The Evolution of Cyberauthoritarianism in Lebanon. The Case of the Lebanese National Cyber Security Strategy

This paper examines how the evolution of surveillance in Lebanon contributed to the formulation of the Lebanese National Cyber Security Strategy (LNCSS), legitimising cyberauthoritarianism. Even though the LNCSS was presented as a tool for technological advancement, it resulted in the use of cybersecurity and intelligence to repress dissent and target activism. By employing the law in context approach, this study traces the evolution of the power relations between the political élites and the oppositions in the online space and their repercussions on the physical one, focusing on how the persecution of activism and anti-governmental online content led to a redefinition of the boundaries of state's authority, both online and offline. Being activism and dissent perceived by the élites as threats to their primacy position in Lebanese politics and society and considering consociationalism as a crucial tool for the preservation of disparities among the population, the Lebanese government progressively legitimated the cyberauthoritarian discourse through ad hoc strategies, which eventually resulted in the LNCSS.