Digital warfare and social media in the Middle East: regional changes and the struggle for information control

Abstract

The Middle East region is undergoing intense social, economic, and political transformation, which is radically changing each of its neighbouring countries. This phase of upheaval and uncertainty results in the proliferation of numerous hotbeds of conflict, tension, and rivalry between state and non-state actors. In this sense, the crisis in the Middle East status quo coincides with an international context of technological revolution, which directly affects how individuals and societies communicate and obtain information. This chapter analyses the impact of new technologies, digital platforms, and social networks on political communication and information in the Middle East, analysing the most relevant events and developments that have shaped the region's future in recent decades. Similarly, the research addresses the transfer of the political struggle between different regional powers to the virtual spaces most used by citizens in the region, based on the central idea that there is a profound collision of narratives regarding the region's immediate geopolitical present and future.