Basically, the Saudi governments is about to impose a ban on Blackberry message functions because they cannot monitor them. Blacberry's response has been that it respects government needs to regulate communications technology, but that it also has an obligation to its customers, whose privacy it believes it must respect.
This issue is important because it brings up basic issues about governments, state power, and the rights of citizens. On the whole, I think that the Saudi government is in the wrong, and that its desire to spy on its citizens proves it to be a dictatorial state that does not trust its own citizens. This is not surprising, since the Saudi government is not a democracy but a dictatorship, of the "Islamic absolute monarchy" type ("Saudi Arabia", 2010, ¶ 1).
Since I started writing this this morning, I've also read a report on the same issue in The New York Times, which is not surprising, since this sort of unjust and immoral government interference in people's basic human rights does attract attention. Sadly, too many governments these days love to censor and control what their citizens are allowed to know, say and think. The only certain result is less democracy, less justice in society, and a lot of ignorance, because censorship always creates ignorance about the topic censored. I guess I've gone a bit off topic, but I don't think that's a problem. I started writing this before class this morning, but five minutes wasn't really enough. The last five minutes for this paragraph was written at 6:15 PM, after a long break. But it's finished now, so feel welcome to comment.
__________
References
Saudi Arabia announces Blackberry messenger deadline. (2010, August 3). BBC News. Retrieved Agust 4, 2010 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10860491
i agree with what you think about this article. but i guess some company as samsung, nokia, sony....couldn't be our side. because they could make profit much more than before. sometimes economy pretends to do not know justice.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that there days the goverment interfere their citizen basic humann rights. Especially in Islamic countries, there are rules related to religious restictions. Blackberry in Saudi Arabia should rapidly solve this problem to prevent losing customers because Arab custumers have a high purchasing power.
ReplyDeleteI probably out of the topic but I have somthing to share. I don't like people who have influence but use it in the wrong way. After that, I don't want to say "What an absurd that they have done !!". For example, A group of people who can determine which movie can show or can not, and which scene of movie should be censored or cut it out, so I completely agree with you in that way.
ReplyDeleteAh....I must say I disagree with you. In this case, it not about just "I must know what are you doing" thing, but it national security. A government, especially in restless country, must concern about their people safety before their people freedom.
ReplyDeleteBecause Saudi Arabia and UAE, UAE banned blackberry too, are not peaceful country like Thailand, Thailand are usually be a peaceful country, or USA, if there is enough reasons they can did anything like this.
At last, I think the win-win solution for this case is the government remove blackberry ban and blackberry provide needed information to the gov.
Math (ADIOS2nd),
ReplyDeleteI agree that national security is important, but I don't think that means the government should be able to monitor everything. The US has at least as strong national security concerns, but manages to get the necessary information in a more just manner by using court orders.
It's hard to say for sure, but I don't think that Saudi Arabia is less peaceful than Thailand - it's very harsh and oppressive government has made it a very peaceful country.
I like your win-win suggestion, especially if it were done so that the government needed court orders from an independent judiciary to get teh information it does need, and cannot get information on everyone otherwise.
Since you've mentioned it, is Thailand really that peaceful? Which country do you think is more peaceful, the US or Thailand? I wonder what others think about this.
Peter,
ReplyDeleteThailand is a "really" peaceful country.
I have something to ask, if government have to have court orders to get the information needed, is it not too late or too exposing?
Math,
ReplyDeleteI think the US system works well there - it's a fairly peaceful country whilst also protecting citizens' rights. The same is also true of my country, Australia, and to varying extents in many Western European countries.
The police in the US don't always like those restrictions, but I don't think that's a good reason to change. If the police and others are doing their jobs properly, they can stop crimes whilst also protecting human rights.