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| (Collage: RNW/lintmachine) |
The Saudi
authorities' message says: Sorry, the requested page is unavailable. If you
believe the requested page should not be blocked please click here. The link in
the message points to the website of the Communication and Information
Technology Commission (CITC), where unblocking requests can be made. It is
unlikely that many web users click on the link. It could lead to an unwanted
'courtesy call' from the authorities.
Intimidation
The video
which is assumed to be the cause of the Saudis' displeasure is part of an
article published on the RNW Arabic website on 15 July, describing how migrants
are abused in Saudi Arabia. In the video a man of Arab appearance is
intimidating a man believed to be an Asian, clubbing him with a stick. The
person who posted the original video on YouTube commented that the images were
shot in Saudi Arabia, although that is impossible to verify. YouTube has
removed the video, but a copy is still available on the RNW website. The
article generated a massive response on the RNW site and on Facebook.
Earlier
this year Radio Netherlands Worldwide exposed the dismal working conditions of
domestic staff at the Saudi Embassy in The Hague. Saudi Arabia's former ambassador to the
Netherlands, Waleed Elkereidhi, was accused of exploiting his Filipino employees. He was reported to the police on accusation of people trafficking.
Web
statistics show that the number of unique visitors to RNW's Arabic website
began to decrease after the publication, followed by a sharp decline later. This
points to the Saudis first blocking a few individual pages and then blocking
all RNW websites.
Commenting
on this case of unabashed internet censorship, RNW's Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Ardi Bouwers says:
"The
Arabic desk often reports on human rights abuses and free speech restrictions.
The shocking video and the articles about exploitation led to heated
discussions on the website involving opponents and proponents of Saudi Arabia's
way of dealing with Asian employees. Apparently, the Saudis feel threatened by
our exposure of the beastly way in which domestic staff are treated, and as a
result they blocked our sites."
Monitoring
The Saudi
blocking of RNW websites has far-reaching consequences for the free flow of
information to Saudi Arabia. It's rare for such a government measure to be
rescinded.
The Arab
world is closely monitoring Radio Netherlands Worldwide. A recent interview with Syrian human rights activist Haitham Maleh, who has been awarded a major
Dutch human rights medal (Geuzenpenning),
led to many reactions from the Arab world, including many from Syria's secret
service. Their reactions were conspicuous because of the remarkable level of
praise for President Assad's regime, expressed in identical words and phrases
across the messages.
"However
balanced our reporting may be, apparently it occasionally touches a raw nerve
with the Saudi authorities," commented Ardi Bouwers.
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