Censorship in Saudi Arabia

Multiple forms of media including books, newspapers, magazines, films, television, and content published on the Internet are censored in Saudi Arabia.

[1][2] Though formal laws regarding censorship were not yet in place for Saudi Arabia, hostile conditions in the country led leaders to take on stricter rules that in turn affected the media.

[3] The government released a 1992 media policy statement, which outlined aims for journalists including both a religious and political component in favor of Islam and Saudi Arabia respectively.

[6]The Law of Printing and Publication, enacted in 2003, expanded upon the regulation of media, encompassing books, drawings, writings, photographs, films, recordings, radio and television broadcasts.

[7] It lays out a series of restrictions, including that the printed matter will not conflict with Sharia law, will not threaten public security, and will not "stir up discord among citizens.

[8] A 2011 royal decree extended the licensing requirement to include online newspapers and blogs and increased penalties for violations of the earlier press law.

Those penalties include large fines, removal of the content, and potentially closure of the establishment responsible, along with suspending or banning the person or group from future publishing.

[12] Due to government subsidies, the daily newspapers often rely on state support and tend to align with the Saudi Press Agency on more controversial topics.

[19] In 2003, he became the editor-in-chief for Al Watan, a daily newspaper that pushed for reform in Saudi Arabia and published information of more sensitive issues, specifically regarding the Riyadh compound bombings.

[20] Khashoggi was dismissed from his position at Al Watan because under his leadership columnists wrote articles questioning the religious police and criticizing the country's following of Ibn Taymiyyah, the Islamic scholar who inspired Wahhabism.

[23] This case was highly publicized due to the notability of Khashoggi as a reporter with ties to the royal family who faced numerous restrictions in his career as a journalist.

"[28] Over time, the ban on movie theaters was counteracted by the introduction of satellite television and video downloads, as well as by Saudis regularly visiting nearby Dubai and Bahrain where they could go to public cinemas freely.

[30] The English daily ArabNews published an article that accused the series, which had scenes regarding the intolerance of homosexuality and the ban of alcohol, of portraying Saudi Arabia in a negative light.

[30] In 2008, disgruntled callers on a live show on Al Ekhbariya news channel displayed discontent with the latest governmental salary increases and made critical remarks of some Saudi officials.

[32] In December 2017, the Saudi government announced its decision to end the three decade ban on public cinemas, as part of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman's campaign to introduce nationwide changes to help broaden and strengthen the economy.

[36] According to a study carried out in 2004 by the Open Net Initiative "the most aggressive censorship focused on pornography, drug use, gambling, religious conversion of Muslims, and filtering circumvention tools.

[38] Saudi Arabia, like other countries, utilizes technology often from Western companies, such as American-owned SmartFilter, in order to automatically filter websites based on certain topic material.

[40] In 2011, the Saudi government introduced new Internet rules and regulations that require all online newspapers and bloggers to obtain a special license from the Ministry of Information.

In a highly public 2012 case, a blogger, Raif Badawi, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes and given a 10-year ban on media work or foreign travel.

[49] On 13 July 2020, the public records updated that the UK government was selling wiretaps, spyware and other equipment to 17 repressive regimes, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and China.

The Wikimedia Foundation subsequently identified and banned 16 users who seemed to routinely engage in "conflict of interest editing"—reportedly including spying for the Saudi government.