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RIYADH (AFP) - Saudi Telecommunications Co. (STC) announced Thursday it is to block direct telephone access to 21 countries in a crackdown on sex chat lines. STC said in a statement published in the press that the ban, which will come into effect from September 30, aims at stopping the use of sex chat lines, which are advertised on satellite television channels. "This habit is a heavy economic and social burden because of the long hours spent on the telephone with girls speaking live," STC said. Among the countries on the blacklist are Panama, Monaco, the Dominican Republic, Macao, the Comoros, Belarus, Benin and Haiti. STC said calls to the blacklisted countries could now only be made through the company switchboard. In May 1999, Saudi Arabia blocked access to more than 50 telephone sex services and said it was using new technology to seek out other pornographic numbers. The blocked numbers were taken from commercials on satellite TV channels, Telecom Minister Ali bin Talal al-Jahni said, warning at the time that some companies were changing numbers on a daily basis to avoid detection. Saudi Arabia, a conservative Muslim kingdom, introduced the Internet to the general public in February but blocks access to pornographic and politically sensitive sites. |
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