ABU DHABI // GCC governments must realise that they cannot control social media, and put more effort into fighting extremist ideology through providing more positive content.
That was the message from Nabil Al Khowaiter, chief executive of Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, at the second day of the Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate on Monday.
“Ministries of information should stop wasting money on their censoring departments because you cannot censor the news any more,” Mr Al Khowaiter said.
“GCC governments need to make some hard decisions today and among those is the identity of GCC citizens.”
He gave as a positive example the call by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, for residents to nominate pioneers to be recognised on the UAE’s 44th anniversary.
“It is an ideal way to give citizens a deeper sense of belonging to the country, which then provides a psychological barrier against extremist ideas that might make an individual turn against his country,” Mr Al Khowaiter said.
He said social media could threaten the stability of GCC countries by creating divisions and identity crises within societies if governments ignored its impact and abandoned the public space to extremists.
With the GCC population considered to be among the most internet-connected in the world, Mr Al Khowaiter said it was hopeless for governments to try to control this media.
“GCC citizens tend to join groups on social media which they trust more than official TV or local newspapers,” he said.
“These groups act like echo chambers with the worst prejudices being repeated again among their members.”
He said that from a national and cultural identity point of view, these groups could have a devastating effect on the youngest and most vulnerable members of society by instilling in them a violent hatred for others.
“The social media revolution is a completely different animal to printing because it essentially means that every individual carries a printing press in their pocket,” Mr Al Khowaiter said.
“Just as the printing press reshaped European societies, these media platforms will invariably have a similar transformative effect on our world.
“These changes are happening today as we speak even though we do not really see them very well at this point.”
Cyber attacks have become a growing concern for the region, with the UAE allocating Dh5.5 billion to battle cyber threats and to secure data in recent years.
“The impact of cyberspace on developing countries is structural, political and ideological,” said Dr Albadr Al Shateri, adjunct professor at the National Defence College in the UAE.
“This impact is crucial and very important in many ways. To undermine any regime, you need the mobilisation of the masses against the regime, disgruntled elites to do these mobilisations and a declining capacity of the state for the regime to change.”
Dr Al Shateri said the internet provided all three of those elements.
“It gives a voice to the dissatisfied elites, it helps the mobilisation of the masses and weakens the capacity of the state to repress [harmful information],” he said.
At least 30 states have developed military or intelligence capabilities to tackle this “virtual war”.
“Today, the internet made us more free but in a more chaotic and unpredictable world,” said Nassif Hitti, the permanent representative of the Arab League to the United Nations Organisations.
“It created power for non-state actors and individuals. We live in a world of multilayered identity and more so in our region.”
cmalek@thenational.ae