Mass media in Saudi Arabia provides unwavering support for the Mohammed bin Salman regime and routinely ignores negative reporting about the kingdom. Independent media are non-existent in Saudi Arabia. Outlets and journalists that fail to support the regime are subject to suspicion and repression. Most are privately owned but are subsidized and regulated by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. The "

Basic Law A basic law is either a codified constitution, or in countries with uncodified constitutions, a law designed to have the effect of a constitution. The term ''basic law'' is used in some places as an alternative to "constitution" and may be inte ...

" of the kingdom states that the mass media's role is to educate and inspire national unity; consequently, most popular grievances go unreported in Saudi Arabia. For instance, the

invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, codenamed Project 17, began on 2 August 1990 and marked the beginning of the Gulf War. After defeating the Kuwait, State of Kuwait on 4 August 1990, Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq went on to militarily occupy the country fo ...

by Iraq in 1990 was not immediately reported in the Saudi Arabian mass media. As of 2013,

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

reports that criticism of the government and the royal family and the questioning of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic tenets "are not generally tolerated.

Self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure. Self-censorship is c ...

is pervasive." ,

Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...

rates the kingdom's press and internet "Not Free".

Overview

As of 2006, the government has allowed some critical stories to be written by selected

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

s. Although

self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure. Self-censorship is c ...

continues to be a method of self-preservation for the nation's media outlets, government censorship seems to be decreasing, especially on journalistic inquiries into

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

and

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

.Arabia.pdf Saudi Arabia country profile

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...

(September 2006). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

.'' Newspapers are created by royal decree. There are more than a dozen dailies. Pan-Arab newspapers from other countries are available but subject to censorship. The government (

BSKSA The Saudi Broadcasting Authority (SBA), formerly Saudi Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) and the Broadcasting Services of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (BSKSA), is a governmental entity of Saudi Arabia, organized under the Ministry of Media. BSKSA op ...

) operates almost all domestic broadcasting outlets in Saudi Arabia.

Censors Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

remove objectionable material deemed offensive by the standards of

, including references to

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and other religions, alcohol and sex. Private TV stations cannot operate from Saudi soil. Although government officials monitor Internet sites for material deemed pornographic, politically offensive, or anti-Islamic, Saudi Internet users can gain access to most sites by simply connecting through an alternative server. The government created an appeals process circa 2006 by which citizens can request that particular websites be unblocked. As of 2014 there were 17.4 million internet users. Article 39 of the "Basic Law" of the kingdom states:

Mass media and all other vehicles of expression shall employ civil and polite language, contribute towards the education of the nation and strengthen unity. It is prohibited to commit acts leading to disorder and division, affecting the security of the state and its public relations, or undermining human dignity and rights.

Pan-Arab broadcasting

Saudi media has influence outside of the borders of the kingdom, as the country is "a major market for pan-Arab satellite and pay-TV". Saudi investors are behind the major networks

Middle East Broadcasting Center MBC Group (), formerly known as Middle East Broadcasting Center (), is a Saudi media conglomerate based in the Riyadh region. Launched in London in 1991, the company moved its headquarters to Dubai in 2002 and to Riyadh in 2022. It is majority ...

(MBC), which is based in Dubai, and Bahrain-based Orbit Showtime.

(MBC) was launched in London, shortly after the 1991

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. In 1993 the entertainment, music and sport network

Arab Radio and Television Network Arab Radio and Television Network (acronym: ART) is an Arabic-language television network characterized by its multitude of channels. It is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. History and profile ART was founded on 15 October 1993 by Saleh Abdul ...

was founded by Saudi mogul

Saleh Abdullah Kamel Saleh Abdullah Kamel (1941 – 18 May 2020) ( ''Ṣaleḥ 'Abdullāh Kamel'') was a Saudi billionaire businessman. He had a net worth estimated at US$2.3 billion, as of March 2017. He was the chairman and founder of the Dallah al Baraka Group ( ...

. From 1994 until 1996 when it was pulled off the air,

BBC Arabic Television BBC News Arabic (), formerly BBC Arabic Television, is a television news channel broadcast to the Arab world by the BBC. It was launched on 11 March 2008. It is run by the BBC World Service and funded from the British television licence fee. ...

channel was run by Rome-based

Orbit Communications Company Orbit Communications Company was a privately owned pay television network headquartered in Bahrain. Owned by Saudi Arabiabased Mawarid Holding (via Digital Media Systems), it was the first fully digital, multi-channel, multilingual, pay televi ...

, a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian

Mawarid Holding Mawarid Holding is a private Saudi investment company. It was established in 1968 with its headquarters in Suleimania, Riyadh. It manages investments in diversified businesses in financial services, telecommunications, satellite television and ra ...

. It was launched again in March 2008 as part of

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

. Saudi Prince

Al-Waleed bin Talal Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud (; born 7 March 1955) is a Saudi Arabian billionaire businessman, investor, and a House of Saud royal. In 2008, he was listed on ''Time'' magazine's ''Time 100'', an annual list of the hundred most influential people ...

owns the

Rotana Group Rotana Media Group, commonly known as Rotana (), is a Saudi Arabian entertainment company. It is primarily owned by Saudi prince Al Waleed bin Talal through Kingdom Holding Company. The media conglomerate includes a film production company ( ...

media entertainment conglomerate and in late 2011 acquired a $300 million stake in the social media site

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. According to

As'ad AbuKhalil As'ad AbuKhalil () (born 16 March 1960) is a Lebanese-American professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. AbuKhalil is the author of ''Historical Dictionary of Lebanon'' (1998), ''Bin Laden, Islam & America's New ...

, (author and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

professor at

California State University, Stanislaus California State University, Stanislaus (Stanislaus State, Stan State) is a public university in Turlock, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. It was established in 1957 and offers 45 bachelor's deg ...

), “It is now a taboo in Arab culture to criticize Saudi. Even ebanon's Hezbullah media is careful, and in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

media criticism has been going down, it has been very sensitive." One reason for this caution is that journalists who run critical stories "jeopardize their future careers, particularly if they aspire to work for the higher paying Gulf and Saudi networks." According to AbuKhalil, “As a journalist today you cannot criticize Saudi – where would you work?” Another is that "40-70% of the region's advertising" comes from Saudi Arabian companies, organizations, etc. "Networks, TV channels and publications are not going to risk jeopardizing their cash flow by upsetting their prime advertising market in the region's largest economy," according to Arab Media & Society.

Social media

According to the estimation of the Word Bank in 2017, near about 50% of the population of the world uses the mobile phone. Out of 4.77 billion people that have been taken into consideration, 2.32 billion users use the smartphone. The people are getting connected with the society and for the business user. With the increase in the usage of the smartphone, the usage of the internet also gets increased. According to the recent survey, almost 95% population of Saudi Arabia uses the smartphone, and 85% of the population are subscribed to the mobile broadband people. Saudi Arabia is one of the most active countries that use the social network. Many Saudi Arabians have been getting involved with multiple social media platforms, and about almost half the population use Twitter. Along with Twitter they also have a large wave of people other applications such as Path, Keek, and Instagram which are the most popular social media sites used in Saudi Arabia. Social media has morphed from a networking platform to a potent force for social change in Saudi Arabia. The government uses the social media platform to connect with the citizens all over the state. The social media applications help them to gauge public consciousness. The important government members of Saudi Arabia are taken to their respective Facebook account as well as Twitter accounts to drive for reforms across Saudi Arabia state. Members of the Saudi Arabia ruling government such as Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Minister of Commerce and Industry and Abdulaziz Khoja, Minister of Culture and Information utilize their own social media websites or platform to spread information related to government initiatives and policies. The younger generation of Saudi Arabia uses the Internet more in comparison to the older people. They use the internet mainly for the entertainment purposes and chatting purposes. Another survey has been conducted, and it verifies that most of the internet users are men. However, the women of Saudi Arabia desire to have rights like the modern women everywhere. The women want to use the internet and the social media. Hala Al-Dosari, an activist utilizes the power of social media to work to induce King Salman to stop the male guardianship practice. Near about 15,000 signatures have been accumulated after a Twitter campaign with hashtag the #IAmMyOwnGuardian. The numbers of social media users have risen significantly in recent years. Saudi Arabia is considered as the largest markets for the social network located in the Middle East. Facebook and WhatsApp are the popular social networking sites used in Saudi Arabia. 97% of the users who live in Saudi Arabia use Facebook as 81% of them use WhatsApp. The Facebook and the WhatsApp provide the platform through which the users can express their ideas and thoughts, and people of Saudi Arabia use these platforms to communicate and stay interlinked with each other. The Saudi Arabians with the help of these platforms get more freedom of speech. Facebook has about 12 million users all over the world, and 2 million out of those 12 million users are from Saudi Arabia. At the moment there are about 70% YouTube users, and they watch 90 million videos on a daily basis. In Saudi Arabia, twitter is the most visited website, their users tweet 5 times per day on an average. There is another point that must be taken into consideration. In 2016, Saudi Arabia was one of the fastest-growing Twitter markets in the world. Studies from Omnicom Media Group (OMG) confirm that Saudi Arabia currently has the highest Twitter penetration in the entire world. OMG also states that every three out of seven people search for the social network before anything else. Saudi Arabians also use the social media for other means; individuals use it as a platform for job searching, they also use the platform as a source selling products and promoting brands. King Abdulaziz University conducts research and explains all the adverse effects of using social media.International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science and Software Engineering https://ijarcsse.com/docs/papers/Volume_7/5_May2017/SV7I5-0177.pdf The users are becoming overly dependent on the social network. The users are getting isolated from the normal social communication. Only 29% of the users prefer to visit their relatives because of the social network. The people of Saudi Arabia tend to share knowledge, videos, pictures and news on the social media channels. The users spend too much of their time on their electronics and they share relative information and personal information with the relatives, family and the closed ones.

Television channels

Al Ekhbariya Al Ekhbariya () is a Saudi news and current affairs satellite TV channel based in Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Loca ...

(News)

Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...

(News)

Al-Hadath Al-Hadath () is a Saudi news interactive channel focusing on political events in the Arab region. It is available on the British Freeview service via the Vision TV streaming service and from 28 March 2022, it joined Al Arabiya on Freeview channe ...

(News) KSA SPORTS

MBC 1 MBC 1 may refer to: * MBC 1 (Mauritian TV channel), a TV channel in Mauritius by the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation * MBC 1 (Middle East and North Africa), a television channel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates {{Letter-NumberC ...

(TV shows &news$ talk shows)Middle East MBC 2 (Hollywood movies)

MBC 3 MBC 3 is a free-to-air children's channel launched on 8 December 2004, and appeals to children under the age of 15. All foreign television animated programs are dubbed into Arabic. The channel also produces its own original programmes. It is own ...

(Kids)

MBC 4 MBC 4 is a television channel in the Middle East. It was launched on 1 February 2005 at 5:00 P.M. (GMT) and is owned by the Middle East Broadcasting Center. MBC 4 airs international programmes with Arabic language subtitles. Its programming is ...

(Hollywood TV shows)

Rotana Cinema Rotana Cinema () is a Saudi Arabian free-to-air satellite television channel owned by Rotana Group Rotana Media Group, commonly known as Rotana (), is a Saudi Arabian entertainment company. It is primarily owned by Saudi prince Al Waleed b ...

Rotana Khalejiah (Talk shows $ Arab TV shows) Rotana Music MBC Drama (Middle East)

MBC Max MBC Max (stylized as MBC MAX) is a free-to-air movie channel that broadcasts non-stop Hollywood films and is an alternative to its sister channel MBC 2. MBC Max HD was launched on 1 July 2011. History The channel was launched as a test broad ...

(Hollywood movies)

MBC+ Drama The MBC+ Drama was a Saudi free-to-air television channel owned by MBC Group. It was a joint venture between OSN and MBC Group. It was a 24-hour Arabic channel that offers a range of Arabic series ''First on TV'' to OSN subscribers starting 1 ...

Saudi T.V. Channel 1 QURAN TV SUUNA TV

Wanasah Wanasah () is a free-to-air satellite television channel that screens music videos and other variety programs. The channel is run by the MBC Group, one of the leading media groups in the Middle East, and is owned by Rashed Al-Majed, a well-know ...

(Music) Faaliat (Main events)

MBC Bollywood MBC Bollywood is a free-to-air television channel that broadcasts Indian dramas. It was launched, on 26 October 2013, by Kareena Kapoor. MBC Bollywood is MBC Group's 14th channel, and it is aimed to air 24 hours of Hindi films, subtitled in ...

Newspapers

Arabic daily newspapers

*'' Al-Bilad'' * ''

Al Eqtisadiah ''Al Eqtisadiah'' () is a Saudi daily business newspaper, published by Saudi Research and Publishing Company. It has been in circulation since 1962. History ''Al Eqtisadiah'' was first launched as an economic daily in 1962. The founders of the p ...

'' *'' Al Jazirah'' *'' Al Madina'' *''

Al Nadwa (newspaper) ''Al Nadwa'' ( ''The Forum'') was a Mecca-based daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. The daily was in circulation until 2013 when it was renamed ''Makkah''. History and profile ''Al Nadwa'' was founded in 1958 in Mecca. Its founder was Ah ...

'' *'' Al Riyadh'' *'' Al Watan'' *'' Al Yaum'' *''

Okaz ''Okaz'' () is an Arabic Saudi Arabian daily newspaper located in Jeddah. The paper was launched in 1960 and its sister publication is '' Saudi Gazette''. The paper is simultaneously printed in both Riyadh and Jeddah and has offices all over Sau ...

English daily newspapers

*''

Al-Hayat ''Al-Hayat'' ( ''Life'') was an Arabic newspaper based in Beirut from its founding 28 January 1946 to 1976 and in London after its refounding in 1988. It was a pan-Arab newspaper owned by Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan, that had a circulation ...

'' (ceased in 2020) *''

Arab News ''Arab News'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Saudi Arabia. It is published from Riyadh. The target audiences of the paper, which is published in broadsheet format, are businesspeople, executives and diplomats. At least as ...

'' *''

Asharq Al-Awsat ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' (, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted for its distinctive green-tinted pages. Although pu ...

'' *''

Saudi Gazette ''Saudi Gazette'' is an English-language daily newspaper launched in 1976 and published in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is only available online, as the print version was discontinued in 2019. It is the second English-language daily newspaper in Saud ...

Malayalam daily newspapers

*''

Madhyamam ''Madhyamam'' (meaning ''Medium'') is a Malayalam-language newspaper published in Kerala, India, since 1987.Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

edition - January 16, 2006 **

Riyadh Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the Riyadh Governorate. Located on the eastern bank of Wadi Hanifa, the current form of the metropolis largely emerged in th ...

edition - December 10, 2007 **

Dammam Dammam (Arabic: الدمام ad-Dammām) is a city and governorate, and the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 1,386,166 as of 2022, making it the country's fifth- ...

edition - May 24, 2008 **

Abha Abha (, ') is the capital of Asir, Asir Province in Saudi Arabia. It is situated above sea level in the fertile Asir Mountains of south-western Saudi Arabia, near Asir National Park. Abha's mild climate makes it a popular tourist destination fo ...

edition - January 1, 2011 *''Gulf

Thejas ''Thejas'' is a Malayalam language Indian online news website and formerly a newspaper that was established in 2006. It was initially a morning newspaper published from Calicut. Owned by Intermedia Publishing, a private limited company in the s ...

'' **Riyadh edition - March 2011 **Dammam edition - March 2011 **Jeddah edition - March 2011

Freedom of speech

Saudi Arabia does not tolerate dissidents and impose penalties on such people. It is responsible for executing Saudi-American journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in 2018. As he entered a Saudi embassy in Istanbul, Turkey, a group of Saudi assassins murdered him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Media Of Saudi Arabia