Saudi Arabia has banned Viber, the popular voice and text messaging application used by millions worldwide.
Viber allows subscribers to make free calls, send instant messages and share files over the internet.
“The Viber application has been suspended … and the (regulator) affirms it will take appropriate action against any other applications or services if they fail to comply with regulatory requirements and rules in force in the kingdom,” the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said in a statement on its website.
“We regret the decision of the Saudi authorities to block Viber,” a Viber spokeswoman said in an email to PCMag. “We love our millions of users in Saudi Arabia and hope to restore service in the coming days. We encourage Saudi users to follow Viber on Facebook and Twitter for updates.”
Whether this is in the name of censorship, business interests, or both, is unclear. Viber received a warning from the Saudi telecommunications regulator in March, along with Skype and WhatsApp.
