As the Saudi Arabian Communications and Information Technology Commission orders the country’s three telecom firms to block access to some of Research In Motion’s BlackBerry services, many in the Kingdom are quietly saying that it has less to do with…
As the Saudi Arabian Communications and Information Technology Commission orders the country’s three telecom firms to block access to some of Research In Motion’s BlackBerry services, many in the Kingdom are quietly saying that it has less to do with national security, but more to do with the killjoy attitude of the government.
The ban will be stringently observed, and as one senior Saudi Arabian telecoms executive told Qatar daily The Peninsula, telcos are likely to comply since not doing so would incur a fine of SR5m (US$1.3m).
“The ban is only for the [instant messaging service] Messenger. Negotiations are still going on, the deadline is final,” said Sultan Al-Malik Public Relations and International Affairs Manager for the CITC The instructions for this decision, which is without precedence, originate from high up in the hierarchy for this ban are coming from high up. “They will have to stop it, period,” another CITC official told the Financial Times.
There is a lot of local opposition to the ban. Saudi Arabian English language newspaper, Arab News conducted a survey of 331 Saudis, of which 178 said the decision is wrong because no prior notice or warning was issued. They added that it has come as a shock to them. Some said they only purchased their BlackBerry a few days ago and had hardly taken advantage of them. Many asked for refunds as they believe the Kingdom’s mobile phone operators have not been transparent over the matter. However, 153 people said they support the move as BlackBerry has had ‘a very negative effect on the youth.’
This might be closer to the reasons why Saudi Arabia, a country where the Mutaween, or The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, are behind much of the government’s policy-making. The popularity of BlackBerry among Saudi youth has irked the Mutaween, who believe that this technology is an attack on the social and moral fibre of the country.
