Middle East Focus: Saudis to “Encourage” Bloggers to Register……….

Arabia Deserta

Saudis to “Encourage” Bloggers to Register……….

Walking on water

“RIYADH – A Saudi official denied on Friday that bloggers and web forums would be forced to register under a new electronic media law, after remarks he made sparked outrage among Saudi internet users. Ministry of information domestic media supervisor Abdulrahman al-Hazzaa clarified that the new law will require on-line news sites to be licensed, but would only encourage bloggers and others to register. "We are not putting it in our mind to license them. There are so many we cannot control them," he said of the thousands of Saudi bloggers and online forum operators. He said remarks he made Thursday on Al-Arabiya television about registering blogs were misunderstood, that this would only be voluntary………..”

They would only “encourage” bloggers and others to register. There are many way to “encourage” bloggers to register, like making them an offer they can’t refuse. And might those ”others” be Twitter and Facebook accounts?
This is not only a Saudi issue: it is all over the Middle East, with the exception of Israel and two Arab countries.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com