"Viber has failed to comply with the regulatory conditions... in this kingdom and was stopped from starting up today," the Communications and Information Technology Commission said.
"Viber has failed to comply with the regulatory conditions... in this kingdom and was stopped from starting up today," the Communications and Information Technology Commission said.
The CITC also warned that "appropriate action will be taken against other applications or services that do not comply with regulations," without saying how rules in the ultra-conservative country were being violated.
In March, it had told service providers to work with the developers of such applications to "quickly meet the regulatory conditions."
And it warned of "suitable measures" if providers of messenger applications -- WhatsApp, Skype and Viber- failed to comply with its rules.
Authorities had asked telecom operators to furnish a means of control that would allow censorship in the absolute monarchy, industry sources said.
An industry source said telecom operators were behind the move, accusing Saudi Telecommunications Co (STC), Mobily and Zain of asking the CITC to impose censorship because of the "damage" caused by free applications.
In the neighbouring United Arab Emirates, most Skype applications and Viber calls are blocked, but WhatsApp messenger remains accessible.
In 2010, the two Gulf neighbours threatened to ban BlackBerry instant messaging and demanded that the company install local servers to censor the service.
Instant messaging services on BlackBerry remain uninterrupted, but it is not clear how far the Canadian smart phone manufacturer went to comply.
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@Khan: Then SMS should be blocked too...
"Viber" is Israeli owned and "operated" but all this is kinda late because the Israelis have no truer friend than the Saudi.
@Khan: You probably are kidding. Or are you a moral police? Or you are more self-righteous? Something like that? Haan?
@Khan: Was that sarcasm? I really hope it was sarcasm.
Interesting to see all the articles this particular author has written.....that says it all
@Jamshed: @Khan: @Abc:
You're missing the point of the ban. It is to prevent social activists, reformists, and politicians from being able to communicate freely without Big Brother snooping in on their conversations.
@Khan: " I would like to inform them that recent studies on Viber show that it has a definite link to the moral fibre of a society and the health of its leaders."
Wow. You're not even good at making stuff up.
No, let me tell you the laws being violated here. I come from a similar mid-east country where apps like these have been blocked. The whole issue here is using Viber like apps people both domestic and International can talk to each other for free on a wifi network. Because of this, saudi authorities are losing money so basically they are forcing people to buy their expensive phone service.
Its hard to understand how laws of Islam apply to this country. Where is Islam was it focred for people to buy a specific trade from a specific trader only? Well I see a similar grim future of KSA as that of Pakistan. Corruption grows silently and rapidly.
Before the liberal fascists lobby start their usual propaganda against Islam in general and Saudi Arabia in particular. I would like to inform them that recent studies on Viber show that it has a definite link to the moral fibre of a society and the health of its leaders. This in my opinion is a good enough reason to block it
“appropriate action will be taken against other applications or services that do not comply with regulations,”
I thinks its not about the regulations. With these apps, young boys and girls were messaging each other and that is forbidden in KSA. Back to pigeons and the good old "ankh macholi" on the balconies kids!