Lebanon does not need an AI Ministry, it needs digital governance

Mohamad Najem is the executive director of the Beirut–based digital rights organization SMEX — the West Asia and North Africa’s leading digital rights organization.Over the past 18 months, artificial intelligence has become one of the most discussed technology topics in Lebanon. Since the creation of the Ministry of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence in 2025, numerous announcements have followed, from memorandums of understanding with international tech companies to training initiatives and conferences celebrating Lebanon's AI ambitions.These initiatives may generate headlines, but they do not answer a much more important question: What problem is this new ministry actually trying to solve? Missed this report? The formation of Lebanon’s new AI ministry has the tech community divided Building with no foundation or...