All Content Related to Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

miriam — Thu, 10 May 2007 19:01:43 -0400

Background

Saudi Arabia is a monarchy without elected political institutions.1 The ruling Al Saud family has presided over the Islamic nation and accumulated a poor human rights record. At times there has been increased discussion of sensitive subjects, such as political reform and women’s rights. Despite explicit promises to improve the human rights situation, however, the government continues to maintain that such rights are subordinate to Islamic law and tightly limits political and religious freedom.2 Religious police, Mutawwa’in, are charged with enforcing public morality. A wide range of media, including books and films, are censored or banned. Arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions of political prisoners, corporal punishment, and the denial of basic conditions for fair trials make for a bleak judicial landscape.3 Journalism is strictly controlled and journalists must exercise self-censorship in order to avoid government scrutiny and dismissal.4 Most Saudis get their information from foreign television and the Internet, and—though officially banned—dish receivers are becoming increasingly common.5 Al-Jazeera, a Qatar-based Arab satellite television station, is banned in the country, and foreign journalists are rarely granted visas.6

Internet in Saudi Arabia

The belated arrival of the Internet in Saudi Arabia several years after its introduction into other Arab countries, was largely the result of the government’s concerns about regulating content. Since the year 2000, Internet usage has increased from less than 1 percent to more than 10 percent (over 2.5 million users) of the population.7 Telecom companies have begun taking advantage of the still relatively low penetration rate by unveiling 3G networks in the country.8 The government’s Internet Services Unit (ISU), a department of the King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology (KACST), has been responsible for overseeing Internet services in Saudi Arabia and for implementing government censorship.9 As its Web site explains, twenty-one licensed Internet service providers (ISPs) and one more not yet in service connect users to the national network.10 The ISU manages the link from the national network to international networks.11 In accordance with a Council of Ministers decision, the Saudi Communications Commission was renamed the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CTIC) and took charge of licensing and filtering processes previously managed by KACST.

Blogging has grown as a medium for expression in Saudi Arabia, with the number of bloggers tripling to an estimated 2,000.12 Half of these bloggers are women.13 In 2005 the government tried to ban the country’s primary blogging tool, blogger.com.14 However, after a few days the ban was lifted, with the censors choosing to block specific content on the blogging Web site instead.15 Paralleling the increase in Internet use has been a proliferation of Internet cafés. As hourly rates can be too expensive for average Saudis, some Internet cafés offer monthly subscriptions that are more affordable.16 From time to time, the authorities have shut down Internet cafés for reasons such as “immoral purposes.”17

Legal and regulatory frameworks

The government of Saudi Arabia allowed public access to the Internet only after it was satisfied that an adequate regulatory framework could be put in place. The authorities use Secure Computing’s SmartFilter software for technical implementation and to identify sites for blocking.18 Furthermore, the expertise of local staff and input of ordinary citizens aid the filtering regime. The government makes no secret of its filtering, which is explained on a section of the ISU Web site.19 According to this Web site, KACST is directly responsible for filtering pornographic content, while other sites are blocked upon request from “government security bodies.” The Web site also has forms by which Internet users can request that certain sites be blocked or unblocked. It has been noted by a KACST official that the majority of blocked Web sites contain pornographic content, and over 90 percent of Internet users have tried to access a blocked Web site.”20

In 2001 the Council of Ministers issued a resolution outlining content that Internet users are prohibited from accessing and publishing.21 Among other things, it forbids content “breaching public decency,” material “infringing the sanctity of Islam,” and “anything contrary to the state or its system.”22 The resolution also includes approval requirements for publishing on the Internet and mechanical guidelines for service providers on recording and monitoring users’ activities.23

A new law, approved by the Saudi Shoura (Advisory) Council in October 2006, criminalizes the use of the Internet to defame or harm individuals and the development of Web sites that violate Saudi laws or Islamic values, or that serve terrorist organizations.24

ONI testing results

Testing was conducted on two ISPs: National Engineering Services & Marketing (Nesma) and Arabian Internet and Communications Services (Awalnet). Both providers blocked the same Web sites, as expected given the centrally administered filtering system.

Testing indicates that the Web sites of Saudi political reformist and opposition groups, such as the Islah movement (www.islah.tv) and the Tajdeed movement (tagdeed.net), are targeted for blocking. In keeping with the Saudi government’s emphasis on protecting the “sanctity of Islam”25—and the legitimacy of the regime—sites relating to minority faiths or espousing alternative views of Islam are blocked. These include the Web sites of a number of local Shiite groups.

The Web pages of a few global free speech advocates, such as Article19 (www.article19.org) and the Free Speech Coalition (www.freespeechcoalition.com), are blocked. However, filtering of human rights content primarily targets Saudi or regional organizations. All Web pages of the Saudi Human Rights Center (www.saudihr.org) are blocked. Although the main pages of the Arab Human Rights Information Network and the Arabic rights organization Humum are accessible, the Saudi sections of the two sites, http://www.hrinfo.net/ifex/alerts/saudi and http://www.humum.net/country/saudi.shtml, are not.

Most global media sites tested, including Israel-based news outlets such as the daily Haaretz (www.haaretz.com), were accessible. However, the Arab-language news sites Al-Quds Al Arabi (www.alquds.co.uk) and Elaph (www.elaph.com) are blocked.

“Immoral” social content continues to be a priority target for Saudi censors. Over 90 percent of pornographic Web sites and most sites featuring provocative attire or gambling that were tested were blocked. Numerous sites relating to alcohol and drugs, gays and lesbians, and sex-education and family planning were also inaccessible. This pervasive filtering of social content is achieved through the use of SmartFilter software, which builds “blacklists” of sites from user-selected categories, such as Drugs, Gambling, Obscene, Nudity, Sex, and Dating. The substantial filtering of Internet tools, including anonymizers and translators, in Saudi Arabia is also achieved in this manner.

Conclusion

Saudi Arabia maintains a sophisticated filtering regime. Social content and Web-based applications are extensively filtered using commercial software. Additional political and religious sites are individually targeted for blocking. The result of this filtering system is consistent with the Saudi government’s express commitment to censoring morally inappropriate and religiously sensitive material online. More generally, Internet filtering in Saudi Arabia mirrors broader attempts by the state to repress opposition and promote a single religious creed.

NOTES

1. U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2005: Saudi Arabia, March 8, 2006, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61698.htm.
2. Amnesty International, Annual Report 2006: Saudi Arabia, http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/saudi_arabia/document.do?id=ar&yr=20....
3. U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2005: Saudi Arabia, March 8, 2006, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61698.htm.
4. Reporters Without Borders, Saudi Arabia: Annual Report 2007, http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20775&Valider=OK.
5. Reporters Without Borders, Saudi Arabia: Annual Report 2006, http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17185.
6. Ibid.
7. Internet World Stats, Internet Usage in the Middle East, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats5.htm#me.
8. Wireless World Forum, “Telecom industry sees 3G boom in Saudi Arabia,” http://www.w2forum.com/i/Telecom_industry_sees_3G_boom_in_Saudi_Arabia.
9. Internet Services Unit, King Abdul Aziz City for Science & Technology, http://www.isu.net.sa/.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. The Washington Post, “New Clicks in the Arab World,” November 12, 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/11/AR200611....
13. Ibid.
14. Reporters Without Borders, Saudi Arabia: Annual Report 2007, http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=20775&Valider=OK.
15. Ibid.
16. The Baheyeldin Dynasty, “Saudi Arabia’s ISPs: Internet/Cyber Cafes,” http://baheyeldin.com/saisp/0006-cafes.phtml.
17. Human Rights Watch, Saudi Arabia: Human Rights Developments 2001, http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/mideast/saudi.html.
18. The OpenNet Initiative, Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia in 2004, http://www.opennetinitiative.net/studies/saudi/#toc1c.
19. Internet Services Unit, “Introduction to Content Filtering,” http://www.isu.net.sa/saudi-internet/contenet-filtring/filtring.htm.
20. Arab News, “Most of Kingdom’s Internet users aim for the forbidden,” October 2,2005, http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=71012&d=2&m=10&y=2005.
21. Council of Ministers Resolution, Saudi Internet Rules, February 12, 2001, http://www.al-bab.com/media/docs/saudi.htm.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. Arab News, “Shoura approves law to combat e-crimes,” October 10, 2006, http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=87941&d=10&m=10&y=2006.
25. Council of Ministers Resolution, Saudi Internet Rules, February 12, 2001, http://www.al-bab.com/media/docs/saudi.htm.

Saudi journalist to Western journalists in Beijing on Internet filtering: “quit your belly aching”

ONI-MENA — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:24:27 -0400

Saudi journalist Molouk Y. Ba-Isa wrote an interesting article in Saudi Arabia’s principal English daily (Arab News) in which she reminds the Western journalists covering the 2008 Olympics in Beijing that censorship for people like her in countries such as Saudi Arabia is a daily reality where they have to live and function, not just a matter of a limited time inconvenient.

The article raises a couple of interesting issues that are rarely discussed in the Saudi local press.

First, in addition to blaming Saudi “faceless bureaucrats” for imposing Internet filtering, she also blames the US corporations for exporting filtering technologies, and the US government for allowing the exportation of these technologies, “to be used to halt freedom of expression through the Internet for hundreds of millions of people.” This is probably the first time the Saudi media accuses the US companies of complicity of human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. Usually the blame is put on the faceless bureaucrats and the security apparatus only.

Second, the journalist not only questions the sensibility of censoring foreign publications and filtering the Internet, but is also critical of the government spending "desperately needed resources" on such efforts and, as she put it, on protecting her morality, instead of allocating these resources to more important issues such as education, infrastructure, and health care. This is interesting because usually the Saudi media does not question the state filtering practices. Previous local reports have expressed concerns over overblocking but rarely are they so openly critical of the entire system.

It remains to be seen whether similar voices will continue to be heard in the Saudi local media, and whether the authorities will listen and respond to these concerns.

In the News: Hints of Net Liberalization in Certain Spaces, Increased Clamps in Others

nart — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:37:08 -0500

On top of all the excitement at WSIS, there have been some recent articles examining freedom of information on the Net in the Arab world and beyond.

The UAE has recently legalized VOIP, the technology that enables Internet telephony.

Arab News, the Saudi Arabian English daily, has attempted to highlight the benefits of cultural expression on the Internet. The newspaper recently published an article on Jasad Al-Thaqafa (note: in Arabic), the Saudi website that serves as a cultural forum for such areas as photography, art, poetry, fiction, and journalism. While the expression of ideas on the site is not unfettered (forum supervisors monitor topics for appropriateness and may even ban users in extreme cases), such an outlet may serve as significant to many who feel constrained by local media. Interestingly, a collection of short stories from the website, entitled "The Spinning Wheel" will be published and sold in local Saudi Arabian bookstores. The original volume was slated to contain 34 stories--but half were rejected due to censorship and will not be published domestically. As a result, while the site is still subject to the widescale filtering that occurs in Saudi Arabia, citizens may very well have greater access to cultural information on the net than in traditional printed media.

Such access may not come without recourse. A Voice of America story reports that certain countries are seeking to quiet "outspoken bloggers" and curb political dissent.
While Saudi Arabia has only recently allowed access to some popular blogging sites, it continues to routinely block over 400,000 sites, undoubtedly including blogs. Providing access to such tools might be a step in the right direction, but the security implications for bloggers are far from clear. According to the Committee to Protect Bloggers, Iran has arrested over 20 bloggers for publicly criticizing the regime during the past year alone. The implications for not blogging anonymously in regimes that have such laws can be huge--advocates encourage bloggers to do so by using anonymous email addresses, secure proxies, and not disclosing any personal information in the process.

Another recent report indicates that most Net users in Saudi Arabia are prevented from visiting sites they seek to view. Of the estimated 2.2 million users in the country, 92.5% attempt gain access to blocked websites. With so many people trying to access filtered content, societal norms may not very well be in line with those of the authorities making these determinations.

The Market for Unfiltered Internet Access

nart — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 10:08:29 -0500

Foreign Policy writes about the market for access to blocked Web sites in states that filter the Internet. The piece relies on ONI's Saudi Arabia research and quotes principal investigator Ron Deibert.

Internet Filtering in Saudi Arabia in 2004

nart — Wed, 17 Nov 2004 15:18:43 -0500

The OpenNet Initiative has just released a new study documenting Internet filtering in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ONI researchers tested over 60,000 Web addresses during a three-year period and found that the most aggressive censorship focused on pornography (98% of sites tested blocked), drugs (86%), and gambling (93%). The study also explains how filtering occurs: the Saudi system uses a combination of commercial software from the United States (Secure Computing'SmartFilter) and input from expert local staff and Saudi citizens to control the availability of Web sites inside the Kindgom. For the first time, ONI's tests differentiate SmartFilter's blocking from blocking put in place specifically by Saudi Arabia's Internet Services Unit personnel. As the ONI's research reveals, even though the system is relatively transparent and evident to users, errors and over-blocking still occur. Click Here for the full report.