Electronic newspapers in Saudi Arabia are facing difficult times with the Ministry of Culture and Information announcing plans to implement a comprehensive corrective campaign to ensure that they are fulfilling the terms of their licenses.
According to a report in the local media, there are 750 officially authorized and 400 unauthorized electronic newspapers.
Electronic newspapers believe that the new terms set out by the ministry are impossible to be fulfilled.
Saud Kateb, a spokesman at the ministry, said the new measures were being introduced after several complaints against electronic newspapers that they were publishing rumors or not complying with existing regulations.
The ministry reiterated that the measures are in response to various complaints received about content being published on these sites as well as the shoddy management of the electronic publications.
Among the conditions set by the ministry for the establishment of an electronic newspaper are that the facility must be commercially registered, must have a rented office, a municipal license, and that the editor in chief and the chairman of the board must possess university qualifications.
Mohammed Alshaqa, former head of the Saudi Electronic Media Association, described the terms as “incapacitating.”
The ministry was supposed to facilitate and encourage electronic publications, rather than pressure them, he remarked.
“If you want to establish a newspaper, you will not be able to do so because of these conditions,” he said.
The chairman must be a Saudi national and a member of the Saudi Electronic Media Association under the new measures.
The newspaper is also required to provide the ministry with the identities of journalists and photographers, registration of the logo and the name of the newspaper.
Observers believe that the terms set by the ministry will force some electronic press companies to quit the market.
Source: arabnews
