Thanks for the info, Osama.
Andreas
On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 6:29 AM, Osama Khalid <osamak(a)gnu.org> wrote:
I am from Saudi Arabia, so I guess I will be able to
explain a few
issues.
First of all, it's important to note that Saudi Arabia is a good
example of a pretty much totalitarian state, with many governmental
agencies and institutions, the core of which, say the interior and
media ministries, play a key role in repressing unwanted expression.
However, there are others that are far from the core and enjoy some
kind of (unintended?) self-management.
It's also important to note that it is not possible to get anything on
done in Saudi Arabia on large scale without getting a governmental
institution partnership and approval.
And yes, hundreds of articles are censored, almost all of them are
related to sexuality and there aren't any known censored political or
historical articles.
The Saudi government is investing in increasing
Arabic Wikipedia
content? Are you sure?
Could you tell us more about this project – i.e. how the funding is
distributed, and who does the editing?
Yes, it is, through King Abdullah Initiative for Arabic Content[0].
They have had their own version of the Education Program for the last
two years. [[ar:User:Ali1]] and I have been helping them by training
students. The initiative is public and documented under a Wikipedia
namespace page on the Arabic Wikipedia. Instructors and students have
the chance to choose the articles they see fit, without intervention
from the initiative.
Well, this telecom company is the arm of the
government to impose
censorship in KSA.
Actually, censorship is imposed through a national proxy run by the
Communication and Information Technology Commission[1]. ISPs do not
get to pick and choose.
[0]:
http://www.econtent.org.sa/
[1]:
http://internet.sa/
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