Interview with Nadine Moawad

Nadine Moawad is a feminist activist who works in Lebanon. She is currently focusing her energy on the intersection of sexuality issues with internet censorship and communication. She talks about the many issues with the internet in Lebanon and how these issues affect women.

About half a million new users are using the internet every month in the Middle East. That is a huge number! Many people, however, especially women, are not easily included in that number. Nadine talked about how internet usage is a huge issue of class. If a woman cannot afford her own computer, she must seek out internet usage elsewhere. There are Internet Cafes/Shops where women can go and use the internet, but they are not very "user-friendly". These shops are highly dominated by men. Often time, the men in these spaces are using the internet to watch porn and play games. I do not know about everyone else, but I sure wouldn't want to sit in a cafe with a bunch of men looking at porn. Not only is it an awkward atmosphere, but once women log onto the computers, they are bombarded with sexist propaganda. The promotion of violence against women and articles on Facebook about "How to handle women" can be found everywhere!


Censorship of the internet in Lebanon is a huge issue as well. In most countries the internet is censored by the government, however, in Lebanon it is censored by Universities and Institutions. These institutions mainly censor the internet by keywords. This poses a huge problem because, as everyone knows, keywords only go so far. There are probably some sites that are relevant to women that are being blocked! Internet infrastructure in Lebanon is really bad as well--expensive and slow. So, if a woman was able to get onto a computer she would most likely give up after waiting for her page to load. If she did wait long enough the information that she wanted to look at would likely be blocked. This sounds extremely problematic to me!


So what can women do? Nadine did not talk a lot about what is currently being done in order to alleviate some of the sexism going on in Lebanon, but she did provide enough information for viewers to start thinking of ways. The infrastructure needs to be remodeled and censorship needs to be re-directed. Women need a safe space where they can access internet for a price that they can afford. This interview is a prime example of internet access in relation to class and gender. There need to be some changes when talking about internet usage in Lebanon and I think that it starts with education. I had no idea that these problems were occurring and I have an odd sense and a lot of other people do not either. My solution: Write a blog post about it!

Watch Nadine's interview: http://vimeo.com/9950475