Outing the clowns! Saudi Arabia "may end" anonymous Twitter accounts

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Saudi Arabia may end Twitter user's anonymity in the Kingdom by forcing users to provide identification documents, Arab News reported.

The Kingdom has been looking at limiting anonymous access to online messaging services recently, with the country's telecommunications regulator threatening to block applications such as Skyper, WhatsApp and Viber last week if their owner's failed to monitor their usage.

Earlier this month, a spokesman from the Interior Ministry said militants use social networking to cause societal unrest, whilst the Kingdom's Grand Mufti launched an attack on micro blogging site Twitter, declaring its users clowns who engage in frivolous and harmful conversations.

“A source at (the regulator) described the move as a natural result of the successful implementation of (its) decision to add a user’s identification numbers while topping up mobile phone credit,” Arab News reported.

The report was later taken down from the home page of the news site.

Twitter is wildly popular in KSA, where it's used as a platform for societal debate and discussion on a range of subjects, including religion and politics, in a country where such public debate isn't encouraged.