Saudi lifting Skype, WhatsApp ban but will censor calls

Lifting the ban represents part of the Saudi government's broad reforms to diversify the economy partly in response to low oil prices

The Saudi government is lifting a ban on calls made through online apps on Thursday but will monitor and censor them, a government spokesperson said.

All online voice and video call services — like Microsoft’s Skype, Facebook’s WhatsApp and Messenger, and Rakuten’s Viber — which satisfy regulatory requirements were set to become accessible overnight.

However, on Thursday morning, Messenger and Viber appeared to remain blocked inside the kingdom.

Adel Abu Hameed, the spokesperson for telecom regulator CITC, said on Arabiya TV on Wednesday that new regulations were aimed mainly at protecting users’ personal information and blocking content that violated the kingdom’s laws.

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