Clubhouse provides an outlet for speaking out in Mideast

BEIRUT — They are boisterous, argumentative and at times downright hilarious.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the Arab world are turning to Clubhouse, the fast-growing audio chat app, to mock and vent against longtime rulers, debate sensitive issues from abortion to sexual harassment or argue where to find the best and cheapest shawarma sandwich during an economic crisis.

The discussions are endless as they are breathless.

More than 970,000 people from the Middle East have downloaded the new platform since it launched outside the U.S. in January. It has offered space for in-person conversations in an age where direct contact is at the mercy of the pandemic, and it’s brought together those at home and the many in exile or abroad.

But it has offered a release for frustration in a region where conflicts and autocrats have taken hold and where few avenues for change — or even for speaking out — seem tenable.

“It is an open coffeehouse that pierces through what is forbidden by the political regimes in the region,” said Diana Moukalled, a Lebanese journalist who closely follows social platforms. “Clubhouse has made people go back to debating one another.”

The Middle East accounts for 6.1% of the 15.9 million global downloads of Clubhouse, which launched in the United States a year ago. Saudi Arabia ranks No. 7 globally for the invitation-only downloads, with over 660,000, just after Thailand and before Italy, according to San Francisco-based mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower.

One reason for its popularity seems to be the no-holds-barred atmosphere, fueled by the liveliness of group conversation.

Saudis organized rooms to discuss who could replace their aging king instead of his ambitious son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. They argued with Egyptians over what they considered democracy and with Lebanese and Jordanians over their kingdom’s perceived meddling in their affairs.

Other rooms tackle taboo topics ranging from atheism to homosexuality. A Saudi woman discussed whether abortions should be allowed in the kingdom, prompting a heated back and forth.

The platform also became a place to exchange information, challenging state-dominated media.

Minutes after reports of an attempted coup in Jordan last week, Jordanians inside and outside the country congregated in a room to share information on the confusing reports released and controlled by the government. Families of those arrested in the ensuing sweep shared their news. Some users defended King Abdullah while backers of the brother prince accused of the coup vowed to rally behind him.

Previously unimaginable debates took place among parts of society who would otherwise shun or block each other on other social media.

In another room, Iraqis — mainly exiles — criticized how their country’s many religious militias impacted their lives. The moderator, a woman from the southern Shiite city of Najaf now living in Europe, told how her conservative family tried to mold her into “being like them” and opposed sending her to universities where men and women mingle. She fended off one man who suggested she was exaggerating, telling him he hadn’t experienced what she did.

The moderator went on and named figures from powerful Shiite militias and religious leaders, saying she’d seen how they flout the rules they set for others. In the free-flowing conversation, militia supporters frequently interrupted, sparking a torrent of expletives from the moderator and others until they were forced to leave.

“They controlled the ground with their muscles,” the moderator said of the militias. “But social media need brains. This (space) is ours.”

HUSSEIN MALLA/AP “Clubhouse has made people go back to debating one another.” says Diana Moukalled, a Lebanese journalist who closely follows social media.