Facebook doesn’t conform to Sharia values. “Facebook gets chopped off the web in Saudi Arabia: Deals out Sharia law,” by Lawrence Latif in The Inquirer, November 15:
PRIVACY SHREDDING SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook has been blocked by Saudi Arabia because authorities there claim that it doesn’t conform to the country’s moral values.
The social notworking website has been blocked by Saudi Arabia’s Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) due the website’s content having “crossed a line”, according to a spokesman. Apparently blocking Facebook is a temporary measure.
The block was put in place on Saturday, with those trying to access Facebook receiving an error message, though the use of tunneling and proxies is likely to circumvent the roadblock.
Such is the state of affairs in Saudi Arabia, the spokesman only spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The country follows a strict version of Islam and the Facebook block comes days before the Hajj pilgrimage and the religious holiday of Eid al-Adha, the Islamic new year celebration….
Earlier this year Pakistan and Bangladesh imposed similar blocks on Facebook, but those were soon lifted. It is likely that Facebook will make some concessions to Saudi Arabia’s CITC to ensure that it will be able to continue to generate money from arguably the richest country in the Middle East.
Arguably!