In this section:

• Freedom of Expression?
• Facebook and Homosexuality
• Gang rape victim and the media incident
• Blogging Emerges among the Women of Saudi Arabia
  

In a country with stringent social rules on how women should behave, many women have now utilize the social media as a form of expression and also a way to rebel towards these social inequality that they are facing. Behind closed doors, the internet allow them an avenue where they no longer have to wear these social masks and freely express themselves.

In the below mentioned cases, you will see how women in Saudi Arabia used web cams to display their bodily charms to strangers online and also how a young Saudi woman got killed by her own dad after being caught using Facebook. These examples give a glimpse both on how women in Saudi Arabia can be repressed because of the strong beliefs in their country.

Our group is of the strong opinion that businesses venturing into Saudi Arabia's Social Media Landscape cannot afford to miss out on the vast potential that lies in the women of Saudi Arabia. By catering to their needs for expression, a business easily cater to a big following. Before undertaking a project that is aimed at Saudi Arabian women however, it has to be said that businesses should pay very careful attention to the culture, beliefs and expectations of Saudi Arabian authorities.

Freedom of Expression?




















One of the most interesting aspect about Social Media in Saudi Arabia, is how this medium enables women to break free of their traditionally repressed culture. More and more women armed with web-cams are now turning to social media channels like web messengers and chat rooms to display their feminine charms, sometimes flirting and stripping in front of random strangers.

The notion of why these women would behave in this way is that they are seeking affirmation for their beauty as well as personality. Social media channels like those spoken of above can provide them that.

Facebook Uproar in Saudi Arabia
As recent as April 2008, a young Saudi Arabian woman was actually killed by her own dad after she was caught chatting online with a guy. She was first beaten and then shot. The case was subsequently reported on a Saudi Arabian news site as an example of the "strife" the social networking site is causing in the Islamic nation. Many outside Saudi Arabia were upset by such a kind of incident, but such was the sentiment in Saudi Arabia towards these social networking sites. Grassroot leader and leading cleric Ali al-Maliki has emerged as the leading critic of Facebook, claiming the network is corrupting the youth of the nation.

"Facebook is a door to lust and young women and men are spending more on their mobile phones and the Internet than they are spending on food"

Facebook and Homosexuality
As homosexuality is not to be condoned in Saudi Arabia, one of the other major concerns of Facebook access in Saudi Arabia is the promotion of homosexual relations in Saudi Arabia by providing them with this "open" avenue. Many critics have claimed that this online social networking sites helped promote such vile. As such, Facebook popularity in Saudi Arabia isn't very high.

For more information, please proceed to the below link;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1583420/Saudi-woman-killed-for-chatting-on-Facebook.html

Gang Rape Victim Got Jailed after attempting to release Information through Media
A Saudi Arabia woman was gang raped 14 times by a group of Sunni men while in a car with her ex-boyfriend. She was supposed to take back her pictures from her former boyfriend when the incident took place.

When this happened, the court blamed her for being together with an unrelated man(it is not allowed in Saudi Arabia for a woman to be out in the public without the presence of a family member) and so punished her to 90 lashes.

However, when she later attempt to communicate these information to the media, her punishment was subsequently increased to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison. Even her lawyer, Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem, was also ordered to face disciplinary action after he spoke to the media about the original sentence.

As such, one can see from the mentioned instances that the control over the media is strict and one would expect regulated content in the media without aplenty freedom of speech.

For more reports on this case, please proceed to be below link;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1569674/200-lashes-for-Saudi-gang-rape-victim.html

Blogging Emerges among the women of Saudi Arabia

Women in Saudi Arabia have slowly begun to take to social media. In a blog post by American Bedu, female Saudi bloggers met up once at an undisclosed location to talk about their experiences in blogging and other issues they have been facing.

Female bloggers who blog in English are still in the minority in Saudi Arabia, but they have been growing slowly and surely.

More information:
http://americanbedu.com/2008/11/14/saudi-female-bloggers-meeting-in-riyadh/