Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Deception, Disinformation and Social Media [Hardcover]

A probing study of how the Gulf's authoritarian regimes hoodwink citizens across the world in digital propaganda wars.You are being lied to by people who don't even exist.Digital deception is the new face of information warfare. Social media has been weaponised by states and commercial entities alike, as bots and trolls proliferate and users are left to navigate an infodemic of fake news and disinformation. In the Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East, where authoritarian regimes continue to innovate and adapt in the face of changing technology, online deception has reached new levels of audacity.From pro-Saudi entities that manipulate the tweets of the US president, to the activities of fake journalists and Western PR companies that whitewash human rights abuses, Marc Owen Jones' meticulous investigative research uncovers the full gamut of tactics used by Gulf regimes and their allies to deceive domestic and international audiences. In an age of global deception, this book charts the lengths bad actors will go to when seeking to impose their ideology and views on citizens around the world.PrefaceIntroduction: The Gulf's Post Truth MomentPart 1: Digital Deception and the Pseudo Reality Industries1: Digital Authoritarianism, Deception and Information Controls2 The Deception Order and Pseudo-Reality IndustriesPart 2: Local3: Making Arabia Great Again: The Evolution of Digital Media Power and Populism in the Gulf4:Automating Deceit: Authoritarian AI, and JournogandaPart 3: Projecting Foreign Policy and Shaping the Regional Discourse5: The US Right-Wing Saudi Anti-Iran Nexus6: The Gulf Crisis Never Happened: Pseudo Events and Pseudo PublicsPart 4: International7: Foreign Interference in Elections, Revolutions and Protests: From Iraq to Algeria8: You are being lied to by people that do not even exist: The Pseudo-Journalist9: Football Crazy: Sportwashing and the Pseudo Fan10: Covid19's Disinformation SuperspreadersPart 5: Attacking Journalists and Silencing Dissent11: Sil3a