Journalist acquitted, leaves Kuwait

What's happened

Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been acquitted of charges including spreading false information and harming national security after 52 days in Kuwaiti detention and has left Kuwait, his legal team and rights groups have said. His arrest had highlighted an expanding crackdown on social media and press coverage in Gulf states since the US-Israel strikes on Iran began in late February.

What's behind the headline?

What this outcome reveals

• Gulf governments are enforcing wide definitions of national-security offences to control wartime narratives. Kuwait's detention, prosecution, and later acquittal of Ahmed Shihab-Eldin will not end the trend; it will signal that courts are being used to process high-profile speech cases while authorities continue deterrent arrests.

Who is driving events

• Governments in the region are pursuing security-first policies and are tightening media controls because they are prioritising reputational stability and operational secrecy during the US-Israel campaign on Iran. Rights groups and foreign governments are pushing back, but that pressure is limited to diplomatic channels and public statements.

Short-term consequences

• Journalists and social-media users will restrict what they post about military incidents; self-censorship is increasing and will continue to intensify across Gulf states.
• Legal pathways will be used selectively: authorities will continue to detain and charge others under broad laws, even if some high-profile cases end in acquittal or departure.

Forecast

• Kuwait will keep enforcing the new security law and will continue revoking citizenship and pursuing prosecutions in waves; this will increase exile and diminish critical reporting inside the country.
• International pressure will produce isolated consular interventions and public condemnations but will not reverse the broader regional clampdown on war-related reporting.

Why readers should care

• This will change what global audiences see from the Gulf: fewer independent on-the-ground accounts and more official narratives. News consumers and international organisations will have to rely increasingly on third-party verification for footage that is being suppressed at source.

How we got here

After the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, Gulf states tightened controls on social media and reporting. Kuwait has passed new security measures and detained people for sharing footage of strikes. Shihab-Eldin, a dual US-Kuwaiti journalist who posted geolocated footage of a US fighter-jet crash in Kuwait, was arrested on March 3 while visiting family.

Our analysis

The New York Times reported that Shihab-Eldin "was released from detention last week after being partially acquitted" and that Kuwait had "stripped him and his sisters of their citizenship," citing his international legal team. Reuters and AP quoted a U.S. State Department official saying Shihab-Eldin "has left Kuwait" and that Washington provided consular assistance. The Committee to Protect Journalists was cited across outlets (New Arab, The Guardian) describing the charges as "vague and overly broad accusations" and noting he had not been seen in public since March 2. The New Arab provided wider context on Kuwait's citizenship revocation campaign, saying more than 43,000 people have had nationality revoked since March 4, 2024, and listing prominent figures affected. The Guardian and New York Times highlighted the new Kuwaiti security law and an Interior Ministry warning that people should refrain from filming missile interceptions and sharing footage. Together these sources show two threads: (1) reporting that Shihab-Eldin has been acquitted and left Kuwait (NYT, Reuters, AP, Guardian), often citing CPJ and the legal team; and (2) reporting that Kuwait is running a broad campaign to restrict wartime coverage and to revoke citizenships (The New Arab), which situates his case within a wider policy shift. For example, the New York Times noted his arrest followed sharing a geolocated video showing a U.S. fighter jet crash in Kuwait; The New Arab documented that citizenship revocations have targeted politicians, artists and children of Kuwaiti women in recent waves. Readers should consult the Committee to Protect Journalists statements and the New Arab’s detailed list for primary-source detail on legal changes and the scale of nationality revocations.

Go deeper

• What legal grounds has Kuwait cited for stripping Shihab-Eldin of citizenship and who is at risk next?
• How are other Gulf states continuing to prosecute or detain people who post footage of strikes?
• What protections will the US provide to dual nationals detained in Gulf security cases?

More on these topics

• Ahmed Shihab-Eldin - American-Kuwaiti journalist and actor

  Ahmed Shihab-Eldin is an American-born Kuwaiti journalist, actor and media personality of Palestinian descent.

• Kuwait - Country in the Middle East

  Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it borders Iraq to the north and Saudi Arabia to the south.

• Committee to Protect Journalists - Non-profit

  The Committee to Protect Journalists is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.

• Kais Saied - President of Tunisia

  Kais Saied is a Tunisian politician, jurist and former lecturer serving as the fifth President of Tunisia since October 2019. He was president of the Tunisian Association of Constitutional Law from 1995 to 2019.

• Tunisia - Country in North Africa

  Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa, covering 163,610 square kilometres. Its northernmost point, Cape Angela, is also the northernmost point on the African continent.

• Ahmed Douma - Egyptian activist

  Ahmed Douma (Arabic: أحمد دومة, pronounced [ˈæħmæd ˈduːmæ]; born 11 September 1988) is an Egyptian activist and blogger, who has been arrested under each consecutive Egyptian government in recent years. He is a member of the Egyptian Popula