“It’s on this second Facebook account that I express my true opinions about Islam. For my own safety, this account has to be detached from my actual identity, bearing a fake name and no pictures of my face.” Said, a 25-year-old student from Benghazi, talking about the account he uses to access the Facebook group known as Libyiun la Diniun (Non-religious Libyans). This is one of a few secret online platforms where Libyan atheists gather to share critiques and satirical memes about religion.
Personal experiences of the chaos and contradictions that have slowly consumed post-revolution Libya have been instrumental in tainting perceptions of Islam. Sana, who is 24 and from the eastern city of Derna, also uses a fake Facebook account to access Libyiun la Diniun. She recalls lying in her bed one evening in October 2014 while Islamic State-affiliated militias paraded the streets outside vowing to subject women to sexual slavery if they refused to adhere to their strict religious practices. “At this moment I was set to go one of two ways,” Sana said. “If this had happened to me at a slightly younger age when I was more impressionable I think I would have developed radical beliefs.”