SAUDI ARABIA MAY BLOCK 'WHATSAPP' WITHIN WEEKS
Saudi Arabia plans to block WhatsApp in
coming weeks if the makers of the mobile chat app don't comply with local regulations.
The warning comes after the Communications and Information Technology Commission blocked popular voice and messaging app Viber last week.
"We have been communicating with
WhatsApp and other similar communication platforms to get them to cooperate and comply with the Saudi
telecom providers, however nothing has
come of this communication yet,"
Abdullah Al-Darrab, governor of the CITC,
told English language Arab News.
One of the regulations stipulates that WhatsApp establish a local server that
allows officials to monitor user activity,
Al-Darrab told the news agency.
"We gave them a week to comply and
have been communicating with them since March to no avail," he said.
"Therefore, this has left us with no
choice but to block these services,
beginning with Viber."
CNET has contacted WhatsApp for
comment and will update this report
when we learn more.
The Saudi Arabian government has
cracked down on messaging apps
before, temporarily banning BlackBerry
messenger services after BlackBerry
reportedly didn't adhere to the country's regulatory requirements. The Saudi Government complained at the time that the encrypted security used in the BlackBerry network prevented the government from monitoring communications channels , which it said could be used to threaten national
security.
In March, Saudi officials threatened to
block popular Internet chat, call, and messaging services Skype, WhatsApp,
and Viber if they did not comply with local regulations.
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