The head of the Saudi religious police, reports Sheikh Abdul Latif Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh has warned citizens that anyone who uses Twitter “has lost his world and his afterlife”.
There are presently three million Twitter users in Saudi Arabia according to statistics, and the cleric’s comments is a reflection of how other clerics have seen Twitter as a national threat, while the grand mufti, the most senior Muslim cleric, has termed Twitter users in the country as “fools”.
The BBC’s Sebastian Usher said it is believed Twitter has seen its fastest uptake globally in Saudi Arabia, though governments in the Arab world particularly view social media with suspicion following the Arab Spring, which was partly influenced by social media.
