An Exploratory Study of Attitudes Towards Privacy in Social Media and the Threat of Blackmail: The Views of a Group of Saudi Women

Abstract

The Saudi Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, or the Religious Police as it is commonly known in the west, has dealt with 1834 incidents of women being blackmailed by men in 2014 and of those 22% (N= 403) were initiated using Social Network Sites (SNS). In light of the reality about these crimes, this study asked the following questions: (1) Are Saudi women concerned about their privacy in SNS? (2) Are Saudi women worried about falling victim to blackmail in SNS? (3) Do Saudi women know how to change the privacy settings in SNS? (4) Are Saudi women comfortable with communicating across gender lines in SNS? To address these questions, qualitative interviews with 16 women who used Facebook regularly and a focus group discussion with another group of 10 Saudi female students were conducted. The findings of the study show that the Saudi women interviewed appeared concerned about their privacy in Facebook, worried about falling victim to blackmail, knew how to change the privacy settings and are not comfortable with communicating across gender lines. This suggests that the participants in this study are not the likely victims of blackmail crimes. Further research is needed to understand the profile of the victims of blackmail and the root cause of these crimes.

#EndMaleGuardianship: Women’s rights, social media and the Arab public sphere

“…In 2016, Saudi women’s rights activists began an online campaign which was to become one of the most remarkable movements in Saudi Arabia and contributed to ending the system of male guardianship known as mahram . Part of the Saudi culture (Al-Lily, 2011), mahram requires women to legally have a guardian throughout their lives, usually husband, father, grandfather, son older than 18, or brother (Al-Saggaf, 2016; Human Rights Watch, 2016). Women need permission from their male guardian ( mahram ) for marriage, travel and study; and her guardian has significant power over her life, including deciding whether she should receive certain types of medical treatment or visit government departments.…”

Blackmail on social media: what do we know and what remains unknown?

“…Among children, side effects can include selfblame, invasive memories or feelings, unhappiness, low self-esteem, bad dreams, sleepless, nervousness, anxiety attacks and educational difficulties. Despite these consequences, research indicates that people are often vulnerable to becoming a victim of blackmail on social media due to their tendency to disclose sensitive information online (Al Qahtani et al 2018;Al Saggaf 2016;Kopecký 2017;Monaghan 2017).…”

“…Nevertheless, social media users in Western countries reported being less aware of the potential for blackmail or reputational damage to occur as a result of sharing such information on social media (Al makrami 2015). In contrast, cultural norms in Arabic countries tended to discourage the publication of sexualised content on social media profiles (Al makrami 2015;Al Saggaf 2016). This was especially the case for women, as women tended to face greater reputational damage and a reduced social status if they engaged in such behaviour (Al makrami 2015;Al Saggaf 2016).…”

“…In contrast, cultural norms in Arabic countries tended to discourage the publication of sexualised content on social media profiles (Al makrami 2015;Al Saggaf 2016). This was especially the case for women, as women tended to face greater reputational damage and a reduced social status if they engaged in such behaviour (Al makrami 2015;Al Saggaf 2016). As a result, people living in Arabic countries, especially women, reported being more aware of the potential for blackmail and reputational damage to occur, if they shared sensitive personal information on social media (Al Saggaf 2016).…”

“…Addressing this gap in knowledge is necessary to inform the design of interventions intended to reduce victimisation and successfully capture and prosecute perpetrators of blackmail on social media. For example, research indicates that people are at risk of becoming a victim of blackmail on social media due to their tendency to disclose sensitive information (Al Qahtani et al 2018;Al Saggaf 2016;Kopecký 2017;Monaghan 2017).…”