Conflict Incident Report

Activists protested the violation of freedom of speech by the government Tuesday, following the recent detention of three individuals for their social media activity.

The Against Repression campaign, which was initiated on social media, brought together activists, journalists and others at Samir Kassir Square in downtown Beirut to express their concerns about local censorship.

The protest was instigated by the recent crackdown on social media by Lebanese authorities. The latest activist to be investigated by the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch is Elie Khoury, who criticized President Michel Aoun and the general situation in Lebanon. Additionally, two activists were called in for interrogation last week by the ISF's Anti-Cybercrimes and Intellectual Property Rights Bureau: activist and journalist Mohammad Awwad was arrested Friday for having criticized Lebanese authorities on Facebook, and Charbel Khoury was interrogated Thursday for having posted a sarcastic joke about St. Charbel.