# Webinars ## The Sale of Surveillance Technology to Oppressive Governments Must be Halted {% embed url="" %} In recent years an increasing number of human rights defenders, activists and civil rights organisations have been targeted for their exercise of digital rights and activism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), particularly in the Gulf region. Oppressive governments are focusing on cyberspace to target activists and online activism by using sophisticated surveillance equipment that is imported from the West. On December 16, Access Now, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), and the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) hosted a webinar exploring the sale of surveillance technology to oppressive governments in the MENA region and assessing the best plan of action to enhance the protection of online activists. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://policy-advocacy.gfmd.info/resources/internet-governance/digital-violence-and-security/digital-violence-security-webinars.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.