Arabian Kingdom's exclusion and targeting of women for their internet use, the world celebrates International Women's Day on March 8, 2023, under the theme "Digital Inclusion: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality."
One of the objectives of this year's celebration is to highlight the importance of protecting the rights of women and girls in digital spaces, tackling gender-based violence online, and facilitating information and communication technology. According to United Nations statistics, 38% of women have experienced online violence according to a study of 51 countries.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights indicates that women in Saudi Arabia face various forms of official violence related to their use of digital spaces. Recently, the organization has documented several cases in which women faced unprecedentedly unfair sentences in this context.
In August 2022, Saudi Arabia sentenced Noura al-Qahtani to 45 years in prison and a 45-year travel ban on charges including preparing, publishing, and storing material that could harm public order through the internet and charges related to tweets on social media accounts that insulted state symbols.
In addition, Saudi Arabia sentenced activist Salma al-Shehab to 34 years in prison and a 34-year travel ban, which was later reduced to 27 years, on charges including "spreading false and tendentious rumors through writing and publishing tweets on her Twitter account to undermine public order and destabilizing public security."
In October 2022, the specialized criminal court in Saudi Arabia sentenced Tunisian nurse Mahdia Al-Marzouki to 15 years in prison on charges related to her use of social media. The charges against her included retweeting and reposting on Twitter and Facebook that the prosecution deemed her praising a terrorist organization and seeking to destabilize social fabric by retweeting.
The Saudi Public Prosecution had sought the execution of Israa al-Ghomgham before she was sentenced to 8 years in prison, which was later increased to 10 years, on charges formulated as crimes, including creating a YouTube channel and using social media.
In addition to the court verdicts, the Saudi government uses accounts on social media platforms, which activists call electronic flies, to track and threaten activists, including Manal al-Sharif, who announced the deactivation of her Twitter account due to harassment, threats, terrorization, and false news spread by these accounts.
In August 2022, numerous girls were violently attacked at Social Education Home in Khamees Mushait area by security men and masked men. Instead of investigating the case, several activists indicated that the assaulted girls had documented the attack through their social media accounts and were harassed for doing so.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights confirms that the systematic campaigns carried out by the Saudi government to promote changes in its approach to women's rights are part of a framework to wash away the catastrophic image.
The organization emphasizes that appointing female ambassadors and delegates to UN councils cannot conceal the reality of the ongoing violations against women in Saudi Arabia. Along with the restrictions on activists and defenders and the criminalization of internet use, women are still subject to domestic violence, torture, and mistreatment without absolute protection. Many fundamental rights, including travel, work, and citizenship, are still unavailable or conditional.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights stresses that the lack of transparency, intimidation, and concealment of the facts prevent adequate access to the cases. However, the emerging stories confirm the extent and severity of the violations.
On International Women's Day, the organization sees that the official approach in Saudi Arabia towards human rights in general and women's rights in particular still falls under the category of propaganda, which prevents faith in any statements or declarations about reforms.