Episode 26 - Digital privacy

The Lebanese Politics Podcast

Digital privacy begins at 15:46. Tick tock goes the cabinet clock—with the Christian representation problem solved it seemed like a new cabinet was finally on the horizon but now the issue of Sunni representation has taken the forefront, with Hezbollah staunching refusing to allow cabinet formation to go ahead without a resolution. In the twenty-six episode of The Lebanese Politics Podcast, Benjamin Redd and Nizar Hassan analyze whether this was a tactical error on Hezbollah’s behalf, placing the blame for cabinet delay on their door step. Also discussed is the shocking acquittal of the husband of Roula Yaacoub, who had been accused of beating his wife to death five years ago—and whether the swift response of the state prosecutor was a victory for activist pressure—the scapegoating of Syrians in light of a controversial news report, cuts to electricity due to a lack of government funds for fuel, a new powerplant project by American company PrimeSouth, Jounieh’s ignominious place as the 23rd most polluted city in the world, and newly released figures on refugee returns. Our main topic this week is digital privacy, with our regular hosts joined by Azza el-Masri, campaigns manger at SMEX—a Lebanese NGO that works to advance self-regulating information societies in the MENA—to discuss the dearth of regulations in Lebanon and the failures of the—not quite as new as it seems—e-transaction law when it comes to protecting the digital privacy of Lebanese citizens. The SMEX Blog on the e-transaction law can be found at https://smex.org/an-ugly-new-data-protection-law-in-lebanon/ Music track: Zuhal by Elepheel, check out his other work @elepheel