Saudi Arabia may block WhatsApp within weeks

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Jun 19, 2013

(CNet) – Popular mobile chat app warned of possible blockage after voice and messaging app Viber was blocked last week.

Saudi Arabia plans to block WhatsApp in coming weeks if the makers of the mobile chat app don’t comply with local regulations.

The warning comes after the Communications and Information Technology Commission blocked popular voice and messaging app Viber last week.

“We have been communicating with WhatsApp and other similar communication platforms to get them to cooperate and comply with the Saudi telecom providers, however nothing has come of this communication yet,” Abdullah Al-Darrab, governor of the CITC, told English languageArab News.

One of the regulations stipulates that WhatsApp establish a local server that allows officials to monitor user activity, Al-Darrab told the news agency.