Doha: The 10th Social Sciences and Humanities Conference, organized by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, commenced Saturday and will run for four days, researching in social media platforms and the dialectics of information flow, freedom of expression, surveillance, and control.

According to Qatar News Agency, Researcher at the Arab Center and Chair of the conference committee Mohamed Hemchi stated that the selection of social media platforms as the theme of this edition reflects the center's focus on studies related to these mediums and the digital space. The aim is to provide a platform to showcase, scrutinize, and critique the findings of Arab research on this topic.

He expressed hope that Arab researchers interested in this field would use this opportunity for knowledge exchange and work collectively towards establishing a valuable and credible Arab contribution to the field.

In his speech, Hemchi highlighted the backdrop of the brutal war waged by Israel against Gaza, which he described as an ongoing genocide with no clear end in sight. He noted that social media platforms have played a role in this conflict by being used to disseminate fabricated and misleading content through fake accounts that support the Israeli narrative. Additionally, the platform-owning companies were criticized for suppressing the opposing narrative by banning accounts and limiting the reach of posts.

The conference's first session, chaired by President of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies Dr. Abdelwahab Al Effendi, explored surveillance studies and their trends, analyzing published research and the cultural shift in surveillance studies and social media platforms.

The second session examined social media studies, focusing on the paradox of freedom and control, the public space in Gulf countries, and the impact of structure and agency on the contraction of Arab network activism. The third session addressed topics like ethics and politics on social media, AI challenges, and the surveillance and control mechanisms of these platforms.

The conference will continue until Tuesday, featuring presentations from 41 researchers, culminating in the distribution of the "Arab Award for the Encouragement of Research in the Social and Human Sciences" at the closing ceremony.