The great threat to Arab culture

Tarek Daouk is executive vice president, Starcom Mediavest Group – MENA

The scarcity of Arabic content on the internet is the most significant threat to Arab identity since the Ottoman Empire

“To date, there have been three significant events in history that have posed a significant threat to Arab culture: the Mongols’ burning of ‘Dar el Hikmah’ in Baghdad in 1258, the Ottomans’ attempt to force the Turkish language upon the Arab world at the turn of the 20th century, and last but by no means least, the invention of the internet.

Although the first two events constituted military acts driven by socio-political reasons, the internet represents the most significant threat of the