Thursday, May 14, 2009
I think moms would love the Saudi censors
I've not been to China and they said the censorship there is worse than Saudi.
I guess my being in Saudi for too long has tweaked my brains for actually liking the way Saudi censor (some, not all) things. This is my personal opinion and I'm not exactly sure if my own mother would agree with me: a few things that the Saudi Government ban from Saudi are actually a few things a mom would ban from her kids.
These are disallowed in Saudi.
These are disallowed in Saudi.
Pornographic sites
If you want to oogle at naked pictures of women (or men) in the internet, this is what you'll likely run into:
All internet traffic go to King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology where it gets filtered. Reportedly, the following sites are blocked: anything pornographic or deemed "immoral" or "any sites critical of the Saudi Government" (Wikipedia) including those "related to drugs, bombs, alcohol, gambling and pages insulting the Islamic religion or the Saudi laws" (New York Times).
All internet traffic go to King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology where it gets filtered. Reportedly, the following sites are blocked: anything pornographic or deemed "immoral" or "any sites critical of the Saudi Government" (Wikipedia) including those "related to drugs, bombs, alcohol, gambling and pages insulting the Islamic religion or the Saudi laws" (New York Times).
Advert/news photos showing immodestly-clad women
Although Tanduay Rhum will never advertise here in Saudi (not that there is no market here for wine drinkers -- because I think there IS, and in fact I think it's huge! -- but wine is totally banned in Saudi), and in case they do, this is what their censored advert will look like:
Any kissing, steamy, lurid scenes on films or tv
Kissing scenes are cut, as well as anything steamy, hot and lurid. Songs that contain swearings are not normally played. Or if there is a sh-t word in the lyrics, it gets blipped like in Alanis Morisette's 'Ironic' (I'm brave but I'm chicken-blip!).
There are also no rallies here, no welga.
What are allowed?
- Blogs critical of the Saudi Government, Saudi official or Saudi practices (unless the site becomes so famous, THEN, it gets closed).
- Free-to-air channels that show women in skimpy bikinis. A few months back, Hotbird opened their 24-hour triple-X channels and it ran for a few months! And then they limit it to wee hours in the morning. And finally it got scrambled. What a tease!
- Web chatting (although I heard that some chat rooms are inaccessible from Saudi -- particularly those sexual in orientation).
- Sites related to other religions.
- Torrent sites where you can download all the smuts you want.
My take on the subject
Some Filipino expatriates in Saudi say that they do not enjoy staying in Saudi because it lacks freedom. Ironically, they've been here for more than ten years now!
Personally, I don't feel ill-equipped because I'm not able to view porno sites or watch porno movies (including those fronting-as-indie-but-riddled-with-tits-assess-and-peckers films). I don't feel something's a-miss in my life because I can't drink wine nor eat pork. There's no Catholic Church in Saudi for a Sunday Mass but I manage to attend a Catholic eucharistic mass every Sunday. (Actually, the only thing that I'm particularly missing in Saudi are libraries like the Goethe House in Quezon City or the Thomas Jefferson Center in Makati or the National Library in Manila!).
I regard myself as a 'sinauna' (backward, is it?). That should explain why I'm fine with the censorship in Saudi.
Even the arabs they cant stand their laws that they go to France and flaunt it here.
Re: half naked in the beach, like dried sardines, hahaha, drinking alcohol in restos, girls dressed like the tanduay girl.
you re not backward, you just got some decency in life.
Hahaha, ni-click ko ung Tanduay na link at eto sabi
Reason for restriction: Forbidden Category "Alcohol/Tobacco"
Putek!!!Sayang!!!lolzz pero sa company lang nmin yan, naka firewall ang company eh...kung wala lang sana :-D
yeah.. its not that all that bad...especially for the minors..at least mothers dont have to worry about their minor kids accessing pornographic sites jan di poh ba.. hehehehe
in some ways, okay lang din...
-yanah-
Thats fine for us here too, lalo na yung censorship at bawal na alak, well, because we are not into that too.
As we said before, we feel safe here in Saudi, and we been conservative, raised conservative by our religious parents...
ang hirap lang talaga ay yung religious freedom, kaya nagshift ako ng blogging galing sa religious theme into OFW/Pinoy related causes kasi nga najejeopardize yung safety namin. hehehe
Thanks for this post nebz. Hindi ko na click yung Tanduay site, hahaha, baka makita p ako ni Mrs. Thoughts...
ako rin hindi ko niclick ung Tanduay site... blocked sigurado yan.. naaliw lang ako sa smudge... as in tinabunan lahat ng parts na exposed para maging acceptable ang ads.
ok lng din saken na walang alak kase hindi naman ako nagiinom (though open city ang dubai) ok lng din saken na walang porn sites (aanhin ko un????)... basta may torrent...
pareho lng pala tayo... makaluma. alang night life. mas gusto ng tahimik just with pc and books...
Generally speaking I am against porno or smut materials, drugs and gamblings.
I can live without liquors and alcoholic drinks, di ako puede sa inuman, antukin ako hehehehe. And I dont mind kung walang pork - there are so many fresh meats available, i prefer fish.
The only problem is yung restriction sa iyong Christian faith, but I understand there are some Eucharistic gatherings naman sa Saudi kaya lang patago nga lang.
Dapat sa Al-Kohbar, KSA ako mapupunta kaya lang there was some changes sa Agency, inalok nila ako sa Qatar and I say wherever, I just need a job... and I am glad that they send me here.
I too do not have a problem with the censorship. Saudi's a parent-friendly country. :) I do have a problem with the ban on booze though. Kahit beer bawal? tsk tsk...
Whew! Sobrang higpit naman sa KSA. Kabaliktaran talaga ng Australia.
what make us staying longer years here in Saudi is the strict rules. but i guess it help most of us. financially and physically.
Well describe info. Have a nice weekend.
Ok pala sa Saudi at least ban ang mga bawal talaga. Pero the more na pinagbabawal sa mga tao the more na nagiging curious sila at nagwawala.
Pero pabor ako sa censorship nila good for the kids unlike here, kahit mga bold magazines open sa 7-11 or maybe any convenient stores, pwede ka magbrowse hehehe pero sa Tokyo ako nakakita nun, dito di ko na natry hehehe.
So paano pala yun livestream from ch2 or ch7 na may commercial na tanduay rhum or white castle, napapanood mo rin ba yun? ban din ba sa inyo?
Although this kind of censorship maybe boring to some, I think this effectively disciplines the people.
I always believe that complete freedom is evil. That's why God Himself created many laws for us to live by.
Salamat po mga kablogs! Sagutin ko po ung mga nagtanong...
Opo, Garando, kahit beer bawal.
Sardonyx, hindi naman sya banned. May TFC nga kung saan mapapanood ang mga Wowowoee girls (na minsan nga'y medyo titillating ang mga suot).
Being a parent raising 3 kids here in the desert kingdom for nearly 3 years now, I totally agree that in a sense, this country's censorship laws have made parenting a tad easier. :) I just pray that they would be more open towards religious freedom in the near future - after all, with prayers, nothing is impossible, right?
Hmm...sobra sila (Saudi) sa lahat. At kasabihan nga na lahat ng sobra masama. Dapat talaga ingat lagi ke babae o lalaki. Dapat sana ma expose sila ng onti para naman ndi sila "kakaiba" mag react pag nakakakita ng babaeng walang tabon ang mukha.
babalikan kita nebz. sobrang bagal ng network ko. ayaw lumabas ng mga images.
with regard to the censorship, sa palagay ko tama lang yan having heard na maraming cases ng rape dyan (arabo na nangre-reyp ng babae at bading... totoo ba yun?). at least mababawasan ng motivation ang mga rapist. hehehe!
sinauna? i think it's more appropriate to say that you're making life less complicated for you :)