Kuwaiti-American journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been detained in Kuwait after social media posts linked to the regional war involving Iran, prompting the Committee to Protect Journalists to demand his immediate release and the withdrawal of charges it says are being used to criminalise reporting. The case has drawn attention because Shihab-Eldin, a prominent media figure with work spanning The New York Times, PBS and Al Jazeera English, has not been seen publicly in Kuwait since early March while visiting family. CPJ said on 13 April that Shihab-Eldin had not posted online or appeared in public in Kuwait since March 2. The press freedom organisation said it understood he had been accused of spreading false information, harming national security and misusing his mobile phone. In CPJ’s account, the journalist had commented on publicly available videos and images tied to the Iran war, including geolocated footage verified by CNN showing a US fighter jet crash near a US air base in Kuwait.
Accounts differ slightly on the precise arrest date, with CPJ saying he vanished from public view on March 2 and other reports placing his arrest on March 3. What is consistent across reporting is that the detention followed online commentary about a military incident in Kuwait at a moment of heightened regional tension and growing state sensitivity over footage, rumours and battlefield narratives. That chronology matters because Kuwait’s authorities moved swiftly in early March to warn the public against filming or sharing material related to attacks and military activity.
The broader legal environment has sharpened concern among rights advocates. CPJ linked the case to Kuwait’s Law No. 13 of 2026, enacted on March 15, which was framed by Kuwaiti authorities as a measure to protect the “supreme interests” of military bodies including the army, police and National Guard. According to CPJ, Article 26 allows prison sentences of up to 10 years for disseminating news, statements or rumours related to military entities with the intent of undermining confidence in them. Kuwait Times, citing a Public Prosecution briefing, said the law criminalises the dissemination of false information affecting military morale and gives prosecutors exclusive authority to pursue such offences.
That has turned Shihab-Eldin’s detention into more than an individual legal case. Rights groups see it as a test of how far Kuwait, long viewed by some observers as more open than several of its Gulf neighbours, is prepared to go in policing speech during wartime. CPJ said the accusations against him were vague and overly broad. The Guardian, which first gave the case wider international exposure, reported campaigners’ fears that he could face prosecution under new security provisions, possibly in a specialised security court. DAWN and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee have also called for his release, portraying the detention as arbitrary and incompatible with press freedom.
Kuwait’s official stance has centred on national security rather than Shihab-Eldin specifically. On March 2, the Ministry of Interior warned against filming or publishing videos and information related to Iranian attacks, saying legal action would be taken against those spreading rumours or misleading material. The Ministry of Information later said several media law violators had been referred to the Public Prosecution. Those moves came as Kuwait faced direct security pressure from the regional conflict, including drone attacks and strikes on infrastructure reported by Reuters and other outlets, giving the government a clear incentive to tighten control over information flows.
Shihab-Eldin’s profile has amplified international interest. He is an Emmy-nominated journalist and presenter whose career has crossed broadcast, digital and documentary journalism. He has built a large following online and is known for sharp commentary on Middle East politics, media narratives and the war in Gaza. For supporters, that prominence makes his detention emblematic of an increasingly fraught climate in which governments across the region are trying to contain unofficial wartime information and punish speech that challenges official versions of events. For critics of that view, states under threat argue that false or premature reporting can inflame panic, damage morale and compromise security operations.
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