Saudi authorities have blocked access to US giant Yahoo clubs site on the Internet, because the Web site is filled with pornographic and other offensive material, reported The Associated Press, quoting a Saudi official.
"The decision to block the clubs is irreversible. Matters have gone beyond what is acceptable," said Khalil al-Jadaan, an official with the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, the kingdom's sole Internet provider.
Some clubs, in addition to displaying pornographic material, were identifying Saudis, and insulting them by name, he said.
"The clubs site was blocked because most of the material was against the kingdom's religious, social and political values," al-Jadaan said.
Blocking of the site began last week, he said, adding that authorities monitored the site for three months before making the decision, said the AP.
Al-Jadaan noted the difficulty of monitoring (clubs.yahoo.com).
"Almost anyone can set up a club page within two minutes," he said.
There are more than 250 Saudi clubs on the site with more than 60,000 members. Saudi authorities only allowed Internet servers to begin operating in the kingdom in January 1999. Previously, subscribers called long distance to providers in the United States, Bahrain or Cyprus, added the agency - Albawaba.com
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
