Faisal J. Abbas

On April 23rd, 2012 a series of crippling cyber-attacks were waged against the social media outlets of the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya News Channel.

Within moments, editors at this leading newscaster lost all control over the channel's Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts as they (the accounts) began disseminating false information relating...

Two days ago, I blogged for The Huffington Post UK detailing the April 23rd cyber-attacks which were launched by the so-called "Syrian Electronic Army" (SEA) against the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya News Channel.

As I couldn't get hold of anyone from the so-called SEA at the time, I ended...

It was close to mid-night when followers of the Twitter-feed of Al-Arabiya, one of the leading satellite news channels in the Middle East, began noticing a series of controversial news post relating to the State of Qatar.

The first post suggested that Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, the Gulf Emirate's Prime...

They say one shouldn't judge a book by its cover; but hey, if you were lucky enough to have been alive to witness the Arab Spring unfold last year; then how could you possibly resist reading a book which: a) has a title like: Tahrir: The Last 18 Days of...

If you are on Twitter, you may already know that April 12 won't be just another ordinary Thursday in Yemen. Indeed, preparations are under way for yet another "No Qat Day" following the hype which a similar social media-fuelled attempt generated last January.

Renowned for his 1990s tenure as the Managing Director of SAMBA (or the Saudi American Bank as it was once known), Shaukat Aziz probably felt right at home during his participation as a panellist at the 12th annual Jeddah Economic Forum (JEF).

The former Prime Minister of Pakistan...

It may very well be "micro-blogging", but the recent global row over what were considered to be blasphemous tweets by Saudi columnist Hamza Kashgari have proven, yet again, how "macro" the impact of just 140 characters can be.

The whole issue started ten days ago, when -- on the...

Are Arabs better or worse off following the 2011 revolutions? Did the Arab Spring make the world a safer place and should the UK and USA accept the new democratically-elected governments of the Middle East if the people vote-in religious parties which may oppose Western interests?

Clearly, answers to...

What makes social media an interesting field to study and follow is that you simply can't predict what will happen next; it's a world where things change every moment, where a simple 'tweet' could reach millions with a press of a button and a Facebook page could help bring down...

And so the last of the American troops have left Iraq, marking the end of a campaign which has lasted nine bloody years. What started as a hyped-up war of 'shock and awe', has ended rather quietly, tainted with mixed reviews as to whether or not the 'mission' was indeed...

Earlier today, Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) announced a $300m investment in social media site, Twitter, following months of negotiations.

Given the nature of Twitter, it didn't long for the prince to feel the significance of his investment, as most people found...

To many, Coca Cola's decision to invest $980 million in buying a stake in leading Saudi beverage manufacturer, Aujan Industries, may simply seem as an attempt to catch up with arch-rival, Pepsi, which for long has been the leader in the Middle East.

The agreement was announced earlier this...

With Lebanon suffering one of the world's slowest internet connection speeds, it is certainly not surprising that social media hasn't picked up in this country as quickly as it did in other parts of the globe.

However, while it is understandable why a Lebanese web-surfer might avoid being...

The UK Home Secretary Theresa May's decision to impose a ban on protest group 'Muslims Against Crusades' as of midnight tonight is highly likely to cause a storm of controversy.

However, this controversy is not necessarily a negative thing, especially not for the Home Secretary herself who...

It was business as unusual on the first day of the week in Saudi Arabia, as millions of Saudis woke to the disturbing news of the passing of Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, long-time Defense Minister and heir to the throne since 2005.

Saudi state television carried a palace statement...

As a journalist specialising in the Middle East, I can't help but reflect on how phenomenal a year 2011 has proved to be so far; we have witnessed a wave of serious changes, unexpected in both size and rapidness, thanks to what is now referred to as the "Arab Spring."

In less than a week, more than 750,000 people viewed Monopoly, the Saudi short-film released on YouTube on Wednesday 14 September 2011, making it the undisputed biggest blockbuster of this summer for most Saudis.

The 22 minute feature is a dark-comedy which tackles the issue of increasing...

It seems that 2012 will be the year when Arab viewers may finally see the break up of the dominance currently imposed over the Arabic satellite news channel market by the Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera and Saudi-backed Al-Arabiya.

Whereas preparations and staffing continues for the highly anticipated launch of...

"Better late than never" is the only thing that could be said about The United States and the EU finally calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

In a written statement, President Obama accused al-Assad of "torturing and slaughtering" his people in what U.N. officials...

Until today, many people seem to have not understood the real dynamics behind what is often referred to as a 'battle' between 'new' and 'old media'.

In the Middle East, the rapidly developing events, sometimes dubbed 'Twitter Revolutions', which took (and still are taking) place since January have revived...