Political Online Communities in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The Internet was introduced in Saudi Arabia in late January 1999 after a long period of discussions and consultations within the Saudi authorities. Finally, it was agreed that a tailored version would be made available to the public. To enable this, a huge filter system was set up in Riyadh in conjunction with an American company. The reason for having such a filter system was that the Saudi authorities had serious concerns about the arrival of undesirable material (for example, pornography) on home computer screens and also for other cultural, religious, and political reasons.