Most Saudi internet users aim for the forbidden

Of the estimated 2.2 million Internet users in Saudi Arabia, the majority regularly try to access forbidden or indecent material, the Saudi newspaper Arab News reported Sunday.

“Of those who log on to the Internet, 92.5% are trying to access a website that, for one reason or another, has been blocked,” said Mishaal al-Kadhi, acting general manager of the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST).

KACST is not only the Internet gateway for the Kingdom but also acts as a filter for unsuitable material. The official said pornographic material was one of the main items on the citys “black list” which also includes gambling, terrorism and politics as well as anything contrary to Islamic beliefs.

He said that since the royal decree was issued in 1998 choosing KACST as the gateway for the Internet in the Kingdom and authorizing it to act as a filter, a special committee had been set up to decide what should and should not be inaccessible.

“A permanent security panel was established for this purpose. It consisted of members from 10 ministries, headed by the Interior Ministry,” he explained. A year after the panels establishment, 85% of the material on the blocked sites was pornographic with the remaining being what was deemed “inappropriate” for the Kingdom.

He noted, however, that a new dangerous tendency has begun to sweep the Internet: People “have shifted from pornography to paedophilia”.

He said that according to statistics from different countries around the world, there had been a global increase in the demand for paedophilia on the Internet. (dpa)