Skip to main content
Back to content

Marwa Fatafta

MENA Policy and Advocacy Director

Marwa leads Access Now’s policy and advocacy work on digital rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Her work spans a number of issues at the nexus of human rights and technology including content governance and platform accountability, online censorship, digital surveillance, and transnational repression. She has written extensively on the digital occupation in Palestine and focuses on the role of new technologies in armed conflicts and humanitarian contexts and their impact on historically marginalized and oppressed communities. Marwa is a Policy Analyst at Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, an advisory board member of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, and an advisory committee member for Bread&Net. Marwa was a Fulbright scholar in the US and holds an MA in International Relations from Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. She holds a second MA in Development and Governance from the University of Duisburg-Essen.

a web of connected eyes on a purple and blue background

NSO’s Pegasus surveilled Palestinian activists — it’s time for a moratorium on spyware sales

8 Nov 2021

Access Now condemns the hacking of six Palestinian human rights defenders’ devices with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.

Press Release
NSO’s Pegasus surveilled Palestinian activists — it’s time for a moratorium on spyware sales
8 Nov 2021
NSO’s Pegasus surveilled Palestinian activists — it’s time for a moratorium on spyware sales
a web of connected eyes on a purple and blue background

Membership Application for MENA Coalition to Combat Surveillance | استمارة عضوية لتحالف الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا لمكافحة المراقبة الإلكترونية

26 Aug 2021

This short (5-minute) application is to express your interest in joining the MENA Coalition to Combat Surveillance (MCCS).

Press Release
Membership Application for MENA Coalition to Combat Surveillance | استمارة عضوية لتحالف الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا لمكافحة المراقبة الإلكترونية
26 Aug 2021
Membership Application for MENA Coalition to Combat Surveillance | استمارة عضوية لتحالف الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا لمكافحة المراقبة الإلكترونية
Access Now theme

Privacy Violated: Protection of Customers’ Personal Information by Internet Service Providers in Palestine

24 Aug 2021

ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies and Access Now explore how the absence of right-respecting and user-centric privacy policies are leaving Palestinians’ personal data up for grabs.

Publication
Privacy Violated: Protection of Customers’ Personal Information by Internet Service Providers in Palestine
24 Aug 2021
Privacy Violated: Protection of Customers’ Personal Information by Internet Service Providers in Palestine
a web of connected eyes on a purple and blue background

Bahraini government hacks activists with NSO Group technology

24 Aug 2021

“From Pearl to Pegasus: Bahraini Government Hacks Activists with NSO Group Zero-Click iPhone Exploits” explores how activists were targeted in Bahrain.

Press Release
Bahraini government hacks activists with NSO Group technology
24 Aug 2021
Bahraini government hacks activists with NSO Group technology
Access Now theme

حجب الانترنت أثناء الامتحانات: حين تفشل حكومات الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا في الامتحان

8 Jul 2021
Post
حجب الانترنت أثناء الامتحانات: حين تفشل حكومات الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا في الامتحان
8 Jul 2021
حجب الانترنت أثناء الامتحانات: حين تفشل حكومات الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا في الامتحان
Access Now theme

Internet shutdowns during exams: when MENA governments fail the test

7 Jul 2021

National secondary and high school exams are a big deal in the Arab world. But when MENA governments cut off internet access nationwide to stop students from sharing exam answers, they also block access to essential online services.

Post
Internet shutdowns during exams: when MENA governments fail the test
7 Jul 2021
Internet shutdowns during exams: when MENA governments fail the test
Access Now theme

Global civil society coalition calls on Facebook to #StopSilencingPalestine

10 Jun 2021

Access Now has joined 16 organizations and more than 50 artists, journalists, and human rights defenders to launch the #StopSilencingPalestine campaign to demand an end to Facebook’s censorship of Palestinian voices.

Press Release
Global civil society coalition calls on Facebook to #StopSilencingPalestine
10 Jun 2021
Global civil society coalition calls on Facebook to #StopSilencingPalestine

Policy Analyst – MENA (Tunis)

7 Jun 2021

As MENA Policy Analyst you will work help advance our policy work in Tunisia, focusing mainly on freedom of expression, privacy, and data protection.

Post
Policy Analyst – MENA (Tunis)
7 Jun 2021
Policy Analyst – MENA (Tunis)
Protest and human rights

الشيخ جراح: فيسبوك وتويتر تسكتان المتظاهرين، وتحذفان الأدلة

11 May 2021
Press Release
الشيخ جراح: فيسبوك وتويتر تسكتان المتظاهرين، وتحذفان الأدلة
11 May 2021
الشيخ جراح: فيسبوك وتويتر تسكتان المتظاهرين، وتحذفان الأدلة
Protest and human rights

Sheikh Jarrah: Facebook and Twitter systematically silencing protests, deleting evidence

7 May 2021

Facebook and Twitter are systematically silencing users protesting and documenting the evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem.

Press Release
Sheikh Jarrah: Facebook and Twitter systematically silencing protests, deleting evidence
7 May 2021
Sheikh Jarrah: Facebook and Twitter systematically silencing protests, deleting evidence