28 Apr 10 | Digital Freedom, Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
The Saudi Arabian government broke the Arabic record for the fastest time to block a new website, clocking in at just 15 hours. On 25 April, they blocked a US- based site created by Egyptian activists The Egyptian Association for Change, eacusa.org, only 15 hours after it launched. Tunisia was the previous record holder, blocking www.yezzi.org in 18 hours after it went live in 2005.
21 Aug 09 | Index Index, minipost
Saudi Arabia has begun blocking the Twitter pages of activists in the country. Human rights lawyer Waleed Abulkhair and businessman Khaled al Nasser said their Twitter pages have been blocked since about Monday by the official government Internet censor. This is apparently the first move against known Twitter users inside the kingdom. The men involved claim this is because the government has been made aware of the sites power after its role in the Iran elections. Read more here
11 Aug 09 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Saudi authorities have closed an office of an Arab TV station after it broadcast an interview with a man speaking frankly about sex and showing off erotic toys, a government official said today. Abdul-Rahman al-Hazza, spokesman for the ministry of culture and information, said the office of LBC, a Lebanese-based satellite TV station was closed because of the programme and because it was unlicensed. “The closure is indefinite,” Hazza said. The Saudi man, Mazen Abdul-Jawad, has been in detention since last Friday. Read more here
21 Jul 09 | Index Index, minipost
Saudi Arabia’s only film festival was cancelled at the last hour after apparent religious pressure within the highly conservative Islamic kingdom. The Jeddah film festival, which was scheduled to open on Saturday had planned to be a rare showcase for movie-makers in Saudi Arabia, a country where cinemas were banned for almost three decades. Read more here
