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The rise of digital cultural industries and platform economies has created new opportunities in the Middle East. Yet this shift has also generated significant regulatory challenges, particularly for states seeking to reposition themselves within the digital economy. Drawing on qualitative analysis of policy documents, regulatory initiatives, and industry developments in the Arab Gulf region, this article examines how digital transformation is reshaping platform governance and cultural policy. It traces hybrid regulatory responses that combine innovation with continuity, control with flexibility, centralization with fragmentation, and regulatory rigidity with institutional responsiveness. Focusing on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the article identifies tensions that arise as states seek to promote digital growth while managing content governance, intellectual property, data privacy, and cybersecurity. These dynamics, we argue, are best understood through adaptive governance, a framework that highlights iterative regulation, institutional experimentation, and the negotiation among economic development, cultural values, and political authority.
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Khalil et al. (2026) studied this question.
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