Semafor clarifies error in reporting on Gulf safety survey

Semafor has corrected a recent report on perceptions of safety in the Gulf, after initially mischaracterising the nature of Gallup’s findings.

The original article highlighted Gallup’s latest global survey, which placed five Gulf countries among the world’s top 10 for feeling safe while walking alone at night. The UAE was singled out as a regional outlier where women reported feeling marginally safer than men, though the difference across the Gulf was small.

The survey, based on responses from about 1,000 adults in each of 144 countries, was described by Semafor as “not an official crime statistic” — a characterisation that has since been walked back. In a correction, the outlet acknowledged that the indicator is part of Gallup’s established methodology and should not have been framed in a way that implied it lacked statistical weight.

The slip matters. Perception indices are often weaponised in debates over crime and security, particularly in regions like the Gulf, where international scrutiny tends to emphasise political restrictions over social safety. Misreporting on the robustness of such surveys risks undermining credible data points that show, for example, how everyday safety in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, or Qatar compares favourably to far more celebrated Western capitals.

By overstating its caveat, Semafor cast unnecessary doubt on a finding that resonates strongly with both residents and visitors: that the Gulf remains one of the safest parts of the world for ordinary people after dark.