In a dangerous step in terms of timing and content, fellow journalist Michel Kanbour, publisher and editor-in-chief of Lebanondebate, was subjected to a campaign on Facebook accusing him of working for Israel and receiving sums of money from the Mossad. After consultation and communication between the members of the Electronic Websites Association in Lebanon, the association issued the following statement:
First: The Assembly rejects and denounces what was said once morest our colleague Kanbour and considers that this campaign falls within the framework of persecuting those with free speech and bold writing.
Second: The assembly considers such an accusation to be a prelude to targeting other journalists and attempting to tarnish their image in order to frighten and silence them.
Third: The Assembly puts this serious incident in the custody of all security and judicial agencies and demands that these agencies reveal who is behind it and punish him according to the provisions of Lebanese laws.
Fourth: The Assembly warns once morest diluting the issue and not reaching tangible results in it, and affirms the pursuit of all developments and escalation in the media and by all available means in the event that the issue is not followed up with the required seriousness.
Fifthly, and finally, the assembly stands by our colleague Kanbour and all colleagues who have been and are being subjected to false threats and malicious campaigns with the aim of undermining their audacity to speak the truth.
