Saudis Seeking to Regulate Skype, Other Web Services

The government of Saudi Arabia confirmed that it is seeking to regulate local use of Internet-based messaging services such as Skype and Whatsapp, and threatened "suitable measures" if the providers of those services failed to comply with its demands.

The announcement by the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission followed local news reports, citing unidentified Saudi authorities, that the kingdom was threatening to block Skype and similar services unless the kingdom was allowed to monitor some users' conversations. The move appears to reflect the government's unease over the embrace of social media and the Internet by the Saudi populace as new avenues of communication and expression. Saudis are some of the world's most-avid users of Twitter and YouTube, in particular, according to those companies and to companies that track online users.