Mass media in Saudi Arabia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mass media in Saudi Arabia provides unwavering support for the Mohammed bin Salman regime and routinely ignores negative reporting about the kingdom.[1] Independent media are non-existent in Saudi Arabia.[2] Outlets and journalists that fail to support the regime are subject to suspicion and repression.[2]
Most are privately owned but are subsidized and regulated by the government in Saudi Arabia.[3] The "Basic Law" of the kingdom states that the mass media's role is to educate and inspire national unity; consequently, most popular grievances go unreported in Saudi Arabia. For instance, the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq in 1990 was not immediately reported in the Saudi Arabian mass media.[4] As of 2013, BBC News reports that criticism of the government and the royal family and the questioning of Islamic tenets "are not generally tolerated. Self-censorship is pervasive."[5] As of 2014, Freedom House[6] rates the kingdom's press and internet "Not Free".