Saudi blocked 5.5mn links, sites since 2008: Regulator

By Fares Karam

RIYADH

Saudi Arabia has blocked more than 5.5 million internet links and websites since 2008, the country’s Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) announced Monday.

Of these, the CITC said in a statement, “pornographic” content accounted for more than 90 percent.

The commission went on to note that it had blocked “more than 900,000 exploitive internet links and websites over the past year alone, 92 percent of which featured pornographic content".

According to Monday’s statement, the CITC is mandated with "combatting online pornography and child exploitation by blocking [websites that feature] child pornography and informing the relevant authorities and international organizations".

The CITC is currently preparing a first draft of a proposed regulatory framework aimed at providing parental control for the country’s internet users.

Internet penetration in Saudi Arabia -- which boasts three major internet and mobile-phone operators -- stood at some 47 percent at the end of last year, according to official figures.