Sheikh Abdul Latif Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the head of Saudi Arabia’s religious police, has gone public with a renewed attack on the use of social media sites, particularly Twitter. He warned citizens that the use of sites like Twitter guarantees that the user “has lost this world and his afterlife.”
Social media sites are a growing rage for Saudi citizens and a headache for the government. Like other repressive governments, the Kingdom sees these sites as threats in allowing free speech and association.
The imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in April has also denounced the use of Twitter as anti-Islamic and a threat to national unity. He declared Muslims on Twitter to be “fools.” It appears less foolish to denounce a social media site as an offense to God.
The Kingdom is particularly concerned with how Twitter has been used to keep people informed of human rights activists who have been tried for the crime of free speech. Leaders on the Web have been detained while others have been charged with apostasy and other crimes for statements made on these sites.
The more that repressive government seek to ban Twitter the more they remind us of the value of this resource as a force for freedom around the world.
Source: BBC
Well good – now they can’t hunt down atheists that post on Twitter… Because they shouldn’t be reading it.
You can’t make this stuff up.
HumpinDog: I dont know why you refer to him as Tenthead. We have a table cloth in the marina which the humans use daily which looks just like that guys head scarf. Be fair to those dog haters over there in the Pirate Territory.
I actually agree with the tenthead on this one. None of the dogs in our dogpac “Twit” or “Tweet”. It is a company that takes advantage of you. Same with Facebook or uttBayBook– made for chumps without rumps.
Saudi Arabia. The essence of Pirate Territory. Observe the expensive tent on the head and the carefully clipped mustache. A devout Muslim. Lets put that punk face on Twitter with an ad for pork and beans.
“Hotsie totsie, I smell a Nazi.”
-Curley, Three Stooges.
Luddites getting all rogue, mavericky, and jiggy wid it.
“#SheikhAbdulLatifAbdulAzizal-Sheikh”
Wow doesn’t leave much room for a message now, does it…
So I maybe still have a chance….. No tweet for me…
Not insane. This is a calculated, primitive, fear-based way of keeping humans in line. But notice a lot of religious freedom in Islamic-majority countries? It’s working.
Our fellow mammals are insane.
So.
How’s the Information Age working out for you barbarians?
“has lost this world” – You’ve got some argument there. In a 140 words or less.
“and his afterlife.”
Spooky language gibberish.
“The imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in April has also denounced the use of Twitter as anti-Islamic”
Maybe, but then again easy sharing of information has always been a threat to mythology.
“and a threat to national unity.”
Oops. We’re almost on to something here . . .
“He declared Muslims on Twitter to be ‘fools.'”
Maybe, but I’m not sure that applies just to Muslims. Then again . . .
“It appears less foolish to denounce a social media site as an offense to God.”
“The Kingdom is particularly concerned with how Twitter has been used to keep people informed of human rights activists who have been tried for the crime of free speech.”
And there it is.
Twitter has some real utility after all.
I take back almost every bad thing I’ve ever said about Twitter.
Almost.