Artificial Intelligence and Social and Gender Justice Activism in MENA Spaces: Co-optation, Engagement, and Resistance – ENAR, published in 2025, provides an in-depth exploration of the opportunities and challenges that artificial intelligence (AI) presents to social and gender justice activism across the Middle East and North Africa. Compiled by regional and international experts, the report examines how AI technologies can both enable and constrain civic engagement, highlighting patterns of co-optation, digital surveillance, and resistance.
Key findings:
AI and civic engagement:
AI tools have expanded avenues for advocacy, digital campaigns, and social mobilization.
Platforms leveraging AI can amplify marginalized voices but also risk algorithmic bias that silences or misrepresents certain groups.
Risks of co-optation and surveillance:
Governments and private actors increasingly deploy AI for monitoring, shaping, or suppressing activism.
Activists face digital surveillance, misinformation campaigns, and censorship that disproportionately affect women and gender-diverse groups.
Resistance and adaptation strategies:
Civil society organizations develop AI literacy programs to empower activists and reduce dependency on commercial platforms.
Communities implement privacy-preserving digital tools and networks to maintain autonomy in advocacy work.
Policy and research insights:
Ethical AI deployment and regulatory frameworks are critical to safeguard social and gender justice activism.
Ongoing research and participatory approaches can help mitigate risks while maximizing AI’s potential for equitable social change.
