Telecomix : Syria - - News From The Ground - Saudi Arabia: Poverty Video Vloggers Released. Tweeted picture of Firas with his little brothers after getting released Around two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia arrested three young video bloggers Firas Buqna, Hussam Al-Darwish and Khaled Al-Rasheed for producing an episode of their show Malub Alena about poverty in one of Riyadh's areas.
The name of the show can be translated into We Are Being Fooled and this episode was actually their fourth episode after previous shows on youth and police corruption. Before the arrests, the show was having a good number of views but in few days after their arrests, it was viewed for more than 600,000 times. Here's a copy of the video, with English subtitles, from YouTube: The show's title also turned into a Twitter hashtag #Mal3ob3lena, where Saudis condemned the arrests of those three young men and also expressed their sorrow against the oppression of free speech in the kingdom. Saudi blogger Haneen wrote a post [ar] about what those three young vloggers have done: شكرا لكل من ساهم وسعى في هذه القضيه.
'Monopoly': A YouTube sensation knocks Saudi royalty. The Arab Spring has yet to touch down on the sands of Saudi Arabia, and advocates face an uphill battle mobilizing an apathetic general public that seems to accept the country's all-powerful monarchy.
Skip to next paragraph Subscribe Today to the Monitor Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS ofThe Christian Science MonitorWeekly Digital Edition Now, however, young Saudi videographers are using YouTube to air a series of video reports that reveal the underside of life in the world's biggest oil producer. The narratives are compelling and the journalism impassioned as they guide their audience through slums in the major cities, satirize the severe national housing shortage and ridicule the government's failure to respond.
Judging from the number of times the videos have been viewed and the comments posted by embittered viewers, the muckraking venture is a hit. Since its posting, the Arabic version of "Poverty" has been viewed more than 1.5 million times. A jab at the king. @Mujtahidd: Tweeting the Saudi Elite’s Secrets. With over 200,000 followers, many Saudis have already heard of @Mujtahidd.
For more than three months, this anonymous Twitter account has been denouncing the lifestyles of those in power in Saudi Arabia. Tweet after tweet reveals details of backroom deals and conspiracies involving the ruling House of Saud, and their schemes with major Western capitals. The same Western capitals who have been more than accommodating of the al-Saud family’s religious fundamentalism. Influenced by the culture of WikiLeaks, and tracked on the web by the regime, @Mujtahidd’s revelations continue to increase. OWNI spoke with the mysterious whistleblower. How would you present yourself? Mujtahidd is a symbol of an aggressive fight against filthy corruption. Your Twitter handle, @Mujtahidd, is that a reference to Mujtahid, one who makes a personal interpretation on a point of Islamic law? Yes and no. What’s your opinion of the leadership of Saudi Arabia, and their method of governing?
I started with him.