This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Marc Owen Jones, an assistant professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar. He is the author of the recently released book, Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East. They talk about governments' longstanding efforts to shape the news environment in Middle Eastern states, and how the rise of social media creates new opportunities and threats for governments and citizens alike. Then, Jon continues the conversation with Natasha Hall and Caleb Harper about what this all means for the United States and the region.

Marc Owen Jones, "How digital authoritarianism has permeated the Middle East," Middle East Eye, August 11, 2022.

Marc Owen Jones, Digital Authoritarianism in the Middle East (Hurst Publishers: 2022).

Marc Owen Jones, "Social media fueled the Arab Spring, then helped dictators squash it," The New Arab, January 12, 2021.

Transcript, "Real News, Fake News, and No News," CSIS, September 20, 2022.