Recommendations for Regulating Ethical Content in Information Technology in the Kingdom
Show Law Preamble
The Council of Ministers
Having reviewed the matter received from the Bureau of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers under No. 1090/B dated 10/1/1432 AH, including the telegram of His Royal Highness the Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior No. 2F / 2/52406Sh dated 29/8/1429 AH-28, accompanied by the minutes of the committee formed pursuant to Royal Order No. (19/M B) dated 1/1/1428 AH, tasked with studying the regulation of the ethical content of information technology in the Kingdom.
Having reviewed Council of Ministers Resolution No. (163) dated 24/10/1417 AH, whose First Clause approves the Regulations for introducing into the Kingdom the rapid information transfer system known as the “World Wide Web.”
Having reviewed Council of Ministers Resolution No. (207) dated 15/8/1423 AH concerning the results of the study on the use of satellite dishes to obtain Internet service.
Having reviewed Council of Ministers Resolution No. (229) dated 13/8/1425 AH concerning the determination of the powers of the relevant authorities with respect to the operational tasks of the Internet Services Unit.
Having reviewed Minutes Nos. (221) dated 10/5/1430 AH and (110) dated 17/3/1432 AH, prepared by the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers.
Having considered Shura Council Resolution No. (55/110) dated 23/11/1431 AH. Having reviewed the recommendation of the General Committee of the Council of Ministers No. (221) dated 9/4/1432 AH.
Decides:
Approval of the recommendations for regulating the ethical content of information technology in the Kingdom, in the attached form.
The Prime Minister
First
Secondly
Encouraging the establishment of purposeful and attractive media outlets (print, audio, and visual) to serve as alternatives to direct satellite television broadcasting, such as establishing local television cable networks or activating the digital broadcasting network and encouraging investments therein, in order to limit the spread of unethical channels. (Ministry of Culture and Information).
Thirdly
Mobilize all efforts and employ all methods and means to raise awareness of the dangers of pornography and obscene materials and clarify the adverse effects resulting therefrom, including:
1- Encourage advertising and media companies to publish and display messages and guidance on the dangers of pornography through their billboards distributed in various places and locations. (Ministry of Culture and Information, and Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs).
2- Urge telecommunications companies to send awareness-raising and educational messages about the dangers of obscene materials and their adverse effects through mobile networks, in order to reach the largest possible segment of society in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations. (Communications and Information Technology Commission, and Ministry of Culture and Information).
3- Urge mosque preachers and imams to repeatedly explain the dangers of pornography and its consequences. (Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da'wah and Guidance).
4- Raise health awareness of the dangers of pornography, present statistics on the diseases resulting therefrom, and urge addicts to consult psychiatric clinics to receive the necessary treatment. (Ministry of Health and the health sectors of other government entities, and Ministry of Culture and Information).
5- Study the inclusion in certain educational curricula of educational subjects concerning obscene materials and the dangers resulting therefrom. (Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Higher Education).
6- Raise young people's awareness and warn them of the dangers of pornography and its consequences through sports clubs and youth centers, as well as make use of sports match times to broadcast awareness-raising and guidance messages through the screens of sports stadiums and summer centers, and invite lecturers and specialists to raise young people's awareness of those dangers. (General Presidency for Youth Welfare, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Culture and Information).
7- Organize events, campaigns, lectures, and guidance and counseling seminars to clarify the dangers of pornography and its harmful effects on the individual, family, and society through the media, educational, academic, social, and sports platforms, under the sponsorship, support, and financing of the public and private sectors. (Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Da'wah and Guidance, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture and Information, Ministry of Social Affairs, General Presidency for Youth Welfare, and General Presidency of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice).
Fourthly
Encourage the relevant public and private institutions and bodies, as well as research centers, to prepare social, psychological, security, and health studies on the phenomenon of the spread of immoral materials, its dimensions, and methods of addressing it. (Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance, and the General Presidency of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice).
Fifthly
Expedite completion of the implementation of the Cybercrime Unit within Public Security to receive reports and complaints from persons aggrieved by cybercrimes and address them, including pornography-related crimes, and establish similar units within other relevant entities responsible for addressing immoral violations in accordance with the jurisdictions prescribed by law for such entities. (Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Culture and Information, and the General Presidency of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice).
Sixthly
Taking all necessary administrative and technical steps to limit the spread of and access to pornographic websites and to encourage the optimal use of the Internet, including the following:
1- Providing free white lists for Internet services and benefiting from the experiences currently existing in the Kingdom. (Communications and Information Technology Commission).
2- Monitoring technical and regulatory developments in the field of filtering and blocking, and dealing by all technically possible means with methods of circumventing them, whether through open proxies, satellite dishes, or other means that facilitate circumvention, in addition to continuing to address newly emerging pornographic websites and continuing to receive requests to block them. (Communications and Information Technology Commission).
3- Encouraging Saudi websites to place a link that facilitates visitors’ access to those websites to the page for submitting requests to block pornographic websites; benefiting from commercial programs designated for regulating Internet content; and raising the awareness and cultural knowledge of Internet users in the Kingdom regarding such programs and methods of using them, in addition to examining the possibility of providing users with copies of those programs free of charge, without prejudice to intellectual property rights. (Communications and Information Technology Commission).
4- Addressing advanced Internet protocols and other Internet service technologies, such as electronic mail services, instant messaging programs, programs for exchanging files (audio, textual, and visual), and live webcasting over the Internet, and working to reduce the risk of the improper use of these technologies by technically possible means. (Ministry of Culture and Information, and Communications and Information Technology Commission).
5- Coordinating with global Internet search engines to develop mechanisms that contribute to preventing websites containing immoral content from appearing, and benefiting from the experiences of other countries in this field. (Communications and Information Technology Commission).
Seventh
Establishing an electronic and telephone mechanism to receive reports related to unethical content and materials in media, electronic games, and storage media, with immediate handling of such reports. (Ministry of Culture, and General Presidency of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice).
Eighth
The Ministry of Culture and Information shall provide the Communications and Information Technology Commission with the contact numbers of pornographic satellite channels through a fast and technical mechanism for blocking them and preventing access to them from within the Kingdom, in addition to studying the development of mechanisms and computer programs that contribute to the automatic identification of telephone numbers advertised on those channels to facilitate their monitoring.
Ninth
Requesting entities that own satellites or satellite channels broadcasting pornographic materials to exclude the Kingdom from their broadcast coverage in accordance with the applicable international regulations, and to link this with their economic and other interests in the Kingdom through the official means available, in order to mitigate the harm caused by such channels. (Ministry of Culture and Information).