(Riyadh – July 14, 2006) … The Saudi government has blocked internet users in the country from accessing Google and Wikipedia, two major websites in the world. The block took place on Tuesday July 11th, and confirmed by SIA News through multiple sources.
Wikipedia is the largest reference website on the Internet, and is a free encyclopedia established in 2001.
Google web translator, a component of www.google.com was also blocked to prevent users from translating blocked websites, which number in the hundreds of thousands.
The Saudi government controls the majority of internet access in the country through King AbdulAziz City of Science and Technology, the main internet service provider.
The majority of blocked websites are blocked for sexual content, but many are blocked for their political content.
The politically sensitive websites are mostly blocked or shut down by the Security Affairs Commission in the Ministry of Interior, which is headed by Mohamed Naif Al-Saud, the son and assistant to the minister of interior.
Saudi Arabia is a leading country in restricting the freedom of the internet, with hundreds of bloggers arrested a, questioned, and punched in the past five years.
SIA News is blocked in Saudi Arabia.
On the Net:
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Google
http://www.google.com/translate_t
King AbdulAziz City of Science and Technology
http://www.kacst.edu.sa/
|
