Khashoggi’s death was an unfortunate incident, says Saudi – 05/01/2024 – World

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered by Saudi agents inside the country’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The crown prince and current Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, is accused of being the mastermind behind the crime.

For Bander Alsulami, director of information at Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Media Regulation, however, Khashoggi’s death was an “unfortunate incident”, and his country cannot be defined by it.

Alsulami was in Brazil participating in the G20 meeting this Wednesday (1st) on information integrity – which dealt, among other topics, with press freedom.

Saudi Arabia is one of the member countries of the G20, a group that brings together the largest economies in the world. Brazil is presiding over the group this year and will hold several meetings that culminate in the summit of heads of state, in November, in Rio de Janeiro.

The Saudis, however, have positioned themselves differently in the women’s empowerment and bioeconomy working groups — due to their opposition to the energy transition.

In the press freedom ranking of the NGO Reporters Without Borders, Saudi Arabia appears in 170th out of 180 countries. Alsulami spoke with Sheet after speaking at the panel at the G20 meeting in São Paulo.

The G20 is a very diverse group in terms of member countries’ views on freedom of expression. Saudi Arabia has a very specific, very particular vision of the theme…
I wouldn’t say it’s specific. We always support freedom of expression, but we have our values ​​and our culture. We are open for discussions, but to form an opinion [sobre a liberdade de expressão no país]you have to come to Saudi Arabia, talk to people on the streets.

Do you think there is a wrong perception?
For sure. If people were to talk to the Saudis, they would see this.

Do you believe that there is still a stain on Saudi Arabia’s reputation because of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi?
This incident reinforced preconceived views about Saudi Arabia. It is important to note that the user base of digital platforms in Saudi Arabia on Snapchat, Twitter, is one of the largest in the world. Citizens of all ages use the platforms, and so does the government. They can communicate, they can complain, there’s no problem.

Was Saudi Arabia’s image damaged after Khashoggi’s murder?
I wouldn’t say the image was harmed. An unfortunate incident happened.

Is there injustice?
It reinforced prejudices.

But he was killed…
It was an unfortunate incident, it happened, a lot of time passed, many things happened after that, people were punished [os agentes que participaram diretamente do assassinato foram julgados]. If you keep going back to an incident to define a country, that says more about you than about the country. It’s like saying that Brazil is all about football.

Do you have legislation to curb the spread of misinformation?
Some laws already cover this, but the government is discussing new media legislation. People can give their opinions, they can discuss, but they cannot spread misinformation.

What is your definition of misinformation?
When someone lies on purpose to promote a political agenda. It doesn’t matter if it’s a person, a company, or foreign media.

And who determines whether it is disinformation?
There is a media authority, but we also have the judicial system.

In your presentation you showed the results of an Edelman survey that showed the Saudi Arabian media as one of the most trustworthy in the world, seventh place in the ranking. What is this due to? It’s the media state-owned?
If you talk to local people, you will know the answer. Saudis can tell how they trust government agencies, the speeches of authorities.

Are the ones that are most trustworthy the state media?
No, we have private media. Media aligned with our needs, with the topics we want to discuss. From the outside, people might think: how can you trust the media? But within the country, you will see how we communicate. People are free to discuss. But they need to be aligned with our culture, understand and respect differences.