RIYADH:
Internet messenger applications such as Skype, Viber and WhatsApp face being
banned in Saudi Arabia if operators fail to allow authorities in the kingdom to
censor them, industry sources said on Monday.
Local
telecommunication providers have been told to ask the operators of the services
to furnish means of control, an official at the kingdom's Communications and
Information Technology Commission said, requesting anonymity.
Another
source at telecom operator Saudi Telecommunications Co. (STC) said the
commission gave service providers one week ending on Saturday to respond,
warning it would "take measures to ban them" if they failed to
comply.
An industry
source said telecom operators were behind the move, accusing the STC, along
with Mobily and Zain, of asking the commission to impose censorship due to the
"damage" caused by the free-of-charge applications.
In
neighbouring UAE, most Skype applications and Viber are blocked but WhatsApp
messenger remains accessible.
The two
countries in 2010 threatened to ban BlackBerry instant messaging and demanded
installing local servers to censor the service. The services remain
uninterrupted but it was not clear how far the RIM Canadian maker did comply.
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