AfterDawn: News

Saudi Arabia bans Viber service

Saudi Arabia has reportedly banned the use of the Viber communication app in the country.

Such communications services are much more difficult for regimes to monitor, but reports also indicated the block was done to protect the revenue of licenses telecommunications companies in the country.



"The Viber application has been suspended ... and the (regulator) affirms it will take appropriate action against any other applications or services if they fail to comply with regulatory requirements and rules in force in the kingdom," the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said in a statement.

The regulator in the country issued a warning back in March, saying that services such as Skype, WhatsApp and Viber broke local laws in the country but didn't explain exactly how.

Local media had also reported that the regulator asked telecommunications providers about their abilities to monitor or block such applications.

The Interior Ministry also separately complained that Islamist militants were taking advantage of such social media services to foment unrest.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 5 Jun 2013 10:01

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• 12 comments

• hearme0

  edited by ddp

  5.6.2013 20:56 #1

• PraisesToAllah

  There is no need for racist remarks.

  5.6.2013 22:22 #2

• ddp

  hearme0, post edited due to comments.
  

  5.6.2013 23:41 #3

• JST1946

  I was there for 3 years and they have very strict laws in their country.So this is normal for this to happen.
  

  20 Year U.S.Army Veteran.Vietnam 1969-1972 101st Abn.Div.

  6.6.2013 00:42 #4

• Mrguss

  Saudi Arabia own the telecommunication system and they want all the blood thirsty full control and money from their own people for as long they can.
  The problem is that this people do not gonna leave in the 14th. century forever and this regimes will fall down very-very soon.
  I hope right after Bahrain (1 or 2 years from now)
  

  +5000

  6.6.2013 14:34 #5

• PraisesToAllah

  Originally posted by Mrguss: The problem is that this people do not gonna leave in the 14th. century forever and this regimes will fall down very-very soon.
  I hope right after Bahrain (1 or 2 years from now) Unlikely, the Kingdom is not going to fall anytime soon. It is well protected and you can't get just a visa to enter the country. And if you think the Muslims are stuck in the 14th century, guess again. They have a hell of a track record. Science and math as we know it wouldn't even exist without them. The Islamic Golden Age caused a revolution in virtually every field of human thought, during which they freaking invented algebra and advanced everything from geography and exploration to the arts, architecture, philosophy, urban development, medicine and health.
  The Muslims actually came pretty damn close to sharing all this brilliance with the truly ass-backward kingdoms of Christian Europe, since the Islamic caliphates blanketed every country they conquered with schools, libraries, public works and the most comprehensive system of social welfare on the planet. In fact, the case has been made that if the caliphates succeeded in conquering all of Europe an Italian Renaissance would have been unnecessary.
  
  Source: http://goo.gl/mJyQD

  6.6.2013 21:51 #6

• ddp

  PraisesToAllah, the muslims did not invent algebra but did give it that name meaning "restoration". the babylonians actually started the basis for algebra, the greeks enhanced it & the muslims added the methods to it besides the name.
  

  6.6.2013 22:22 #7

• PraisesToAllah

  Yes, while the Greeks (Diophantus "the father of Algebra) were the first to implement it, it was Mohammed ibn-Musa al-Khwarizmi that formalized it by proofs, systems, etc. Al-Khwarizmi's work is on a more elementary and rhetorical level than that of Diophantus therefore Al-Khwarizmi was given the title of "the father of Algebra". I hope that helps you.

  7.6.2013 01:02 #8

• rrr

  Arabia will for sure fall when they run out of oil & then America reneges on its debts. Note that Libya's Qadhafi & 'Iraq's Hussein had something in common which led to their demise (as opposed to murderous Syria) & that's their desire to no longer accept US dollars as payment for their oil. I wonder a lot about the "Arab contribution" to science and math. It was in the SPANISH Golden Age that human advancement moved forward, but Spain was a wonderful mix of Muslim Moors, Christian Spaniards & Jews. When Christian Spain expelled its Jews & Muslims it began to deteriorate & has yet to recover. Turkey wisely took in many of those expelled Spanish Jews & got dynamite in exchange as well as other benefits. Some Spanish Jews became pirates & took revenge on Spain by attacking their ships at sea. There's no question that primitive German & French Crusaders became more enlightened from their meeting of a more civilized Arab society in their attempts to conquer the Holy Land from the Muslims. Yet when one views TODAY'S lists of Nobel Prize winners as well as other standards for contributions to society, Muslims are very absent. There is a disproportionate over representation, though, by JEWS. That makes me wonder if the secret of the Spanish Golden Age was really the Jews & not the Muslims. Anyone can google & compare the contributions of Muslims & Jews to society & decide for himself.

  8.6.2013 17:33 #9

• ddp

  don't you mean the spanish inquisition instead of the SPANISH Golden Age? turkey did not get dynamite til after Alfred Nobel invented it in 1867.
  

  8.6.2013 18:09 #10

• rrr

  Originally posted by ddp: don't you mean the spanish inquisition instead of the SPANISH Golden Age? turkey did not get dynamite til after Alfred Nobel invented it in 1867.
  The Spanish Golden Age was followed by the Expulsion from Spain & then the Spanish Inquisition. You're right, I was wrong about dynamite, I meant gun powder.

  8.6.2013 18:49 #11

• pmshah

  My! My! Aren't people really touchy ? There is still an unresolved question as to who gave the ZERO to truly come up with decimal system - India or Arabs. This of course is the fundamental of all mathematics.
  
  I have spent some time in the gulf. I know what the life is like there but just like everything else people find ways around any restriction.
  
  I am not familiar with iPhone but on Android wifi is the preferred mode of internet communication. So one may not be able to acccess Skype , Whatspp or Viber web sites one can still get hold of APKs through torrent or other http download sources. One has absolutely no difficulty in using any of these application through wifi hot spots. It may not be possible to do so through 2G -3G - GPRS - Edge service but otherwise these work like a charm.
  
  BTW all my internet communication is strictly through wifi !

  9.6.2013 02:49 #12