Before the Arab Spring began, censorship was extremely harsh on intellectual and cultural aspects of the North African and Middle Eastern region. Now after the Spring has begun, there is a promising new hope in the intellectual and cultural world, much like the reformation of governmental systems in the area. Souq.com is a growing online-market in the Arab world that sells books and works of art that have been newly released after censorship laws were revoked. A documentary director named Mahmoud Kaabour says that the Arab Spring will bring about a new field of realist drama, something that has not been seen in the are due to censorship laws. Overall, the culture of the Middle Eastern and North African region is turning toward a less-oppressed state, where freedom of speech and press may be prominent.