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Social Media Discourse in Saudi Arabia: The Conservative and Radical Camps are the Dominant Voices

(Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv) Orit Perlov and Yoel Guzansky - Since 2012, the number of active Internet users in Saudi Arabia has grown by 300%. The number of Twitter and YouTube users in the kingdom is the highest per capita in the world. While in other parts of the Arab world, the dominant forces using social networks are seeking to challenge the existing social and political structures, in Saudi Arabia the conservatives, radical forces, religious clerics, and mouthpieces for the regime are more dominant on social networks and use them for indoctrination and mobilization. Conservative forces have learned to use social networks to preach sermons to the faithful in Saudi Arabia and abroad, and to recruit Salafist and jihadi fighters.
2014-02-07 00:00:00
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