Jordanian human rights defender Hala Ahed was subjected to a fierce campaign targeting her on social media due to her peaceful and legitimate human rights work.

This campaign followed the publication of an announcement on 13 June 2023 about the organisation of a training course that she was facilitating on the concept of feminism, and includes sessions in which she talks about domination and authoritarianism, justice and other topics.

On 14 June 2023, Ahed posted the following tweet on her Twitter account: “Within two days, what we have been witnessing as women for years intensified; attempts to exclude, and impose a single model of values and morals. To everyone who attacked me… Yes, you are right, I do not look like you, and I work and will continue to work to combat oppression and injustice, whether it is practiced by political or social authority. I am not subject to financing, agendas, threats or intimidation.”

On 26 May 2023, Ahed won the Front Line Defenders Award 2023 for Human Rights Defenders at Risk. In her speech, she presented it to her colleagues in the Jordanian Women’s Union, the National Forum for Defending Freedoms and the Jordanian Teachers Syndicate (JTS). 

She was a victim of NSO’s Pegasus digital hacking spyware initiated by the government. It was found that she was being surveilled when her mobile device was infected with Pegasus in March 2021