LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK REGULATING DIGITAL MEDIA IN JORDAN AND ARAB COUNTRIES: A STUDY ON THE LEGAL DIMENSIONS

Abstract

This paper reviews the legal structures governing digital media in Jordan and some of the Arab nations, and their correlation with their legal aspects and their freedom of speech, privacy, and their governance online. Arab states have over the last ten years developed different laws to manage emerging issues like cybercrimes, misinformation, and protection of data. The Cybercrime Law No. 17 of 2023 in Jordan is a major reform since it clarifies the action of online character assassination as a criminal offense, but is also indicative of the wider trend in the region of valuing state security at the expense of digital rights. A method of comparisons with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon makes it clear that there do exist similarities and divergences: a restrictive approach in Egypt and Jordan, a comprehensive and rights-oriented approach in the United Arab Emirates, a partial approach meeting international standards in Saudi Arabia and a weak and fragmented legislation in Lebanon. It also focuses on how local political, cultural, and economic environments affect the development of such laws and positions them in comparisons with some international examples, in particular, the rights-oriented GDPR introduced into the EU and the U.S. market-oriented, free-speech based. The results indicate that despite the improvement, the Arab laws on digital media are largely security-oriented and pose a threat to democracy. The recommendations include rights-based reforms, more judicial review, regional alignment, and civil society contribution to promote balanced, transparent, and international-consistent digital governance in the Arab world, which concludes the paper.