1. What is content filtering

Content filtering is a method to block web pages containing pornographic, lude, illegal, or otherwise objectionable content.  Rather than serving such objectionable material to the user, the block page is instead presented.

2. Content filtering in KSA

In KSA all the website requests made by local Internet users pass through a content filtering system.

This filtering system was originally set up by the Internet Services Unit (ISU) of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). ISU oversaw and implemented the filtration of web pages that are offensive or harmful to the society or violate the tenets of the Islamic religion or societal norms, under the direction of the Permanent Internet Security Committee.

Since the reformation of Internet in KSA that took place in 2006 (see "Internet in Saudi Arabia" for more information), the Communications and Internet Technology Commission (CITC) oversees the filtration system that is implemented by three new data service providers (DSPs) on their servers.

The content filtering in KSA is based on the directions of the government of Saudi Arabia and is performed under the direction of the Permanent Security Committee chaired by the Ministry of the Interior.

3. What kind of content is filtered?

The vast majority of the web pages that are blocked by the filtering system (95 %), are pornographic. In addition to that also pages that are related to drugs, alcohol, gambling, terrorism and bomb-making, account theft, and copyright infringment are blocked, as well as limited numbers of websites containing extreme cases of slander or abuse directed towards the Islamic religion or Saudi laws and regulations.

4. How is the filtering performed?

The filtering takes place at the proxy servers of three licensed Data Service Providers (DSPs). These servers are placed between the state-owned Internet backbone and servers in the rest of the world. All the requests from Saudi Arabian ISP users travel through these proxies, where they can be filtered and blocked. When a request comes to a proxy, it is compared to the list of banned sites. If the website is on the list, the user is redirected to page that informs him that he has tried to access a blocked website. If the requested website is not on the list, the user will be directed to the page he wanted to see.

The list of blocked sites is maintained by CITC and it is based on the list of pornographic sites provided periodically by the filtering software provider and the orders CITC receives from the related government bodies. This list is updated daily based on the content filtering policy.

The difference between filtered and unfiltered web page retrieval reaches on average no more than half a second, which is too miniscule a timeframe for most humans to perceive.

5. Requesting a website to be blocked or unblocked.

Since the list is not comprehensive there is a web-based form that users can fill-out to report sites they feel should be blocked. Several hundreds of requests are received every day from concerned citizens for the blocking of new objectionable sites. This form can be found at Block Request , It is also possible to request a certain website to be unblocked, if the user feels that it should not be blocked. The web based form for the unblocking of a website can be found at  Unblock Request.

A team of full-time employees study these requests and implement them only if justified.

Conclusion

The filtering system in KSA causes only little or no inconvenience to the Internet users in KSA but saves many of them from all the harmful and offensive content in the Internet. Therefore the Internet filtering system is being maintained and improved also in the future in KSA.