The Independent, SRMG to Launch 4 New Websites in Major Expansion Deal

The Independent, SRMG to Launch 4 New Websites in Major Expansion Deal
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The Independent, SRMG to Launch 4 New Websites in Major Expansion Deal

The Independent, SRMG to Launch 4 New Websites in Major Expansion Deal

The UK and US-based online publisher The Independent and the Middle East's biggest media house, Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), announced on Thursday a new licensing deal that will see the creation of a series of new websites in four different languages.

Through internationally renowned and respected journalism, the sites will offer news, insight and analysis on global affairs and local events, and will be published in Arabic, Urdu, Turkish and Persian. Each site will feature translations of articles from independent.co.uk alongside content from teams of SRMG journalists based in London, Islamabad, Istanbul, and New York, as well as operations teams in Riyadh and Dubai.

The new sites – Independent Arabia, Independent Urdu, Independent Turkish, and Independent Persian – will be owned and operated by SRMG. And all editorial practices and output will conform to the standards, code of conduct and established ethos of The Independent.

The Independent – which kickstarted as a national newspaper in the UK, has, over many decades, established a global reputation for respected independent coverage of the Middle East.

And now the brand has a recently strengthened its team. This new project is part of the strategic growth of the title, which has recently expanded its overseas reporting, with correspondents in Jerusalem, Delhi, Moscow and Istanbul.

Further roles in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington and Seattle are planned, as well as additional staff in the main London and New York newsrooms, enriching the title’s international footprint at a time when many news publishers around the world are cutting back.

Zach Leonard, Managing Director, Independent Digital News and Media, said: “The Independent is known and respected around the world for the quality of its journalism and the trust and authority it has earned through 31 years. As a fully digital publisher, our influence and reach have never been greater, with a loyal user and subscriber base and a total readership in excess of 100 million each month.

“This new chapter brings an opportunity to build on that heritage and increase our reach at a fascinating time of rapid change in the Middle East. We look forward to showcasing new ideas and provoking debate with new audiences across the region and beyond.”

The four new websites – independentarabia.com, independenturdu.com, independentturkish.com and independentpersian.com – will launch later this year. Social media accounts will be publicized as the services are launched. The Independent will continue to publish its own content, as it does now, in the English language.

By 2022, it is expected that two-thirds of the world’s population will be using smartphone technology. And much of this growth will take place outside of the more mature markets of the UK and Europe. For news publishers with a strong legacy and reputation for international reporting, this represents a huge opportunity.

Dr. Ghassan Alshibl, the Chairman of SRMG, said: “We deeply believe that SRMG, through this comprehensive partnership forged with The Independent, is growing the level of its international licensing businesses to a higher altitude. Our reach, with this multilingual project targeting hundreds of millions of readers around the world, will be farther, and our audiences will be enormously wider.

“As part of SRMG’s global business initiatives we began in 2006 with a number of the biggest publishers in the world, we have been demonstrating in all our partnerships, like today with IDNM, SRMG’s eagerness and commitment to grow and strengthen its content platforms to be distinctly competitive in the wider space of the global media industry based on the strong professional pillars of credibility, authenticity and knowledgeable authority of quality journalism.”



Etidal, Telegram Remove 30 Million Extremist Posts in Q2 2025

Etidal signals Saudi Arabia’s resolve to combat terrorism on all fronts (Etidal)
Etidal signals Saudi Arabia’s resolve to combat terrorism on all fronts (Etidal)
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Etidal, Telegram Remove 30 Million Extremist Posts in Q2 2025

Etidal signals Saudi Arabia’s resolve to combat terrorism on all fronts (Etidal)
Etidal signals Saudi Arabia’s resolve to combat terrorism on all fronts (Etidal)

Saudi Arabia’s Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, known as Etidal, said on Monday that its joint efforts with Telegram led to the removal of more than 30.8 million pieces of extremist content and the shutdown of over 1,200 extremist channels during the second quarter of 2025.

The operation, carried out in April, May and June, is part of ongoing cooperation between the Riyadh-based center and the messaging platform to curb what both describe as “digital extremism.”

According to information seen by Asharq Al-Awsat, total removals since the partnership began in February 2022 have surpassed 207.6 million extremist items, with 17,455 channels and groups shut down.

Both parties say the collaboration reflects a continued commitment to creating a safer online environment and tackling radical propaganda.

The bulk of the removals came in June 2025, when around 18 million extremist items were taken down and 643 channels closed. In April, about 1.2 million posts were removed and 110 channels shut, while May saw 11.6 million removals and 501 closures.

These posts reportedly included messages promoting violence, hatred, and radical ideologies.

Telegram, which has long faced scrutiny over its use by extremist groups, said in a July update on its website that it has had a “zero tolerance policy for calls to violence and terrorist propaganda since 2016.” The platform publishes daily transparency reports and said its efforts to tackle extremist ideologies had been significantly bolstered through its partnership with Etidal.

It added that more than 100 million terrorism-related posts had been removed in cooperation with Etidal alone, with a peak in February 2025, when 3,851 groups were blocked in a single day.

Telegram also revealed that more than 134,000 terrorism-linked groups have been banned so far this year.

In the first quarter of 2025, the Etidal-Telegram partnership removed 16 million extremist posts and shut down 1,408 channels linked to extremist groups.

Etidal and Telegram expanded their joint operations on February 21, 2022, focusing on preventing extremist propaganda from reaching digital audiences.

The center said it remains committed to working with regional and international partners to develop advanced tools to counter evolving tactics used by radical groups.

Despite ongoing removals, Etidal warned that terrorist organizations continue to use redirect links and evasion tactics to bypass digital monitoring. In the first quarter alone, more than 1.2 million such links were identified and taken down.

Dr. Yousef Al-Rumeih, a security adviser and professor of counterterrorism at Qassim University, told Asharq Al-Awsat that recent months had seen renewed online activity by extremist groups. He called for greater digital and cybersecurity awareness, especially among youth, to counter their influence.

He stressed the importance of three layers of protection—official cybersecurity surveillance, community and family-level monitoring, and individual vigilance—to confront extremist messaging. “Reporting suspicious links to authorities is key to limiting their reach,” he said.

Founded in May 2017 by Saudi King Salman in the presence of US President Donald Trump and leaders from 55 nations, Etidal has spent eight years spearheading efforts to counter radical ideologies.

The center says it has prevented millions of extremist posts and links from reaching the public and shared its expertise with over 78 countries through international cooperation and technical visits to its Riyadh headquarters.