SAUDI ARABIA. The Doha Centre for Media Freedom is urging the Saudi government to quickly revise the new regulations it has issued for the country's Internet cafes, which have been told to identify all their customers, keep a record of their ID details, and install video surveillance cameras.

A directive issued by the interior ministry on 15 April requires to all Internet cafes to adhere to these eight specific rules. They must:

1. install video surveillance cameras
2. keep a record of the names and identity card details of all their customers
3. prevent any Internet access by means of satellite connections, prepaid cards or Internet Service Providers that are not registered with the authorities
4. prevent the use of any equipment that has not been approved by the Internet Service Provider of which the Internet cafe is a client
5. deny access to anyone under the age of 18
6. shut by midnight at the latest
7. employ a Saudi national
8. and register all the phone lines used in the Internet cafe in the cafe's name and not the owner's or a third party's name.

An official communiqué listing seven of these measures was circulated to Internet cafes in 2003 but was not strictly enforced. The authorities recently asked Internet cafes to starting observing these rules at once, adding an eight requirement, the installation of video cameras.

The Doha Centre is calling for these regulations, which were announced in the Saudi press, to be revised in the light of basic freedoms including freedom of information and expression. The regulations raise many questions, both for the Internet cafes themselves and their customers, who - for the most part - are of humble origin.

"These measures must be seen an attempt to marginalise the poorest sectors of the population," the Doha Centre said. "Those who are well-off will be able to continue connecting to the Internet from their homes, without surveillance, but Internet cafe customers will be subjected to official control or will be deprived of access to the Internet, which is an essential source of news and information."

Another sector of the population will be barred altogether from Internet cafes. By denying access to those under 18, the Saudi government is depriving young people of an incomparable teaching tool and preventing teenagers without a connection at home from communicating in the most effective manner with the rest of the world.

As well as these restrictions, the Saudi authorities are now insisting on keeping a record of everything each customer does, citing the need to combat terrorism as their justification.

"Recording the identity of each user before they have even touched a keyboard means they are being regarded from the outset as potential terrorists," the Doha Centre said. "An Internet cafe is a business like any other. Newspaper vendors do not have to list what their customers buy or keep a record of their names. Why should it be any different for Internet cafes?"

The Doha Centre added: "The argument that these regulations reinforce the fight against terrorism does not hold. Terrorists, unfortunately, have much more sophisticated means at their disposal. Furthermore, the websites suspected of putting out a terrorist propaganda are almost certainly on the list of the several hundred thousand websites that are already blocked in Saudi Arabia."

The regulations imposed on Internet cafes do not apply to Saudi Arabia's business centres. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a business centre manager told the Doha Centre: "We accept customers who are under 18 and we can obviously stay open 24 hours a day if we want."

"We wonder about this distinction between the five-star establishments and the more modest ones that offer exactly the same services," the Doha Centre said.

We were unable to reach any Saudi officials ready to answer our questions, either at the interior ministry or the information and new technologies commission. The country's main Internet Services Providers also refused to speak to journalists. Internet cafe managers, who are mostly Asian residents and therefore under threat of losing their jobs because of the new regulations, also did not want to discuss them.

Two Saudi bloggers confirmed to the Doha Centre that all these regulations except the one about video cameras had in theory already been in effect for the past two years. But "their implementation was never possible," one of the bloggers said. "The logistic problems they create are too much for these small places to cope with," he added.

One of the bloggers, Ahmad Al Omran, agreed that the Saudi Internet is heavily censored. "At least 500 websites are blocked in the Kingdom," he said, going on to confirm the finding of a 2002 Harvard University law department report which claimed that not only porn sites but also many news websites are censored.

The Saudi authorities insist that 95% of the censored websites are pornographic ones. Even accepting the official figure, that would leave 2,000 other websites that are blocked without any explanation being offered by the authorities. No official list of banned websites has ever been issued.

Ahmad Al Omran's blog is online at http://saudijeans.org

MIDDLE EAST BUSINESS COMMENT & ANALYSIS

• Top news
• Business News
• Company News