Top regional news channels on Twitter (based on number of followers)
Twitter followers: 17.5 million
Al Jazeera is a Qatari government-funded international Arabic news channel based in Doha, Qatar. Launched in 1996. Despite having a large audience in the Middle East, Al Jazeera has been criticized on many fronts, including its alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, its first broadcast show “Sharia and Life,” and its allegedly unfair coverage of the Egyptian 2011 revolution. Just after 9/11, Al Jazeera was heavily criticized by the US when it broadcast videos in which Osama bin Laden defended the attacks. This led to accusations by the US government that Al Jazeera was broadcasting propaganda on behalf of terrorists. Al Jazeera Internet service is accessible subscription-free throughout the world. The first English-language edition of its online content was launched in 2003, which was relaunched in 2006 alongside the launch of Al Jazeera English. In 2009 Al Jazeera launched versions of its English and Arabic sites suitable for mobile devices.