Saudi Arabia “Threatens Skype Ban”

Skype, WhatsApp and Viber offer an array of free messaging and telephone calls. All are cross-platform internet services with widely popular free plans that reach out to numerous nations. Demanding the right to monitor the applications, the government has given the three companies a week to respond. Reports have emerged that the telecommunications regulator may block the services and may have even instigated the demand. “Any move to monitor or block sites like Skype and WhatsApp would potentially deprive them of what has become an essential means of simply communicating with friends and family,” reports BBC News. If the Saudi regulators do block the services, Saudis anticipate another method of free, unmonitored communication to emerge. Blocking free call and messaging services could make attracting foreign workers a challenge: Foreigners make up about 70 percent of the total workforce and 95 percent of the private sector labor force. – YaleGlobal