WhatsApp soon to be banned in Saudi Arabia

image source: http://allthingsd.com/

WhatsApp may soon have to shut shop in Saudi Arabia, if the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) were to have its way. A communication platform tool like WhatsApp is very hard for the state to control. It also is increasingly used as a substitute for international calls and texts and this is a major revenue killer for the telecom companies.
Saudi Arabia has been trying to get a stronghold in controlling the cyberspace in the age of smartphones and easy Internet. The kingdom has also been trying to get the communication platform companies like WhatsApp to follow the rules laid down by the Saudi telecom providers. The telecom regulatory authority has already banned Viber, and WhatsApp could be facing a similar fate soon. The CITC chief Abdullah Al-Darrab said that WhatsApp could be banned before July 9 when the holy month of Ramadan starts.
CITC has not mentioned how these communication platforms have broken the kingdom’s laws. The choice is simple. Either these service providers should allow monitoring by the State, or they will be blocked in the country.
Incidentally, there are 15.8 million internet users in the country and the number of YouTube video watchers is three times as much as in the US.
One of the reasons for the clampdown on these internet service providers and communication platforms is that the telecom operators like Saudi Telecom Co, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Zain Saudi are losing out on revenue on international calls and texts.
There are around 9 million expatriates in the country whoearlier provided good revenue generation to these phone companies. But now with the internet and communication service providers like Skype, WhatsApp and Viber, the revenue generation has fallen as a majority chunk of these people are using the internet to make calls back home in other countries.