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Saudi Arabia Blocks Facebook on Moral Grounds, Promptly Unblocks It
On Saturday, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia unexpectedly blocked access to Facebook, amid concerns that the social networking site had been posing a threat to the country's conservative moral code. When news of the ban first broke, it appeared that Saudi Arabia was following in the footsteps of Bangladesh and Pakistan, both of which had blocked Facebook earlier this year in the wake of the 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day' controversy.Just a few hours later, though, the kingdom's Communications and Information Technology Commission restored access to Facebook, without explaining why the ban had been implemented in the first place. An official from the commission initially told the AP that the country would be blocking Facebook because some of the site's content "crossed the line" of moral acceptability. The source didn't elaborate upon the specific content that offended Saudi regulators, though, and Facebook has yet to comment on the bizarre turn of events.
Perhaps the Saudi government was simply sending out a warning shot, or trying to reassert its authority over the kingdom's digital airspace. It's equally plausible, however, that this was an isolated incident, and that any offensive content was removed within a matter of hours. Either way, it's clear that the ban wasn't accidental. We'll just have to wait and see whether it materializes into a more serious standoff down the road.
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Comments
3
Subscribe to commentsfrankerinNov 15th 2010 11:46AM
This sounds more like a couplike office war. The radical islamists which have had control of the country with their morality police and efforts to control education including forbidding girl's education, are behind this. Someone arbitrarily did this, and the powers that be took him out of the job.
ceking19182Nov 16th 2010 8:39PM
Greetings:
I always wonder why is it that when offensive information comes to the attention of such foreign governments and they take action against internet sites, why is it that these same governments never ban or take action against sites that are offensive to christian that are residing in their country. For instance you never hear of these governments banning what a terrorist group says they will do. They keep silent about it.
Thanks
Cinnamon BearNov 15th 2010 12:34PM
My thoughts are "facebook is evil" and Saudi Arabic citizens would be more productive and better off without it.... Gooooo Saudi!!!!