A Kuwaiti American journalist has been detained in Kuwait after he commented on videos and images related to the war in Iran, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday.
The arrest of the journalist, Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, which Kuwaiti authorities had yet to publicly confirm, would be one of many detentions across the Persian Gulf as governments there try to repress information about local effects of the war in Iran.
“It is understood that authorities have charged him with spreading false information, harming national security and misusing his mobile phone — vague and overly broad accusations that are routinely used to silence independent journalists,” the committee said in a statement.
He had not posted online or been seen in public since early March, it said. His Twitter and Instagram accounts appeared to have been deleted.
Mr. Shihab-Eldin’s recent posts, it said, “included a geolocated video, verified by CNN, showing a U.S. fighter jet crash near a U.S. air base in Kuwait.” It called on Kuwait to “immediately and unconditionally release” him.
The group added that Mr. Shihab-Eldin — who previously worked briefly for The New York Times and has contributed to the BBC and Al Jazeera — had been in Kuwait visiting family.
An official at the Kuwaiti media ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Many Gulf governments have long maintained tight media controls. Now, they are trying to stop people from posting footage of Iranian strikes. In part, analysts have said, that reflects an effort to protect some areas’ reputations as safe havens for business and tourism in an otherwise restive region.
In the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, for instance, the authorities have arrested hundreds of people since the war began. Those governments have accused some of those people of spreading rumors and others of merely sharing videos and imagery of attacks, according to statements published by their official news agencies.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, one of the world’s largest international free press watchdogs, referred to such measures in its statement about Mr. Shihab-Eldin.
Kuwait ranked 128th out of 180 countries last year in the international press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, another watchdog.
The Committee to Protect Journalists highlighted moves by the country that followed the start of the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, including an interior ministry warning in March about videos or information related to Iranian attacks and a new law against disseminating falsehoods related to the military.
“Journalism is not a crime,” Sara Qudah, the regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at the committee, said in a statement.
Mr. Shihab-Eldin’s case “reflects a broader pattern of using national security laws to stifle scrutiny and control the narrative,” she added.
Vivian Nereim contributed reporting from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Amelia Nierenberg is a Times reporter covering international news from London.
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