As Saudi Arabia prepares to host a massive tech event, LEAP, aimed at industry professionals, enthusiasts and investors in the global technology and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors, ALQST notes the stark contrast between the event’s stated aim of “shaping conversations around the world” and the kingdom’s relentless clampdown on free speech for its own population and transnational repression of Saudi citizens abroad.
The event, a combined conference and exhibition, takes place in Riyadh from 31 August to 3 September, promising high-profile speakers including Sriram Krishnan, former AI advisor to the US Trump Administration; physicist, futurist and popular author Michio Kaku; social media influencers Chunkz and Abir El Saghir; and former professional footballers Patrice Evra and Sol Campbell.
However, anyone who plans to follow or take part in the event, held under the auspices of the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, is urged to be aware of the restrictive context in which it is taking place. At least 100 pro-democracy and human rights accounts on social media (including ALQST’s) have been blocked by X, YouTube, Meta and other platforms from reaching audiences in Saudi Arabia since 13 July, in response to spurious complaints from the Saudi authorities.
Saudi Arabia’s authorities have a long history of suppressing and criminalising peaceful dissent and expression, including online. Countless activists and peaceful critics have been arrested, tried, and sentenced simply for expressing critical views online. One emblematic example of this digital repression is the case of Osama Khalid, a Saudi medical doctor and Arabic Wikipedia administrator who worked to make well-sourced information freely available in Arabic on Wikipedia. Khalid is currently serving a 14-year prison sentence (reduced from an original 32 years) on vague charges of “stirring up public opinion” and “violating public morals”.
With conference speeches on “Women leading Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation” and “AI for good: Empowering people, expanding opportunity” (the latter to be given by HRH Princess Lamia bint Majid Al Saud), the organisers are no doubt hoping to signal that recent reforms have fully liberated Saudi women. The reality on the ground lags far behind the official narrative. Women in Saudi Arabia still face systemic discrimination, and feminist activists and women human rights defenders continue to face arbitrary detention and travel bans. The 2022 Personal Status Law, presented as a major reform, actually codifies much of the oppressive male guardianship system.
Meanwhile, the sessions entitled “Off with your head!” (referring to headsetless VR (virtual reality)) and “Kill your darlings” (“security tools you should probably turn off”) were surely given their attention-grabbing headings only as a joke in extremely poor taste, or by someone unaware of host country Saudi Arabia’s notoriety as one of the world’s top executioners. The LEAP website, incidentally, is only available in English. In fact there has been a sharp increase in executions in Saudi Arabia in recent years, with 2024 (345) and 2025 (356) seeing the highest tolls ever recorded. The majority of officially reported executions were for non-lethal drug offences committed by foreign nationals from Asian and African countries. Others were carried out for loosely defined “terrorism” offences, which can include peaceful dissent, or, in breach of international law, for alleged crimes committed when the defendants were minors.
ALQST urges anyone with a platform at LEAP in Riyadh – and we have reached out to several of them – to speak out at the conference about Saudi Arabia’s dire human rights record and publicly call for the immediate release of unjustly detained activists like Osama Khalid.
Furthermore, as with all potential visitors to the kingdom, we encourage them to study ALQST’s Saudi Arabia travel advisory to help them avoid getting into trouble or unwittingly becoming part of the kingdom’s propaganda machine.
