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Subscribe to RSSBy Lubna Hussain, NBC News, Saudi Arabia
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- “It sucks!” was the response of 15-year-old Kawther upon hearing the news that Saudi Arabia’s telecom regulator, the CITC, was poised to ban the immensely popular BlackBerry Instant Messenger Service within the Kingdom this Friday. It comes amidst growing concerns that terrorists used BlackBerry services to orchestrate the 2008 Mumbai attacks; governments in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have demanded that Research in Motion allow them access to encrypted data.
The sentiments of this teenager - a student at a private school in Riyadh who for family considerations, preferred not to disclose her last name - will no doubt be echoed vociferously in this deeply conservative desert kingdom where an estimated two-thirds of the population is under 25. “I understand that there is a security issue and that’s why it’s being banned,” says Manal Sanai, a self-confessed BlackBerry addict, “But it’s really going to affect my social life. I spend hours BBMing [BlackBerry Messaging] my friends. There is only one person in my class who doesn’t have one and if you don’t have one then you are kind of left behind.”
Photo by EPA
Saudi Arabia plans to block the messenger function on BlackBerry.
For the 750,000 BlackBerry users within the Kingdom, BlackBerrys are seen as more than just a means of communication. In a country where for the most part people don a similar outer garb - men dressed in traditional white thobes and women shrouded in black abayas - a distinguishing factor can be the phone that one carries: the ultimate status symbol and fashion accessory. Indeed, the scores of shops selling not just the handset but a variety of stylish appendages, including Swarovski crystal encrusted covers in a wide spectrum of colors, bear testimony to that.
But in the case of the BlackBerry, the allure extends even further.
Because of its austere interpretation of Islamic law, the mixing and intermingling between men and women in the Kingdom is not only shunned, but can actually be deemed a punishable offense by law. Most educational institutions and places of work are strictly segregated, leaving little room for interaction of the sexes.
So how do young men and women meet? Prior to the advent of this smart phone, it would not be uncommon for adolescents in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam to be seen curb-crawling in slick cars up and down Tahlia Street or along the Corniche. When their veiled counterparts were spotted, a makeshift placard would be held up by one of the guys with a cell phone number boldly written across it in the hope of attracting female attention – and perhaps a phone call as well.
Now, thanks to the introduction of the BlackBerry, the process has become much smoother, easier and safer. Each BlackBerry has a PIN number for its instant messaging service. Saudi streets are brimming with a new wave of GMC trucks, Escalades and Land Cruisers that have BB PINs etched onto the blacked-out back window in an attempt to widen the net. Some daring young men have even gone to the lengths of proudly displaying their BB PINs emblazoned on their traditional white thobes while cruising around shopping malls.
Young women can now add members of the opposite sex to their contact list without having to disclose their phone number or identity. This protects the girl’s reputation, an essential requisite for her to get married in the future and also allows her to communicate with practically anyone of her choice under the guise of anonymity. However, with the suspension of the service, many feel bereft.
‘It’s just so much easier to BBM the ladies’
“I see it as just another restriction,” laments Mohammed, a third-year medical student at King Saud University, who wanted to only disclose his first name to protect his family's privacy. “I mean, I work around women all the time. I have female patients and nurses so it’s normal to be friends with women.” Like many other young men, he uses the service to communicate with both male and female friends. “It’s just so much easier to BBM the ladies. It’s hard to have a conversation on the mobile with your friend if she is a girl,” he continues when asked why he couldn’t just instead pick up the phone and call his classmates.
“There may not be anything between you, but if her family knows that she is speaking to a guy then she might get in trouble. With the BlackBerry, it was so much easier because we could just message everyone for free and cover up who we were chatting to.” (Every local text in Saudi Arabia costs around 10 cents, whereas BBMs are free.)
As expected, backlash was encapsulated in an Arab News headline “Many Parents Back Blackberry Ban.” The article, in one of the Kingdom’s leading newspapers, cited parents who viewed the device as “harmful to society.” Some even went a step further, calling for a ban of popular sites Facebook and YouTube as well. “I think that although the motivation for banning the messenger is to prevent terrorists from using it, the bigger danger is what it is doing to our children,” says one concerned mother, Umm Fahad, who teaches at Prince Sultan University. “I was educated in the States, but our values are different here. Family is the most important thing to us and somehow the BlackBerry was taking over the lives of our children and causing problems between us,” she claims, stating the case of an 18-year-old girl from the Eastern Province who attempted suicide in March of this year when her father refused to buy her a BlackBerry.
The CITC ruling, it seems, will be as big a blow to love and friendship as it will be to terror.
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Feh. They ban Blackberries; the kids will find another way to flirt. Sorry, but maybe they should have considered that not all of their kids want to become suicide bombers.
Two things young people are good at: mastering the latest tech and calling the old folks on their BS. Look at any social revolution that ever came that to anything good, and you'll see the kids were in the forefront of it. Too bad not all of us keep that spark once we become adults and "make it".
This is Good. They the Arab lawmaker and protectors of the faith are getting old and seeing the next generation haveing and wanting diffferant ideas is threating the old trditionalist of the Arab world. Soon Maybe not next year but soon we can look forward to se amany Arab nations moving forward in society and having more freedom while still having the values taught int he Koran. The elders won't be around forever and a new generation it on it way to take the lead and have more of an open mind.
Every society needs change from the old ways and do to strict law they can't go out and get it. So change for them will come with time and that is one thing the Kings and religous leaders can't control.
Why is this NEWS? If anyone believes that cutting blackberry or filtering the internet is for following the Islamic laws or keeping eyes on terrorism then I have a bridge to sell you. The funny thing is when they say it is against the Islamic law to have opposite sexes inter mingle using these tools. The truth is that you can see special parties going on in some of the big yachts in their waters with music and any kinds of booze you can't afford here. They also have the call girls or their private Arab girls or BOY friends there, and the party goes on till sun comes up. Then, what is behind all these controlling of their average person can read or see or hear? As they say in the ME, they are worried about their stinky smell coming from their own dirty buts. They know the days of kings and wasting national wealth from oil on 18 Karat gold for toilet seats. We keep them in power because it is beneficial to our NATIONAL SECURITY. Walk into any one of the lavish malls in these kingdoms in the Persian Gulf to see how all these bright young men who had gone to school here and sitting at Starbucks drinking coffee and smoking their lives away. There is nothing to do for them. Sooner or later something is going to give up in these oppressive kingdoms and we will not be able to push it under the rug. I guess we help these despots stay in power as long as they have oil. Our foreign policy is in shamble. It didn't happen today. In fact what happened during the 8 years of Bush and Chaney will go down as the worst time for America as far as the foreign policy goes. We let Israel have the biggest jail on earth and killing people who were always their allies, for just wanting to feed these illegal prisoners and we keep our eyes closed. It is time we cut down on our lavish spending and spend more money to develop other sources of energy and cut our dependency on these KINGDOMS. We are American and we are better than that. God Bless America and Americans.
Keep in mind another possibility here: just like China wanting access and control of encrypting and operating codes, same here. When you open up the systems to governments, you give them the ability to watch, control and loosen malware on the system. We have had waves of computer attacks from Chinese "hackers" - strangely well coordinated for hackers! So now we have other governments wanting to be able to get into the system, governments which may not have our interests in mind - can we say maybe even of opposite interests?
Sure, give them control over the system - open up the CIA and Joint Chiefs of Staff meetings as well! When we give away every single technical advantage we have developed, then we have nothing that anyone would want.
If Blackberry gives up their encrypted data information for a government to hack your phone, they might as well cut their own throats. I don't need any more government big brother knowing any more than they all ready do. You want to fight terrorism? Stop manipulating governments, undermining other societies, and oppressing third world countries. But, this thing with giving up encrypted data information, Hell, No!
Blackberries have taken over their lives because everything else is so strict. If they loosened up things and let people of the opposite gender actually interact, people/kids would not have to sneak around and use their blackberries to try to have conversations with the opposite gender.
Sometime in the future, these people will be in charge and will be just as "stodgy" and conservitive as those in power today!
Your comment made me think of my most favorite quote - I don't know who wrote it but I sure do love it. It's not exactly on topic, but I love to share it when I THINK I have the chance
DO one thing every day that scares you.
SING.
DON'T be reckless with other people's hearts.
Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
FLOSS.
DON'T waste your time on jealousy.
Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
REMEMBER compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
KEEP your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements....
ACCEPT certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
if u think banning blackeberries is the ultimate solution to flirting,, then ur WRONG!! its just a heads up for other telecommunication companies to look for new technologies.
blackberry is an aspect of communication, that aids individuals from all ages to communicate with friends and families from all over the world.
PARENTS!! if u back black berry ban,, then y do u give ur kids blackberries?? cant u just not allow it?? its about parental techniques n how u raise ur kids,, dont go around and complain about technologies.. SIMPLY,, if u DONT knw how to raise ur kids DONT blame technology (blackberry) !!
Havng lived in the aforementined Kingdom before the advent of the BB, I can attest that the younger generation even then found ways to circumvent the pitfalls of living in a strict Islamic society. Sharia or not, it is simply not possible to suppress progress for any length of time. Unfortunately, the Wahhabi hierarchy is simply unable to fathom that communication between men and women is not always of a sexual nature- and that each gender has something to learn from the other.
Just another reason not to trust oppressive religeous regimes. It's not about the mingling of the sexes, it's about DESPOTIC CONTROL FREAKS who fear losing their iron grip on their populous (SP?). These are people who if they had absolute control would cut off my head when I refused to bow 3-5 times a day to a GOD THAT DOESN"T EXIST! But you LIberals will accuse me of hate speach,when in reality I am just speaking a simple TRUTH. Does anyone really accept that young men and women interacting is a crime ,which by the way only the women are punished(so freaking stone aged!),punishable by stoning to death. How freaking BARBARIC can you get !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ban this, ban that, prohibit this prohibit that. I sure am glad there are people protecting me from all the really bad "things" out there...
Now if someone would just ban all the bad people...
No Son of a Gun
If someone was to " ban all the bad people". There wont be ANYONE LEFT...including you and me.
How about if everyone tried to live with everyone else and "SOMEONE" could get a cure for GREED and POWER PARANOIA?
THAT I BELIEVE WOULD MAKE A BETTER WORLD.
PS: Eradicating stupidity -a race and borderless condition---would also help a lot.
Golly! It reminds me of the 1950's when decent people couldn't listen to Elvis. Parents are just being protective. RIM, just remember, you have the most celebrated system in the world. Even Apple bows. Smile on our brother in Islam. It is really an internal matter for them to hash out. Keep your service available (I understand there are actually two different services in question here) to them. Let the internal pressures build on them. It's not like somebody can steal the market. They like your stuff 'cause it give them freedom. If a competitor arrives with a product that let's the authorities snoop, fine. Nobody will want or use it. You just keep making your product available. "If you build it, they will come." It's a good ol' saw. And, like most, "...good ol' saws...". It's true :)
SUCKED IN!!!!!
Blackberry..."Too private...to safe...no one can check it's content...Governments can't control"
WOW!!! Is there any better phone? Bull...Dust! Government agencies can check and control anything!
This Blackberry story is nothing but a stunt for publicity for BB. You will see...Soon they will agree. Victory for BB!!!
Just buy whichever phone suits you buddy!
America's Shadow Government DHS, along with NSA and the CIA certainly has taps on Rimms servers to record every email and text message sent by a Blackberry user and then store them on their immense taxpayer provided server farms for filtering and checks. The only problem with UAE is they don't have similar taps nor access but they are certainly as paranoid as DHS, NSA and the CIA are about citizens private conversations. This is actually good news for the UAE citizens whose texts and emails won't be recorded and gone over by America's shadow agency's beginning in the near future off of the DHS Rimms server Blackberry taps.
Paranoid vs Insecurity
DHS doesn't have agencies that wire tap. If there is, I would place my money on the ATF. But they would do that for warrented suspicions. The NSA and CIA, yeah I could believe that. However, a person needs to gain their interest first, again reasonable suspicion. They are not going to monitor every person, that's too much for an agency to handle and would be like listening to white noise, absolute insanity.
Now where was that CITC payoff check?.....I think its been misplaced. Oh there it is.........No Problem.
bass ackwards.