Hey Gals, Check This Out - Saudi Companies Block Cell Phone Voting for Arab Reality Show
Of course they did:
Saudi mobile operator Mobily has stopped users from text message voting for an Arab "Star Academy" competition because of an Islamic decree branding the reality show immoral, the company said on Monday.
Saudi religious scholars last May condemned the hugely popular talent show aired by Lebanese channel LBC as a crime against Islam when a young Saudi returned to a hero's welcome after winning in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
"The decision was taken last night because of a fatwa (religious decree) issued last year, since the program is culturally inappropriate," spokesman Humoud Alghodaini said. "It shows men and women living in one house, sometimes semi-naked and in inappropriate situations," he added.
By "semi-naked", we're pretty sure that they mean 'you can see the women's ankles'. In the West, new communications technologies promise to usher in a new age of breathtaking possibilities, as more information is exchanged by more people. In Saudi Arabia, you can't use your cell phone to express the most meaningless of opinions if it involves the hint that women are people too.
Saudi mobile operator Mobily has stopped users from text message voting for an Arab "Star Academy" competition because of an Islamic decree branding the reality show immoral, the company said on Monday.
Saudi religious scholars last May condemned the hugely popular talent show aired by Lebanese channel LBC as a crime against Islam when a young Saudi returned to a hero's welcome after winning in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
"The decision was taken last night because of a fatwa (religious decree) issued last year, since the program is culturally inappropriate," spokesman Humoud Alghodaini said. "It shows men and women living in one house, sometimes semi-naked and in inappropriate situations," he added.
By "semi-naked", we're pretty sure that they mean 'you can see the women's ankles'. In the West, new communications technologies promise to usher in a new age of breathtaking possibilities, as more information is exchanged by more people. In Saudi Arabia, you can't use your cell phone to express the most meaningless of opinions if it involves the hint that women are people too.
