In a country that is renowned for censorship, I fail to understand why people make it easier for authorities to switch them off. That’s truly like putting all your eggs in one single basket.
No wonder really then that the Internet Services Unit, the only internet supplier in Saudi has switched off both popular services, and I really really doubt that they will switch them on again no matter how much entreaties and “pressure” is applied. Saudi is a bit more remote than Mars, so authorities don’t give a tinker’s cuss what the “world at large” think of them or their practices.
But, in the spirit of applying judicious international pressure in order for someone up there sits up and takes notice, here goes nothing:
Reporters Without Borders today called on the Internet Services Unit (ISU), the agency that manages Web filtering in Saudi Arabia, to explain why the weblog creation and hosting service blogger.com has been made inaccessible since 3 October, preventing Saudi bloggers from updating their blogs.
“Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that censors the Internet the most, but blog services had not until now been affected by the ISU’s filters,� the press freedom organisation said. “The complete blocking of blogger.com, which is one of the biggest blog tools on the market, is extremely worrying. Only China had so far used such an extreme measure to censor the Internet.�
Reached by Reporters Without Borders, the ISU recognised that it had blocked access to blogger.com but did not give any reason.
Reporters sans frontiers
hat tip: Global Voices
Comments
Saudi blocks Blogger and Flickr
Mohammed..
Really bad news!
I won’t be effected personally coz I have a company sponsered net connection .. so I can access many of the blocked sites here in KSA!.
I personally had enjoyed reading many of the ideas and opinions of Saudi bloggers.. who I would’nt ever met or even heared about without such great service!.
I do not know if there will be away around this stuiped decision!!
Saudi blocks Blogger and Flickr
First, they need to convey what is bothering them; they have a moral obligation to present some explanation for their decision.
This is disastrous! Ordinarily, I would just shrug something like this off and attribute it to Saudi eccentricity, but in an increasingly connected world and global village, family of nations, etc, we cannot allow them to isolate themselves even more. It is too easy to be a saint living in a cave just meditating on your navel. But is this how human beings are supposed to spend their lives? No!
Just a suggestion about a possible approach to solving this problem. How about contacting the Prince who has Tourette’s Syndrome– I don’t remember his name, but he holds a major stock position in AOL and, I believe, maybe other high-tech, progressive-type investments. In an exchange with him, someone could ask him for his patronage as a fixer to mediate this dispute and try to resolve it. He might constitute a way to resolve this. This is a kind of traditional approach for a sheikh to act as a sort of ‘godfather’ in a situation.
What do you think of this possible approach?
–button
Saudi blocks Blogger and Flickr
They are both back on now.
Re: Saudi blocks Blogger and Flickr
excellent news.. it might be just a “blonde moment” as Farah describes it 🙂