Beirut Spring

Blogging Lebanon
since 2005

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Lebanon Banning Websites Using Fax Machines

I believe in freedom of speech but I’m not an absolutist. Child porn should be banned and known terrorists should be monitored and their tweets blacked out.

Mustapha Hamoui · Sep 1, 2014

How to Burn Islamic Flags Without Upsetting Muslims

Many Muslims can’t stand ISIS and see in them a terrorist organization that is giving Islam a bad name. But for religious reasons those same Muslims are very bothered when the flag of ISIS is burnt in public because it contains what they consider to be sacrosanct religious text.

Mustapha Hamoui · Aug 30, 2014

There is no Such Thing as the Right to Watch the World Cup

Let’s get this out of the way first: FIFA is greedy. Very greedy. The international body responsible for the world cup tries to squeeze out every single penny it can from our pockets. It sells very expensive ads and then it double dips by selling broadcasting rights for exorbitant prices. If FIFA were a website, it would set up a high pay wall to access it and then it would litter it with display ads, text ads and sponsored posts to the point that you struggle to find its main content. Again: “Greedy”.

Mustapha Hamoui · Jun 14, 2014

Team #Ghana

The worldcup begins today, and despite the tremendous odds in the “group of death”, I’m supporting the team of the country where I grew up, where I work, and where some of the world’s most amazing people live.

Mustapha Hamoui · Jun 12, 2014

On Moderation

As I’m watching the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) take over important parts of the levant, and as I witness Abdel Fattah al Sissi getting sworn in as Egypt’s president, I couldn’t help but think of “moderation”, an idea that is central to our political discourse in the Muslim world and central to the way foreign powers like to talk about us.

Mustapha Hamoui · Jun 11, 2014

Nuzzle. My Favorite Way of Discovering News

A web app that I use every day has recently come up with an iPhone version of its service, and by all means you have to try it out because it is very useful.

Mustapha Hamoui · May 19, 2014

The Right to be Forgotten by Google

Privacy advocates and Google bashers around the world are celebrating the fact that a European court has upheld the “right to be forgotten” principle in a court ruling against Google. This is a major ruling and could have big reverberations around the world, but what does it mean?

Mustapha Hamoui · May 14, 2014